Malathaat Guts Out Emotional Victory In Kentucky Oaks

It was an emotional Friday under the Twin Spires for members of the global racing and breeding operation Shadwell Stable. The organization's founder, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, died on March 24, 2021, just five weeks before the running of the 2021 Kentucky Oaks.

The rangy bay filly with a wide star on her head may have understood the extra significance of the day. Malathaat, a daughter of Curlin out of Grade 1 winner Dreaming of Julia, was undefeated entering the fillies' classic for trainer Todd Pletcher.

This afternoon at Churchill Downs, Malathaat (5-2) faced a field of 12 other sophomore fillies all vying for the coveted garland of lilies. At the head of the lane, there were three across the track putting on a show for 41,472 fans at Churchill Downs.: Malathaat on the outside, frontrunner Travel Column (7-2) at the rail, and the also undefeated Search Results (5-1) between them.

Try as they might, neither of those rivals could get by Malathaat and John Velazquez. Not on this day. They brought home a first U.S. Classic victory for Shadwell, carrying the white and blue colors across the line a neck in front of Search Results. Malathaat completed nine furlongs over the fast main track in 1:48.99.

“It's just fantastic for our whole operation, such a big lift,” said Rick Nichols, Vice President and General Manager of Shadwell Stable. “I know in my heart he saw her win. He loved racing too much to miss this one.”

After the wire, Search Results' jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. reached over to congratulate Velazquez with a pat on the back.

Irad Ortiz, right, congratulates John Velazquez, left, after his Kentucky Oaks win aboard Malathaat.

Malathaat's triumph marks the fourth Kentucky Oaks win for Hall of Fame nominee Todd Pletcher, and the second for Velazquez. Velazquez and Pletcher teamed to win the Oaks in 2004 with Ashado, as well as the 2017 Kentucky Derby with Always Dreaming. Pletcher's other Oaks victories came with Princess of Sylmar in 2013 and Rags to Riches in 2007.

The victory puts Pletcher and Velazquez in position to make history Saturday in the $3 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). No trainer since Ben Jones in 1952 has won the Oaks and Derby in the same year. Jones also did it in 1949 and Dick Thompson did it in 1933.

Seven riders have won the Oaks and Derby in the same year with the most recent being Calvin Borel in 2009.

Bumped from each side at the start, Malathaat looked as though she'd be shuffled back to the rear of the field. Instead, her Hall of Fame jockey sent her through a narrow hole to be three-wide in sixth position around the clubhouse turn.

Up front, Travel Column set a mild pace of :23.60 and :47.47, a half-length ahead of Moraz and Search Results. Pauline's Pearl got a cozy spot against the rail in fourth, while Malathaat was able to secure the outside position in fifth for the run up the backstretch. After six furlongs in 1:11.31, both Search Results and Malathaat were winding up and bearing down on Travel Column.

Search Results and Travel Column appeared to bump one another at the head of the lane, while Malathaat stayed in the clear in about the four-path. Despite her wide trip early in the race, Velazquez allowed Malathaat to drift in as Search Results did, the pair ending up against the rail with Malathaat on the outside. In the final eighth of a mile, Malathaat was all heart to fend off Search Results in the shadow of the wire.

“She got away from there just a bit slow, but Johnny (Velazquez) moved her up and got her in a much better position,” Pletcher said. “He had to lose some ground and go wide to do it, but it was the right thing to do. She wants a target to run at and she got one here. Delighted with the outcome.”

Malathaat was a neck in front of Search Results at the finish. It was three lengths back to Will's Secret in third, just a nose in front of late-running Clairiere. The remaining order of finish was: Travel Column, Millefeuille, Maracuja, Pauline's Pearl, Coach, Crazy Beautiful, Moraz, Pass the Champagne, and Competitive Speed. Ava's Grace was scratched earlier in the week.

Chad Brown, trainer of runner-up Search Results, said: “I'm so proud of the filly and the way she ran. She put it all out there on the track for us and you can't ask for anything more than that. She ran her eyeballs out, she really did. She battled all the way to the end and we got beat by a really good filly. She delivered and hopefully we'll get one of these one day.”

