Stonestreet Stables LLC's `TDN Rising Star'Beau Liam (Liam's Map–Belle of Perintown, by Dehere) has been retired from racing and will stand the upcoming breeding season at Brereton and Elizabeth Jones's Airdrie Stud as a partnership between Stonestreet, Spendthrift Farm and Airdrie. Trained by Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, Beau Liam won his first three starts this season. Beau Liam will stand his first season for a fee of $6,000 stands and nurses.
Named a TDN Rising Star following his 7 1/2-length debut at Churchill Downs, Beau Liam's six-furlong time of 1:08 3/5 represented the fastest recorded clocking of any maiden at the distance in the history of the racetrack, earning a Ragozin Sheet number of 5 3/4. In his second start, he earned a 106 Beyer Speed Figure when taking a seven-furlong allowance at Saratoga. His Beyer trailed only multiple Grade I winner Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music)'s 107 and equaled the 106 figure earned by Grade I scorer Life is Good (Into Mischief), listed among the fastest 3-year-olds of the year at seven furlongs. In his third start, a dominant six-length victory at Saratoga, Beau Liam stopped the clock for 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15 flat, earning a career high 107 Beyer Speed Figure.
Bet down to 2-5 favoritism while taking on his elders in the GIII Ack Ack S. at Churchill Downs, Beau Liam finished second, beaten by a length to the multiple graded stakes winner Plainsman (Flatter). The final time for the mile fixture was 1:33 4/5. Beau Liam was being pointed to the GI Cigar Mile at the time of a training injury that led to his retirement. He retires with three wins and a second from four lifetime starts and earnings of $229,000.
Bred in Kentucky by Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Farm, the son of Liam's Map was retained to race in the farm colors after not meeting his $385,000 reserve as a yearling at the Keeneland September Sale. From the second crop of his sire, the final hammer price was higher than the most expensive Liam's Map yearling of the 2019 sales season. His dam, the Dehere mare Belle of Perintown, was the winner of the GII Silverbulletday S. as a 3-year-old after a juvenile stakes victory in the Pocahontas S. at Churchill. In addition to Beau Liam, she is the dam of no fewer than three other black-type performers, including the graded-winning Strike it Rich (Unbridled's Song) and graded stakes-producing Sumptuous (Hennessy). Belle of Perintown is a granddaughter and great granddaughter, respectively, of the talented race fillies Jeanne Jones (Nijinsky II) and Beautiful Glass (Pass the Glass).
“Beau Liam is a brilliantly fast horse by one of the most exciting young stallions in the industry,” said Airdrie's Bret Jones. “He is gorgeous, and from a top-class family. There is no shortage of important stallions with a similar race record to this horse and their unifying characteristic has almost always been brilliant ability. We believe running the fastest maiden sprint in Churchill Downs history on debut and then following with 106 and 107 Beyers absolutely merits that distinction. We have been given a tremendous opportunity by Barbara Banke and the great team at Spendthrift Farm to stand this horse and we will be supporting him heavily to ensure he has the opportunity we all believe he deserves.”
“This horse was an absolute freak,” said Stonestreet Farm bloodstock advisor John Moynihan. “Everyone saw what he did as a 3-year-old, but he showed us that talent at two as well. I would have the same belief in Beau Liam's stallion potential as when we retired Maclean's Music. He's that kind of special. He will get a great chance at Airdrie Stud.”
“He's just a freakishly fast horse,” added Asmussen. “I wish we'd had the opportunity to get a Grade I next to his name, but anyone who saw him run knows he was of that talent level.”
Curlin is in the midst of an exceptional year. He's the only North American sire with three Grade I winners already in 2021 with undefeated Kentucky Oaks heroine Malathaat, Florida Derby winner Known Agenda and Santa Anita H. victor Idol. He's also responsible for the buzz horse of the week in undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' and GIII Dwyer S. winner First Captain.
As expected from Curlin, a sire known for his Classic-producing abilities, all four of these current stars broke through to stardom as sophomores or older. And while two did break their maidens as juveniles, only Malathaat was a stakes winner at two.
So while it is not unheard of for Curlin to have a top-performing juvenile, it is a rarity. According to John Moynihan, that's what makes 2017 Eclipse Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Good Magic special.
“The most unique thing with Good Magic is that he was so precocious,” the Stonestreet bloodstock advisor noted. “People expect Curlin to get durability and ruggedness, horses that run far, Classic-type horses. But a lot of times those Classic-type horses don't also come in the form of early, precocious horses and I think that's what sets Good Magic apart.”
