Tag: broodmare

Stonestreet’s Monarch Builds a Growing Dynasty

Compared to an exquisite painting by her owner Barbara Banke, Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy) has been regarded as racing royalty from the very beginning. Now 13 years old, the Grade I winner reigns as monarch of Stonestreet's world-class broodmare band, and this spring, she was crowned 2022 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year.

Thanks to the efforts of her two Curlin daughters Malathaat and Julia Shining, Dreaming of Julia has already put together a produce record for the books, yet Banke and her team at Stonestreet are hopeful that their star mare is just getting started.

“I think Dreaming of Julia is our top mare,” Banke said. “Every year we look forward to seeing her baby and she does not disappoint. Every year, there is something really special from that mare.”

With three of Dreaming of Julia's fillies still awaiting their moment in the spotlight, Banke has the opportunity to dream big with a mare that very well could have wound up in a different breeding program had it not been for Banke's steady confidence from day one.

Foaled at Stonestreet in early March, Dreaming of Julia was the first foal out of Grade I victress Dream Rush (Wild Rush), who Stonestreet was the underbidder on at the 2007 Fasig-Tipton November Sale but then purchased privately two years later when she was carrying Dreaming of Julia.

“Dreaming of Julia was beautiful from the first minute we saw her and she stayed beautiful,” Banke recalled. “She was elegant and really aristocratic-looking.”

As the A.P. Indy filly progressed as a yearling, Banke could not be swayed by the commercial attention that this youngster would attract in the sales ring. She decided that the filly would be a birthday gift to herself and would remain in the Stonestreet program.

Flash forward several years and Dreaming of Julia was concluding a successful racing campaign for Stonestreet and Todd Pletcher. A 'TDN Rising Star' on debut, Dreaming of Julia's career was highlighted by three straight victories as a juvenile, which she won by a combined 27 lengths and culminated with a Grade I score in the Frizette S., as well as a stunning 21 3/4-length romp in the GII Gulfstream Oaks as a sophomore.

“She was brilliantly fast and had a tremendous stride,” Banke said of the racehorse she named after her daughter. “She just ate up the ground. And she has a great mind, the nicest horse in the world. All of those things combined to make her a great racehorse.”

Many of the characteristics that defined Dreaming of Julia's career could also be used to describe her daughters Malathaat and Julia Shining–the first a champion for Todd Pletcher and the second a Grade II winner now in training as a sophomore for the same Hall of Fame trainer.

Pletcher reflected on the shared qualities of his former stable star Dreaming of Julia and her daughters.

“First and foremost, they all have natural talent,” he explained. “They all have very good minds and are very willing, straightforward-training horses.”

Pletcher has now worked with four fillies out of Dreaming of Julia, starting with her first extremely promising daughter Golden Julia (Medaglia d'Oro) who died tragically in a stall accident before she made it to the starting gate.

The next foal sold to Shadwell Estate Co. for $1.05 million as a yearling in 2019. Malathaat's tremendous campaign was marked by Eclipse Award honors at three and four and led Banke to decide that, “We're not going to sell any more fillies out of Dreaming of Julia.”

“Malathaat was special from the first time we breezed her,” Pletcher said of the six-time Grade I winner and Kentucky Oaks victress. “She was just different. She was gifted and she continued to get better. A really intelligent filly to be around and a sweetheart in the barn, she was a pleasure.”

Malathaat noses ahead in a thrilling 2022 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff | Coady

Going out a champion in the 2022 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, Malathaat retired to Shadwell's broodmare band and visited Spendthrift's leading sire Into Mischief. She is the first of Dreaming of Julia's daughters to launch a breeding career.

While Malathaat is the most decorated of her dam's offspring for now, it is her younger sister Julia Shining–who is also by Stonestreet's two-time Horse of the Year Curlin–that Pletcher said reminds him most of Dreaming of Julia.

Like her elder sister and dam, Julia Shining was named a 'TDN Rising Star' on debut last fall at Keeneland. She went on to win the GII Demoiselle S. to conclude her juvenile season, but settled for third in both starts this year and did not earn enough points to qualify for the Kentucky Oaks.