The winner was bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbreds, who campaigned her dam, Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy), with Pletcher to earnings of $874,500. Malathaat is the second foal out of the mare, and commanded a final bid of $1.05 million from Shadwell at the Keeneland September Yearling sale.

She broke her maiden at first asking, won a listed stakes race at Aqueduct, and then the G2 Demoiselle to cap her juvenile season. Malathaat returned off a four-month layoff to post a gutsy win in the G1 Ashland, and now the Kentucky Oaks victory has the filly's record standing at 5-for-5, with earnings of over $1.1 million.

Malathaat (Curlin) wins the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs on 4.30.21. John Velazquez up, Todd Pletcher trainer, Shadwell Stables owner.

Shadwell's legacy began in 1980, when Sheikh Hamdan founded his racing and breeding operation.

It peaked in the U.S. with an Eclipse Award as outstanding owner in 2007. That season was led by Hall of Famer Invasor, who won the Dubai World Cup and Grade 1 Donn Handicap that season.

However, the Shadwell operation's U.S. interests will probably be best remembered for its 2006 campaign, when Invasor secured Horse of the Year honors with victories in the Breeders' Cup Classic, Whitney Handicap, and Pimlico Special. That season also saw Sheikh Hamdan win his first U.S. classic when Jazil executed his signature closing move to win the Belmont Stakes.

While Shadwell's operation was successful in the U.S., its true power lied in Europe, and especially in the U.K. The stable was represented by two winners of the English 2000 Guineas (Nashwan in 1989 and Haafhd in 2004), and two Epsom Derby winners (Nashwan in the same year and Erhaab in 1994).

Sheikh Hamdan also had five winners of the English 1000 Guineas and three Epsom Oaks winners. He was also a regular presence at the prestigious Royal Ascot meet, where he earned the meet's leading owner title in 2020 with six winners.

Shadwell has earned Great Britain's leading owner title on five occasions, most recently in 2020. Shadwell won the Irish Derby in 1990 with Salsabil, the Irish 2000 Guineas with Awtaad in 2016, and five runnings of the Irish 1000 Guineas from 1985 to 2010.

In his native U.A.E., Sheikh Hamdan won the signature Dubai World Cup on two occasions, first winning it with Almutawakel in 1999, then taking it again with Invasor in 2007.

Shadwell also had an extensive Southern Hemisphere operation, particularly in Australia, where Sheikh Hamdan won the Melbourne Cup on two occasions: At Talaq in 1986, and Jeune in 1994.

The post Malathaat Guts Out Emotional Victory In Kentucky Oaks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Curlin’s Undefeated Malathaat Scores Gutsy Victory in KY Oaks

LOUISVILLE, KY – His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum is smiling somewhere tonight.

Shadwell Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin) outslugged Search Results (Flatter) by a neck in a battle of unbeatens in a GI Kentucky Oaks for the ages Friday at Churchill Downs. It was another 2 3/4 lengths back to Will's Secret (Will Take Charge) in third.

Sheikh Hamdan, who campaigned countless champions and Classic winners across the globe, passed away at 75 in late March.

“A million things have been going through my mind,” Shadwell Stable's Vice President and General Manager Rick Nichols said. “You know, losing the boss the way we did and him coming off a great year–he was the leading owner in Europe last year. And we have many good horses in our stable this year. And having Malathaat step up and give him an Oaks win is, you know, more than we could ask for.”

Nichols continued, “He loved the sport. Even in his advanced years, he didn't lose his passion for it. He was a very, very close friend. He was a lot of times a father figure, sometimes like a brother, sometimes like a friend. But he was always the boss. I loved him dearly. He'll always be missed.”

Favored at 5-2, the $1.05-million Keeneland September Yearling purchase was squeezed and bumped at the start as the lively and pinked-out Oaks day crowd of 41,472 let out a roar as the field of 13 was on its way beneath sun-splashed skies.

Malathaat, who made it four-for-four in a hard-fought GI Central Bank Ashland S. victory at Keeneland last out Apr. 3, recovered nicely, and got into a good rhythm beneath Johnny Velazquez heading into the clubhouse turn in a four-wide fifth as Travel Column (Frosted) led through a :23.60 opening quarter.

Search Results, heroine of the GIII Gazelle S. Apr. 3, sat in third, meanwhile, ready to pounce with Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the irons as Malathaat was two spots back in fifth through a half mile in :47.47.