Of the seven sons of Curlin standing in Kentucky today, just two are graded stakes winners as 2-year-olds and Good Magic is the only GI-winning juvenile of the pair.
Retired to stud in 2019, the champion bred 164 mares off a $35,000 fee. He filled a book of 142 mares at the same fee the following year. Standing for $30,000 in 2021, the Hill 'n' Dale resident will soon see his first yearlings go through the sales ring.
Moynihan said the youngsters are showing every indication that they will soon display the same precocity as their sire.
“The Good Magic yearlings that we have here at the farm, as a group, are physically outstanding. They appear that they're going to be very early and precocious like he was. They look like they'll be very, very sound horses. Robert Turner, our yearling manager, said they are all great minded like he was. A lot of the traits that made him such a good horse, physically and mentally, he seems to be throwing to the offspring that we have here at the farm.”
Good Magic is out of the dual stakes-winning Stonestreet-bred Glinda the Good (Hard Spun), a daughter of Magical Flash (Miswaki), who produced six stakes winners from 14 winners.
“The family produces very hard-knocking, rugged racehorses,” Moynihan noted. “I can remember when Magical Flash was older, there was a year where three or four of her foals won a stakes race all within one year.”
Moynihan vividly recalls watching Good Magic, a homebred for Stonestreet, grow and develop in the same paddocks where some of his first progeny now reside.
“He was one of those rare horses that was always a standout from the time he was born to when you looked at him three months later to the time he was a weanling and on to a yearling,” he explained. “He was always a horse you looked at out in the paddock and said, 'Oh, who is that?' He had that kind of presence about him.”
Moynihan said that as Good Magic matured into a yearling, the colt impressed him more and more by the day.
“He improved and got better every day that he was here at the farm. Some horses go through phases where they're not as good physically one month and they get better the next, but this horse was outstanding physically every day we had him.”
The chestnut developed into a $1 million yearling at the 2016 Keeneland September Sale, where he was purchased by e5 Racing.
Stonestreet stayed in for a piece of the promising youngster, and after going through his initial training at Stonestreet's training center, Good Magic made his debut at Saratoga, coming up a length short to run a game second. Trainer Chad Brown was encouraged by the colt's performance and bumped him up in class to the GI Champagne S., where he ran second to eventual MGSW Firenze Fire (Poseidon's Warrior).
“After the race, Chad Brown told me that if Good Magic kept moving forward like he did between his maiden and the Champagne, he was going to want to run him in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile,” Moynihan recalled. “He called me three days later and said the horse acted like he never ran in the Champagne.”
So off they went to Del Mar, where Good Magic became the first horse in history to break his maiden in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
“It takes an extremely talented and extremely good-minded horse to go through those three races in that amount of time and hold up like that,” Moynihan noted.
Following a third-place finish in the GII Fountain of Youth S. and a victory in the GII Blue Grass S., the Eclipse Champion ran in the GI Kentucky Derby where he finished second to eventual Triple Crown champion Justify. Later that summer, he took the GI Haskell Invitational S. before retiring to Hill 'n' Dale with earnings over $2.95 million.
Moynihan said he believes Good Magic's first crop of yearlings represent the quality of mares the young sire saw in his first season at Hill 'n' Dale.
“He had a great book of mares, especially for a horse standing for $35,000,” he explained. “I know in respect to Stonestreet, and I think I'd be speaking on behalf of [Hill 'n' Dale] as well, we bred the caliber of mare that would go to a much higher-priced stallion than one standing for $35,000. That's how much we believed in him.”
Hill 'n' Dale Farm's John Sikura agreed.
“He has bred in excess of 100 mares every year,” Sikura said. “There has been great support from Stonestreet, from us, from SF Bloodstock and other shareholders. He has all the requisites you might look for in a horse in that he's a champion son of Curlin, very well bred, cost a million dollars as a yearling–all the things that a breeder would look for.”
“He represented great, great value [in his first year] at $35,000,” Moynihan said. “We thought he could stand for a little bit more money, but John wanted to be conservative and make sure breeders got the best chance for the first couple of years to make money with the horse.”