Stonestreet Training Center's Ian Brennan, who worked with Dreaming of Julia herself when she was learning the ropes as a racehorse just over a decade ago, spoke highly of Julia Shining but said that the filly was always likely to get better with time.

“Julia Shining was big and pretty, a beautiful mover with a lot of class,” he recalled.  “You could tell that she was long and narrow, so with time she was just going to get better and better. Even back to her first work on the farm, you could tell that there was a lot of ability there but that she would just get better with time. When you look at Julia Shining now, she has filled out a bit more and I do think her best is in front of her.”

Pletcher is also a firm believer that the best is yet to come for his trainee. Asked if Julia Shining has already realized her true potential, Pletcher responded emphatically.

“Not at all,” he said. “She's still putting it all together. I think the blinkers helped last time. She's the type that will get better with time and I don't think we've seen her peak yet. Hopefully she can stay in training as a 4-year-old and she'll be even better then.”

Dreaming of Julia's 2-year-old filly by Medaglia d'Oro | Stonestreet

Pletcher added that Julia Shining is enjoying a brief freshening and will return to the starting gate later this summer.

Dreaming of Julia has three more daughter in the pipeline who could potentially add to their dam's legacy in the coming years.

The next filly set to begin her racing career is an unnamed 2-year-old by Medaglia d'Oro who just arrived in Pletcher's barn at Saratoga a few weeks ago.

“She's doing great,” Pletcher reported. “So far everything is straightforward. She's very professional, like this whole family has been.”

According to Pletcher, while his team is still getting acquainted with the juvenile, if all goes smoothly he could anticipate a debut in Saratoga later this summer.

Brennan said that he believes this juvenile might come out swinging a bit earlier than her older sisters.

“The 2-year-old is a little more precocious than the others,” he shared. “She's maybe not quite as big as Julia Shining, with more of Medaglia d'Oro in her. She's very, very smooth. They're all very smooth.”

Continuing to draw comparisons between Dreaming of Julia and her daughters, Brennan added, “Just a ton of class with the whole family. They cover a lot of ground with a lot of power behind. They're all very easy to handle. If anything, they just need a bit of time to fill out and mature. Even though they're precocious enough at two, they all just get better with time.”

Dreaming of Julia's yearling of this year is a full-sister to Malathaat and Julia Shining.

“She is spectacular but once again, she is not in the sale,” Banke prefaced. “She will be going to Ocala for training sometime soon. This will now be the third Curlin filly out of Dreaming of Julia and hopefully there will be others in the future. The brains and the speed of Curlin and Dreaming of Julia are a really good match.”

This spring, another auspicious individual arrived at Stonestreet when Dreaming of Julia produced her first foal by Into Mischief. The filly arrived on April 25.

Dreaming of Julia's filly by Into Mischief, foaled April 25 this year | Katie Petrunyak

Just this year, Into Mischief has produced two Grade I winners from similar matings with Kentucky Oaks victress Pretty Mischievous, who is out of GISW Pretty City Dancer (Tapit), and Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. winner Atone, who is out of a daughter of A.P. Indy.

Dreaming of Julia was bred back to Curlin.

“One of these days, we might even get a colt,” Banke said with a laugh.

In Banke's eyes, Dreaming of Julia has been deserving of every accolade she has received, but the leading owner said that celebrating the mare's Broodmare of the Year distinction was a rewarding chapter in Dreaming of Julia's story.

“We always thought that she should be considered as a Broodmare of the Year just on the basis of Malathaat,” she explained. “But with Julia Shining and her wins to follow, she's definitely Broodmare of the Year.”

Banke is already scouting out which of her productive broodmares might be deserving of the same award some day. She said Glinda the Good (Hard Spun) is a top candidate. The Stonestreet homebred is the dam of champion and now leading second-crop sire Good Magic and her produce record also includes a 2-year-old full-sister to Good Magic that Banke just named Penny Royal, as well as a Quality Road yearling filly and an Into Mischief colt foaled Mar. 16 this year.

With a breeding program like Stonestreet's, the stars might just align for the operation to land another award-winning producer in the future. Pletcher emphasized just that point.