Search Results and Malathaat both began to rev up three and four wide to take on the pacesetter approaching the quarter pole and the stage was set.

Search Results briefly held a narrow advantage in the stretch and fought on bravely from the inside, but just couldn't withstand Malathaat, who ground her way by for the lilies.

In a touching moment just past the wire, Ortiz gave his highly respected elder statesman several pats on the back as the two galloped out in tandem.

“She didn't get away the best, but I got a spot with her,” Velazquez said. “She was running well and when I turned for home, I had a target [Search Results] to send her after. We got up next to her and my filly went by. Then she waited a bit; she does that. The other filly came back, but I could tell I was still in control. I never thought I was going to do anything but win.”

It was the fourth Oaks win for Pletcher and the second for Velazquez, who teamed with the future Hall of Famer to take the 2004 renewal with Ashado. Pletcher's other two Oaks victories were with Princess of Sylmar in 2013 and Rags to Riches in 2007.

Malathaat's ultra-talented dam Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy) was an unlucky fourth for Pletcher as the favorite in the 2013 Oaks.

“I commented coming over that her dam finished fourth in this race and got off to a really poor start, got basically eliminated,” Pletcher said. “When she didn't jump real well the first stride or two and then got jostled around, I was concerned we were going to have the same misfortune we had with her dam.”

Pletcher continued, “I thought Johnny made a key decision to quickly try to get her back into position after that. And I felt a lot better after about a sixteenth of a mile once he got to a good stalking position, had her in the clear, and had her in a rhythm. Then it was just a matter of hopefully there was enough pace on up front that they would come back to her a little bit. It was great ride for a great filly and a great team. We are very fortunate to have her.”

Pletcher began training for Shadwell just last year when longtime trainer and fellow former D. Wayne Lukas assistant Kiaran McLaughlin announced his retirement.

“I remember three or four days after the sale, I saw Kiaran McLauglin,” Pletcher said. “And I said, 'Kiaran, are you getting to get that Dreaming of Julia filly?' He said, 'I think so, yeah.' And I said, 'Man, great, I love that filly.' When I met with Rick and his team at Shadwell before we started training for them, I saw the filly was on the roster. I was really hoping she would come our way.”

Malathaat, a 'Rising Star' debut winner at Belmont last October, stretched to a one-turn mile with a flashy, runaway victory in Aqueduct's Tempted S. a month later. She made her two-turn debut a winning one, concluding her juvenile campaign with a 3/4-length tally in the GII Demoiselle S. Dec. 5. Originally ticketed to kick off her season in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks, Malathaat was re-routed to the Ashland while observing a 10-day mourning period for Sheikh Hamdan.

Friday, Churchill Downs
LONGINES KENTUCKY OAKS-GI, $1,250,000, Churchill Downs, 4-30, 3yo, f, 1 1/8m, 1:48.99, ft.
1–MALATHAAT, 121, f, 3, by Curlin
1st Dam: Dreaming of Julia (GISW, $874,500), by A.P. Indy
2nd Dam: Dream Rush, by Wild Rush
3rd Dam: Turbo Dream, by Unbridled
'TDN Rising Star' ($1,050,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Shadwell Stable; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd A Pletcher; J-John R Velazquez. $713,000. Lifetime Record: 5-5-0-0, $1,125,150. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Search Results, 121, f, 3, by Flatter
1st Dam: Co Cola (GSP), by Candy Ride (Arg)
2nd Dam: Yong Musician, by Yonaguska
3rd Dam: Alljazz, by Stop the Music
($310,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Klaravich Stables Inc; B-Machmer Hall (KY); T-Chad C Brown. $230,000.
3–Will's Secret, 121, f, 3, by Will Take Charge
1st Dam: Girls Secret, by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Well Monied, by Maria's Mon
3rd Dam: Queen of America, by Quiet American
O-Willis Horton Racing LLC; B-Willis Horton Racing LLC (KY); T-Dallas Stewart. $115,000.
Margins: NK, 2 3/4, NO. Odds: 2.50, 5.70, 26.50.
Also Ran: Clairiere, Travel Column, Millefeuille, Maracuja, Pauline's Pearl, Coach, Crazy Beautiful, Moraz, Pass the Champagne, Competitive Speed. Scratched: Ava's Grace.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Malathaat is one of 14 Grade I winners for the mighty Curlin, who was represented two races earlier by GII Eight Belles S. winner Obligatory. She is bred on the same cross as last year's

GI Woodward H. hero Global Campaign and recent GI Santa Anita H. victor Idol.