At last year's breeding stock sales, Good Magic's weanlings averaged $82,277, placing their sire within the top ranks of first-crop stallions in North America by average with 18 of 31 sold. His top lot, a half-brother to MGSW Lovely Bernadette (Wilburn) out of the winning Bernstein mare Inlovewithlove, sold to OXO Equine for $360,000 at Keeneland November. At the same sale, another colt out of SW Petition the Lady (Petionville) brought $200,000 to Stonehaven Steadings.
Good Magic colt out of Surf Light sells as Hip 303 at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale.
With the kickoff to the yearling sales approaching with the Fasig-Tipton July Sale on July 13, Good Magic will be represented by six members of his first crop.
Chris Baccari has one Good Magic yearling preparing to go through the ring at the upcoming auction with his Baccari Bloodstock consignment. The colt is out of the stakes-winning Malibu Moon mare Surf Light and will sell as Hip 303.
“He's a very straightforward colt,” Baccari said. “The thing I really like about him is that he has a two-turn pedigree, but he has a sprinter-type body. It looks like it will not take him very long to get ready. He's very sound and it looks like he can take a lot of training. He has a really pretty hind leg and is a really strong colt with a nice scope about him.”
Other notable pedigrees from Good Magic's progeny at Fasig-Tipton July include Hip 30, a half-brother to SW Empire Line (Morning Line) and out of a half to two stakes winners including champion Rushing Fall (More Than Ready), as well as Hip 86, a colt out of a half-sister to Breeders' Cup and Eclipse juvenile champion She Be Wild (Offlee Wild). View Good Magic's full Fasig-Tipton July roster here.
Moynihan said he thinks Good Magic's precocious-looking yearlings will be in high demand with the buyers.
“If buyers are looking to get a fairly quick return on their investment, he was such an early horse and he appears to be getting precocious horses that can get to the races quickly,” Moynihan noted. “He was also a sound horses, winning major races at two and three, so I think that's something buyers will look forward to getting in his offspring.”
“They're well bred, well made and sought after,” Sikura added. “Now the key is to win some races. We're excited for Good Magic's future. Hopefully he can be Curlin's next important son.
Click here for the full archive of our 2021 First-Crop Yearling Sires series.
Hill 'n' Dale Farms announced today that multiple Grade 1 winner Charlatan has been retired from racing and will take up stud duty at the farm's newly restored stallion complex at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa in Paris, Ky.
Bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC, the imposing son of Eclipse champion and champion sire Speightstown out of Breeders' Cup Distaff-placed Authenticity, he sold as the second-highest-priced colt for his sire at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he was hammered down for $700,000. Purchased by SF Bloodstock / Starlight West, the colt raced for owners SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Hertrich, III, Frederick, Fielding, John D. and Golconda Stables.
The freakishly-talented Charlatan served notice of his brilliance in his first start, drawing off by 5 3/4 lengths in 1:08 and change for the six panels earning TDN Rising Star status. All told, the brilliant chestnut who many compared to Justify, compiled a record of four wins and a second from five starts with career earnings of $4,047,200.
He decimated the field in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, winning by six lengths, in a hand ride. He rounded out his 3-year-old campaign with a devastating and visually impressive performance in the G1 Malibu where he won by 4 1/2 widening lengths. His only defeat came in the $20 million Saudi Cup where he was edged out at the wire, running a gallant second to Mishriff. He won his four races by a combined 26 1/2 lengths.
“Horses with Charlatan's immense ability combined with superior pedigree, conformation, depth of female family and star-quality appeal are a very rare commodity,” said John G. Sikura, president of Hill 'n' Dale. He is one of the most talented horses I have seen run who combines world class sprinter/miler speed with the ability to carry it around two turns. He is a striking individual who should impart size, substance, balance, and brilliance to his foals. It is an honor to have Charlatan set the standard of excellence as the first stallion whose career we launch here at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa.”
“We're very proud of everything Charlatan accomplished in his brief but brilliant career: He's one of the most perfect physical specimens to come to stud in recent times and there's no doubt he will be supported accordingly. On behalf of the SF racing partners we wish John and the team at Hill 'n' Dale the very best,” said Tom Ryan managing partner.
“Physically he's one of the best physical horses we've ever bred. What sets him apart is the way he moves. He moves like a great horse. He is just a real athlete. He is the epitome of what we've tried to breed up to this point. Charlatan is a perfect combination of the genes meeting the physical. He is an absolute standout,” said Stonestreet Farm bloodstock adviser John Moynihan.
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.