“I think any time you have a Broodmare of the Year, that's an accomplishment,” he said. “It's really a tribute to Barbara and her entire team to have a mare like that. I think it exemplifies Stonestreet's entire mating plan of buying a filly like Dream Rush with loads of speed and then putting Dreaming of Julia to a stallion like Curlin with loads of ability and stamina. It's a tremendous achievement on their part and it tells you how special of a breeding program they have developed.”

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Three Grade I Winners Reflect Godolphin’s Evolving Program

From Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) getting Godolphin their first win in the GI Kentucky Oaks on Friday to Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile) and Cody's Wish (Curlin) both coming home with Grade I scores on Saturday, the first weekend in May was one for the books for Godolphin USA.

The global racing powerhouse is coming off back-to-back Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Owner and Breeder, but Godolphin USA's Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan said that this year's Derby weekend ranks near the top of the list of great weekends for the American branch of Sheikh Mohammed's international operation.

“We've been lucky enough to hit some highlights, for example when Bernardini won the Preakness, or the Travers with Essential Quality or Cody's Wish last year at the GI Breeders' Cup, but to have a domestic triple Grade I weekend, I don't think we've done that before,” he said. “Obviously we've had a couple of great Breeders' Cups, but that was on the coattails of our English colleagues who helped us out big time. For us to do it here domestically, it was an amazing weekend and it meant so much to the team all across the board. Our expectations were pretty high, but we know the way the game goes. It couldn't have gone any more perfect.”

Each of the three Godolphin homebreds made a Grade I statement on Derby weekend, with Pretty Mischievous getting her first Grade I score in the Oaks, Matareya earning her second at the top level in the Derby City Distaff S., and Cody's Wish with his third in the Churchill Downs S.

Just as each member of the talented trio forged their own path to the winner's circle, the dams of each of the top-level performers had very different journeys into the Godolphin broodmare band. Each mare's story reflects Godolphin USA's evolution as a leading buyer in the sales pavilion to now a leading breeder with an inimitable broodmare band and a star-studded group of homebred performers.

Pretty City Dancer at Stonerside Farm | Sara Gordon

PRETTY CITY DANCER (Tapit – Pretty City, by Carson City). Dam of GI Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief)

While Godolphin has been markedly less active at the fall breeding stock sales in recent years, they came home with two purchases at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November Sale with GSW Champagne Problems (Ghostzapper) and Pretty City Dancer (Tapit).

“We're very fortunate in that we haven't had to dip into the pool very often over the last seven or eight years and so Pretty City Dancer is one of the few mares we've bought over the last half a dozen years or so,” Banahan explained. “We're conscious of wanting to try to get in there and maybe get some mares that complement the broodmare band that we have at the moment.”

Pretty City Dancer was a standout at the auction as the winner of the 2016 GI Spinaway S. and a half-sister to another Grade I winner in Lear's Princess (Lear Fan). The daughter of Tapit was offered carrying her first foal by Medaglia d'Oro and sold to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock on behalf of Godolphin for $3.5 million.

“She's a beautiful-looking mare, great quality to her and well balanced,” Banahan noted. “She's the type of mare that you can breed to a lot of different stallions from a physical standpoint.”

While that first Medaglia d'Oro filly named Ornamental took six tries to break her maiden, Pretty City Dancer's second foal Pretty Mischievous was a standout from the beginning.  A 'TDN Rising Star' on debut, the bay went on to get a first Oaks score not only for Godolphin, but also for trainer Brendan Walsh and jockey Tyler Gaffalione.

Pretty City Dancer, who resides at Godolphin's Stonerside Farm in Paris, Kentucky, does not have a 2-year-old this year, but she has a Medaglia d'Oro yearling filly and a Street Sense filly foaled Mar. 28 this year. The 9-year-old mare has been bred back to Into Mischief.

Dance Card and her Gun Runner filly | Sara Gordon

DANCE CARD (Tapit -Tempting Note, by Editor's Note). Dam of GI Churchill Downs S. winner Cody's Wish (Curlin)

Dance Card was purchased by John Ferguson for Godolphin in 2011 at the Fasig-Tipton Florida Select 2-Year-Old in Training Sale as a $67,000 yearling-turned-$750,000 juvenile.