The legendary A.P. Indy is the sire of the dams of no fewer than 30 highest-level winners, including recent G1 Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper).

Malathaat is the third foal–first to race–out of Dreaming of Julia, a daughter of MGISW Dream Rush. Dreaming of Julia has a 2-year-old colt by Medaglia d'Oro, a yearling full-sister to Malathaat and foaled a Medaglia d'Oro filly earlier this spring.

The ultra-talented Dreaming of Julia, a Stonestreet homebred and Pletcher-trained 'TDN Rising Star' herself, registered a career high in Belmont's GI Frizette S. at two. Her resume also included a 21 3/4-length victory in the GII Gulfstream Oaks, good for an astronomical 114 Beyer Speed Figure, a runner-up finish in the GI Mother Goose S. and a third-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

This is also the same female family of MGSW Dream Pauline (Tapit) and stakes-winning young sire Atreides (Medaglia d'Oro).

The post Curlin’s Undefeated Malathaat Scores Gutsy Victory in KY Oaks appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

All in the Family with Stonestreet’s Oaks Fillies

Barbara Banke has a lofty goal heading into this year's GI Kentucky Oaks.

“I would love for there to be a Stonestreet trifecta,” she said. “That would be my dream.”

It sounds like quite the feat, but a trio of sophomore fillies foaled and raised at Stonestreet Farm are shaking out to be some of the strongest contenders expected to be vying for the garland of stargazer lilies on the last Friday of April.

GII Rachel Alexandra S. victress Clairiere (Curlin) and GIII Fantasy S. winner Pauline's Pearl (Tapit) both aim to get Stonestreet Stables its first trip to the Oaks winner's circle, while GI Ashland S. heroine and 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin), a daughter of Stonestreet homebred Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy), will sport the silks of Shadwell Stable.

What's Stonestreet's secret to molding such a potentially-historic state of affairs?

“It's pretty simple,” the farm's owner explained. “We take super speedy mares and we breed them to great stallions, and then we raise them right.”

That formula is fulfilled in all three of the Oaks-bound fillies as each is out of a Grade I winner that was once raced by Stonestreet connections.

“All three of the broodmares were really, really fast,” Banke said. “We raced them and saw what they could do, and then we treated them like horses. They're rough and tough and we raise their babies the same way. They stay outside and they spend their early years running around in paddocks and behaving like normal horses. So we think we have all the ingredients to have really spectacular foals that can eventually bear that out on the track.”

One of the top choices going into the Oaks, Clairiere is the first foal out of Stonestreet's three-time Grade I winner Cavorting (Bernardini).

A daughter of GSW Promenade Girl (Carson City), Cavorting was a $360,000 weanling purchase for Stonestreet in 2012. Banke vividly remembers the future star's early days.

“Cavorting was very rambunctious,” she recalled. “When we bought her, she leaped out of the trailer and we thought she was dead. She was down on the ground, but she got up eventually and went on to the farm where she leaped out of her paddock. Eventually we had to put her in her own paddock earlier than most fillies because she was very bossy. But, she was a great racehorse. She won going short. She won going long. She did everything.”

It wasn't until the summer of Cavorting's 4-year-old season, when she had already racked in five stakes victories including the 2015 GI Test S., when trainer Kiaran McLaughlin decided to stretch her out past a mile in the GI Ogden Phipps S.

“We didn't expect her to win because she had never gone long before,” Banke admitted.

But of course she did win, and she backed that victory with a second over a 1 1/8 miles in the GI Personal Ensign S. in her career finale.

Cavorting was initially bred to a second multi-million-dollar earner for Stonestreet in their flagbearing sire Curlin. When the bay filly arrived, Banke said she knew early on that the youngster would grow to be something special.

“Clairiere was a beautiful foal,” she recalled. “She's of course by Curlin, who is my  favorite sire of all time. She's like many Curlins where she was good, but she gets better and better as she goes forward into her 3-year-old year and hopefully 4-year-old year and beyond.”

A debut winner last October, Clairiere has since gone head-to-head with another top Oaks contender, Travel Column (Frosted), in each of her three graded starts, besting her rival by a neck with a come-from-behind performance in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Banke said it was a full-circle moment for the connections to get the win in a race honoring their Hall of Fame mare.

“It was fabulous when she won the Rachel Alexandra,” Banke said. “She really put it together and managed to make her Curlin-esque move at the end. She's going to be a really good horse in the Oaks and I think she'll just continue to improve as the year goes on.”

Banke said that Cavorting's second daughter, La Crete, is not far from seeing the starting gate. | Stonestreet Farm

Banke reported that Cavorting has checked in foal to Into Mischief this year, but in the meantime, it won't be long to wait before her second daughter, named La Crete, makes it to the starting gate.

“Clairere is named for a spectacular Pinot noir vineyard that I have in Oregon and La Crete is her 2-year-old half-sister by Medaglia d'Oro,” Banke explained. “La Crete is another spectacular Pinot noir vineyard in Oregon, so we're keeping it all in the family, so to speak. She's at our training center and she's doing well. She's strong- I think maybe even a little stronger earlier than Clairiere.”

Stonestreet's second star sophomore filly, Pauline's Pearl, is a daughter of Hot Dixie Chick (Dixie Union).

Purchased as a juvenile for $435,000 in 2009, Hot Dixie Chick was the first colorbearer for Banke's Grace Stable. Fulfilling the ownership's acronym of 'Girls Rule and Competently Endure,' the daughter of GSW Above Perfection (In Excess {Ire}) ran in the money in each of her seven career starts, earning her most notable win in the 2009 GI Spinaway S.

“Hot Dixie Chick was the most mellow racehorse of all time,” Banke recalled. “She would fall asleep in the saddling paddock and then go out and break the track record. She was fun to watch and she has gone on to produce great babies for us.”

Her first foal, Union Jackson (Curlin), was a dual stakes winner for Stonestreet. The same year as Union Jackson's retirement to Sequel New York, Hot Dixie Chick's half-brother Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) won the GI Kentucky Derby.

In the spring of Always Dreaming's sophomore campaign, Hot Dixie Chick was bred to champion sire Tapit, a mating that produced the current Oaks hopeful.

“Pauline's Pearl is a beautiful Tapit filly,” Banke said of the subsequent foal. “When she went to the training center, we thought she was one of our best for the year and she has developed over time.”

It took some patience from trainer Steve Asmussen to get all the pieces to fall into place for Pauline's Pearl, but by her third start she made it to the winner's circle and next gave a runner-up effort in the GIII Honeybee S. before taking the GIII Fantasy S.

“She was a little bit behind in terms of racing experience, but she's making up for it fast,” Banke said. “She's named for my mother and every time we name a horse after my mother, it's a graded stakes winner.”

Banke reported that Hot Dixie Chick produced a full brother to Union Jackson that is now a juvenile in training at Keeneland with Steve Asmussen and this February, she foaled a colt by up-and-coming young sire Constitution.

“He's quite fast and very agile,” Banke said of the youngster. “He's really going to be something special, I think, so he's one to keep an eye open for later in life.”

Banke added that Hot Dixie Chick will visit Tapit again this year.

While Malathaat, the third Stonestreet-bred Oaks hopeful, races under a different ownership banner, she is the only one of the three to come from a Stonestreet homebred.

Dreaming of Julia (A. P. Indy) was the first foal out of dual Grade I winner Dream Rush (Wild Rush) and was named after Banke's daughter. She was undefeated in her first three starts at two, including the GI Frizette S., but Banke said that the race she most frequently looks back on was the Todd Pletcher trainee's 21 3/4-length victory in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks.

“She was just so much better than anything else that day,” Banke said. “She was favored in the Kentucky Oaks but then she got creamed coming out of the gate so she lost all chance of winning, but still managed to get up for fourth.”

Malathaat's full sister will be staying home from the sales this year, Banke reports. | Katie Ritz

When Dreaming of Julia produced her third foal, it was decided that the Curlin filly would go through the auction ring. As a yearling, she sold for $1.05 million to Shadwell Stable at the 2019 Keeneland September Sale.