“At that time, we did buy a few 2-year-olds,” Banahan explained. “Not many, but we bought a few and she was part of a pair that we bought that year. We haven't been very active in the sales pavilion for a while and obviously it was a change from a good few years ago where we were the most active buyer at the Saratoga and the Keeneland September sales, but the majority of those horses ended up racing in Europe. Not many of them really stayed here.”

Dance Card was one of those Godolphin purchases that did stay in the U.S. and she proved to be a talent on American soil for Kiaran McLaughlin. The daughter of Tapit did not make her first start until three, but she claimed the Belle Cherie S. and the GI Gazelle S. as a sophomore and came back at four to run third in the 2013 GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

The mare's early offspring performed well. Her first foal Bocephus (Medaglia d'Oro) was stakes placed and her second foal Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro) has been competitive at the graded level for years–having just earned his first two graded stakes wins this year at age seven–but it was Dance Card's fourth foal, by Curlin, that was destined to be a star.

“Cody's Wish was by far her best-looking foal that she produced at that stage,” Banahan recalled. “He was probably ranked in the top five yearlings that we had that year and we had high, high expectations for him.”

Dance Card's yearling filly by Street Sense | Sara Gordon

Unquestionably one of the most inspirational stories in racing this year, Cody's Wish validated Godolphin's decision to bring the champion back as a 5-year-old when he came in off a layoff to extend his winning streak to five straight scores in the GI Churchill Downs S.

“I think that on Saturday, Cody's Wish showed that he's probably even a better horse this year than last year,” Banahan said. “To me, it was his most impressive race yet thus far. We knew there was a great lineup this year for him with the Churchill Downs S., then going for the GI Metropolitan H., back to the GI Forego S. and on to the Breeders' Cup. We're hoping that maybe he can have a special campaign this year and hit some of those great races.”

At the age of 14, Dance Card has a quality lineup of progeny in the pipeline. Her 2-year-old Into Mischief colt named Hunt Ball just arrived at Bill Mott's barn and she also has a Street Sense yearling filly that Banahan said their team is particularly high on. She recently foaled a Gun Runner filly and she has been bred back to Curlin.

 

INNOVATIVE IDEA (Bernardini – Golden Velvet, by Seeking the Gold). Dam of GI Derby City Distaff winner Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile)

While Pretty City Dancer and Innovative Idea both wound up under the Godolphin banner later in life, Innovative Idea is a second-generation homebred for the organization and she hails from their prolific producer Caress (Storm Cat).

A three-time graded stakes winner, Caress was purchased by John Ferguson Bloodstock for Godolphin for $3.1 million at the 2000 Keeneland November Sale a few months after she produced future Grade I winner Sky Mesa (Puplit). Her daughters include Velvety (Bernardini), the dam of Grade I winner and Darley sire Maxfield (Street Sense), and MGSW Golden Velvet (Seeking the Gold), the dam of Innovative Idea (Bernardini).

Innovative Idea was a productive race filly for Godolphin and Eoin Harty, breaking her maiden on debut at two and later claiming the Iowa Distaff S. and the GIII Groupie Doll S. as a 4-year-old. Her first foal, Business Model (Candy Ride {Arg}), is a winner at three and four and he is in training with Brendan Walsh this season as a 5-year-old for Qatar Racing and Marc Detampel.

Matareya was the mare's second foal and she was one that Banahan said he noticed from the start.

“Matareya was an absolutely beautiful yearling and I think she was my favorite of that year,” he said. “A lot of guys give me a hard time because I'm so hard grading them, but she got one of the highest grades I would give and I was in love with her as a yearling. I was always excited to see what she was going to do on the racetrack.”

To be able to celebrate the achievements of a third-generation homebred like Matareya, Banahan said, is a uniquely rewarding experience.

“It has been a great family for us,” he said. “To get it from a homebred is extra special. We've been very fortunate the last couple of years that all our stakes winners have happened from the broodmare band and that makes it all the more rewarding.”