Later named Malathaat, the 'TDN Rising Star' is now undefeated in four starts, most recently taking the GI Ashland S. by a head for the same trainer who oversaw her dam's career.

So why was this the filly Stonestreet decided to take to market?

“You know, we have to sell some; we cannot race them all,” Banke said with a laugh. “We have about 80 babies each year so there's no way we can keep everything. She was one where we said, she's spectacular but we do need to bring in the revenue this year, so she was on the list to sell. But I'm excited to see what she will do and while I was sad to hear that Sheik Hamdan [owner, Shadwell Farm] had passed away, I hope his family can enjoy watching her.”

Banke said she is fairly confident they won't be selling other daughters of Dreaming of Julia any time soon.

“Dreaming of Julia actually had a few that have died, so I'm glad to see Malathaat doing so well,” she said. “Malathaat may be the last one we ever sell from that mare because she really has nice babies and we're looking forward to great things from her in the future.”

Malathaat's yearling full sister is one that Banke said she will definitely be holding onto.

“She looks like a queen and she moves really well,” Banke said. “She will be staying home from the sale, but I'm glad to show her off because she is really something.”

Another sister, this one by Medaglia d'Oro, was foaled earlier this month.

“She already looks spectacular to me,” Banke said of the new filly. “I've loved that sire ever since Rachel Alexandra and I'm really hoping for great things for her, but I'm going to have to wait a few years to see it come to fruition.”

This year, Dreaming of Julia is expected to go back to Curlin.

This Quality Road half-brother to Midnight Bourbon could one day become the fifth graded stakes winner out of Catch the Moon. | Katie Ritz

The 2008 Horse of the Year has potential for a monumental year at stud if he were to earn his first win as a sire in either the GI Kentucky Derby or the GI Kentucky Oaks. Two of his sons, GI Florida Derby winner Known Agenda and recent GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. victor King Fury both have points on the road to the Kentucky Derby, while Malathaat and Clairiere are among five daughters of Curlin with points on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard.

To top off everything else that the farm has going for itself heading into Derby weekend, Stonestreet will also be represented by a colt in the Kentucky Derby. Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) was bred and raised at Stonestreet before selling to Winchell Thoroughbreds as a yearling for $525,000.

Stonestreet purchased his dam, Catch the Moon (Malibu Moon), at the 2015 Keeneland November Sale for $240,000 in foal to Shanghai Bobby. The resulting foal, named Pirate's Punch, went on to become a Grade III winner.

“This is a mare who has had four graded stakes winners in her first four foals,” Banke said. “So you can't beat her as a broodmare. Midnight Bourbon is a beautiful horse and he's by Tiznow, so that would be exciting if he does well because we need that sire line in Kentucky.”

Catch the Moon had a Curlin colt sell for $500,000 at last year's Keeneland September Sale and she also has a yearling Quality Road colt and a Curlin colt, foaled this February, in the pipeline.

“It's been really fun for me to see this homebred success,” Banke said. “We're aiming for the top end of the market, we're aiming for the top races and we're aiming for the stars. We want to see something really spectacular come off of this farm.”

The post All in the Family with Stonestreet’s Oaks Fillies appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Bloodlines Presented By Mill Ridge Farm: Malathaat And The Dream Family

Superstar stallions have the highest stud fees, not for their good looks, but for the number of their racers who show up on the weekend cards for the premier races. Once again, Curlin, Into Mischief, and Tapit scored heavily over the Easter weekend of racing, with the highly regarded Bernardini and Candy Ride picking up major stakes on opposite coasts, as well.

At Keeneland on Saturday, the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes went to Malathaat (by Curlin). Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet and sold to Shadwell for $1.05 million at the 2019 Keeneland September yearling sale, Malathaat remained unbeaten with this victory in her fourth start, and she became the third generation of Grade 1 winners for her female line.

Malathaat is out of the A.P. Indy mare Dreaming of Julia, who won the G1 Frizette Stakes at Belmont Park as a 2-year-old and then ran second in the G1 Mother Goose the following year.