Innovative Idea, now 11 years old and thriving at Godolphin's Gainsborough Farm in Versailles, has added three foals by Uncle Mo to her produce record. Her 3-year-old filly named Methodology is in training with Brad Cox and preparing for her debut in the next few months. She also has a 2-year-old colt and a yearling colt both by Uncle Mo. This year, she produced a filly by Curlin and is being bred back to the Hill 'n' Dale sire.

Innovative Idea's Curlin filly | Sara Gordon

Examining Success and Looking Ahead

What do the three Grade I producers have in common? Banahan said it starts with noting that each of them were graded stakes-winning racehorses.

“That's a quality that we love to have in any broodmare that we have, that they're successful on the racetrack,” he said. “All three are also nice, medium-sized mares. I struggle with big mares to try and make it work properly and I think it gives you a lot more options to stallions that you can breed to when you have those quality, athletic, medium-sized mares.”

Banahan noted that all three mares also hail from A.P. Indy, with two daughters of Tapit and a daughter of Darley's late sire Bernardini.

There is an immeasurable quality too, Banahan said, that he credits for Godolphin USA's growing list of achievements.

“We've been very fortunate that we have some beautiful land–some of the best land, we feel, in Central Kentucky,” he said. “I also think the personnel that we have are second to none. From Gerry Duffy at Stonerside, Danny Mulvihill at Gainsborough and Rafael Hernandez at Jonabell, they have been involved in all our recent success from the foaling end of it. Paul Seitz and Benji Amezcua are our yearling managers and they do a great job raising those horses. We have a really strong team and they all play a big, big role in getting us to the winner's circle.”

Banahan said that one of the next goals he hopes that their organization can achieve is to come up with a broodmare for the record books.

“We're happy with the way it's going and I think the quality is very good,” he said. “We're fortunate that we have a lot of really young broodmares as well that have hit with some good runners at the moment. We're hopeful that maybe we can turn one of those mares into a blue hen.”

Looking ahead to Preakness weekend, Godolphin has the opportunity to make another run and maybe take one step closer to that latest goal. First Mission (Street Sense) will be a leading contender in the GI Preakness S. for Brad Cox coming off a win in the GIII Lexington S. The operation will also be represented by Comparative (Street Sense) in the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. and Prevalence (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GIII Maryland Sprint S.

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Share In Almanzor One Of The Stars Of The Auctav February Sale

A variety of stallion shares across multiple breeds and disciplines, as well as a breeding right, a broodmare and a yearling, make up the Auctav February Sale catalogue.

Set for Feb. 22 from 6 to 6:30 p.m. local time, the sale features shares in stallions like Group 1 sire Almanzor (Fr) (lot 8), G1 Prix Ganay victor Dariyan (Fr) (lot 9), Triple Threat (Fr) (lot 3) and Van Beethoven (lot 15) among others. Lot 11 is a breeding right in young stallion Cloth Of Stars (Ire), and lot 4 is the jumps mare Kourouka (Fr) (No Risk At All {Fr}) in foal to Masked Marvel (GB).

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Persian King Share Anchors Additional Entries To The Arqana Online January Sale

One day after a nine-lot catalogue of stallion shares and breeding rights was announced, the Arqana Online January Sale has increased by four more lots, led by a 1/50th share in young Haras d'Etreham stallion Persian King (Ire). The son of Kingman (GB) is a French Classic winner and added two more Group 1s to his resume at four. Slated as lot 10, the share gives the buyer the right to two coverings a year, and Persian King stands for €25,000 this term.

Besides the share in Persian King, three National Hunt lots have been added: a winner over hurdles, Rock Hurley (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) (lot 11) is joined by the AQPS 3-year-old filly Judicieuse Allen (Fr) (Great Pretender {Ire}) (lot 13) who has placed over hurdles; and Molly Has (Fr) (Coastal Path {GB}) (lot 12), in foal to No Risk At All (Fr). The last-named is a half-sister to G1 Prix Renaud du Vivier scorer Moises Has (Fr) (Martaline {GB}).

The sale will be held from 3-5 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Jan. 17.

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