After retiring to stud, Dreaming of Julia was sent first to Horse of the Year Ghostzapper (Awesome Again) and produced a colt who was not named. In 2017, the mare produced Golden Julia (Medaglia d'Oro), who also died, and Malathaat is the third foal from Dreaming of Julia.

Of Golden Julia, Stonestreet adviser John Moynihan recalled: “We kept the Medaglia d'Oro filly the year before Malathaat, and Golden Julia was phenomenal. When we sent her to the training center in Florida, Ian [Brennan, trainer at the Stonestreet Training and Rehabilitation Center] said she was light years ahead of the rest in the crop, was phenomenal at every stage. As these things in racing do, however, she ended up getting hurt in a stall, she had a pelvis injury, and we lost her. It was heartbreaking because she was a Grade 1 horse if I ever saw one; I told Barbara that she'd have been one of the best we'd ever raced.”

The mare's 2-year-old is an unnamed colt by Medaglia d'Oro; she has a yearling full sister to Malathaat, a filly foal of 2021 by Medaglia d'Oro at Stonestreet, and goes back to Curlin.

As a Grade 1 winner, Dreaming of Julia was the most accomplished foal of her dam, Grade 1 winner Dream Rush, and she won half of her eight starts at two and three.

But, there would be some who might argue that the mare's other graded stakes-winning daughter, two-time Grade 3 winner Dream Pauline (Tapit), was just as good. A winner in four of five starts, Dream Pauline won the G3 Hurricane Bertie and Sugar Swirl Stakes at Gulfstream.

Both are broodmares at Stonestreet, and Dream Pauline had her first foal, a chestnut colt by Curlin, in February.

Their dam, Dream Rush, has produced three stakes winners, the two fillies above and the colt Atreides (Medaglia d'Oro), who likewise won four of his five starts, then went to stud in Kentucky at Hill n' Dale Farm (now at Xalapa).

On the racetrack, Dream Rush was one of three black-type performers out of the Unbridled mare Turbo Dream, who was unraced. Turbo Dream also is the dam of Adream (Bernardini), dam of the G3 winner Song of Spring (Spring at Last).

There is no question that Dream Rush was much the best of all the foals from Turbo Dream. Dream Rush won both her two starts as a juvenile, then advanced impressively as a 3-year-old to win the Old Hat Stakes at Gulfstream, the G2 Nassau County at Belmont, place second in the G1 Acorn, then win the G1 Prioress and Test Stakes before finishing unplaced in the 2007 Breeders' Cup Filly Sprint.

That race was Oct. 26 at Monmouth Park, and nine days later she was in the ring at the 2007 Fasig-Tipton November sale.

As agent for Halsey Minor, Debbie Easter bought Dream Rush for $3.3 million after a spirited bidding battle, and the then-3-year-old was sold as a racing or broodmare prospect.

Easter said, “She was a big, long, beautiful mare, and with a pair of Grade 1 victories. This was his first venture into broodmares, and she was what we were looking for as a foundation mare. Dream Rush was one of the most beautiful mares I've ever seen, had such a lovely attitude, and was a great athletic individual.”

Unfortunately, Dream Rush didn't reproduce her earlier form, coming back to race at four and five, but only placing third in the G1 Princess Rooney and second in the G2 Vagrancy.

“The point of the purchase,” Easter said, “was to acquire a foundation broodmare and that has worked out beautifully.”

The plan worked out for Stonestreet, rather than for Minor, who dispersed his stock after getting stuck in the Great Recession.

On acquiring Dream Rush from Minor, Moynihan recalled that “a year or two after the Fasig sale, he called, said that he remembered our bidding for Dream Rush, and asked if we'd be interested in buying the mare privately.

“When we bought her, it was about this time of year, and we were still waiting days to see if she was in foal from a cover to A.P. Indy,” and she was.

Dream Rush produced her first foal for Stonestreet in 2010, and that was Dreaming of Julia.

Since then, Dream Rush has had eight more foals, and after a pair of barren years in 2019 and 2020, the 17-year-old mare had a filly by Bernardini earlier this year. Moynihan noted that “we were trying to get a filly to carry on the line from Dream Rush,” and they got one.

Some dreams never go away, and some even come true.

The post Bloodlines Presented By Mill Ridge Farm: Malathaat And The Dream Family appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights