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May 29 Insights: Pricey Into Mischief Colt Looks to Shine in California

6th-SA, $61k, Msw, 3-5yo, 6 1/2f, 6:42p.m. ET
In against a field of mixed maidens of various age, Bob Baffert will unveil two expensive stablemates in this sixth at the Great Race Place on the Golden Coast lead by EXTORTION (Into Mischief). Out of an unraced half-sister to full-siblings MGISP Munnings (Speightstown) and GSP Munnings Sister, another of Gaudete's half-sisters produced SP-Uae Speight'spercomete (Speightstown). Extortion can claim a Group-placed sibling of his own in MGSP-Uae Snowboarder (Raven's Pass) and one of his half-sisters named Beauty and Light (Unbridled's Song) is the dam of SW-Jpn Pingxiang (Speightstown). A $350,000 KEESEP yearling purchase by the China Horse Club/Gandharvi Racing partnership, he was a $1 million buyout last year at KEENOV by Gandharvi. He hails from the female line of GISW La Gueriere, the third dam who can claim a host of accomplished runners directly beneath her including GISW Icon Project (Empire Maker, dam of GSW Fashion Business (GB) (Frankel {GB}); MGISP Lasting Approval (With Approval); Japanese millionaire SP Taiki Zillion (Twining); and the dam of GSP Artemis (Empire Maker).

To his outside will be Truehood (Nyquist), a $700,000 KEESEP procurement by owners Dr. Ed Allred & Liebau, who claims Canadian champion 2-year-old, GI Kentucky Derby hero Mine That Bird; MGISW Dullahan; GISW Bolo (Temple City) and GSP Golden Domer (Quality Road) in his female family. TJCIS PPs

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Book Excerpt: If Thoreau Had A Bicycle: The Art Of The Ride

In a delightful book of reflective essays, frequent TDN contributor Mark Cramer leads readers on 39 bicycling day trips through the environs of Paris, his adopted home. Inspired by Henry David Thoreau's daily walks in nature, Cramer pedals through forests, along rivers, and into French towns, each trek prompting fresh reflections on the environment, economic growth, simplicity, and well-being. His key takeaway: A life of adventure is well within reach, locally. We need only travel lightly, observe with eyes of wonder, and be open to surprise encounters.

Day Seven: Longchamp

Bicycle road racers work out every day around the perimeter of the Longchamp racecourse, in bright jerseys pockmarked with advertisements. They never stop to watch a horse race. A bird's eye view would show parallel flows of bright colors within a green forest: jockey silks on the inside circumference, bike racing jerseys on the outside.

I wonder whether I belong more to the bicycle culture on the outer perimeter or the racing culture within, or perhaps I am the missing link between the two subcultures.

The only American horse race trainer in France, Gina Rarick, has a horse running at Longchamp. The racecourse is a 10km ride via the Boulogne Forest. I've followed her career, written about her courageous adventure that pitted her against the highest odds. As a journalist, Gina had written a NY Times sports blog about our 1,000k bike trip of 2010. When she decided to train horses, she set aside her career as a journalist.

During long periods, Madame Rarick's horses were profitable to bet on, with their average return on investment in the black. But she's been in a discouraging slump of late and I've decided to show up as a fan, to encourage her filly, Ameera. From her Paris-Turf past performances, Ameera does not have much of a chance, but during the past calendar year, Rarick had pulled off two upsets with 70/1 horses.

I am particularly inspired by Gina's resilience. She wakes up at sunrise to gallop her horses or takes them out to a paddock where they can jump and roam. She makes grinding trips to dozens of racetracks, often with horses that, given the competition, have little chance to win, even if they are in great shape.

The last time I'd been to Longchamp, I'd registered a complaint about the absence of bike parking facilities. When I arrive two races before Ameera is to run, I'm pleased to see that bike parking rails have been installed. To my satisfying surprise, I count 45 bikes parked outside the entrance. I am not alone.

In fact, all the bike bars are occupied, so I have to chain my bike to a fence.

I make one wager prior to Ameera's race. In a bet called the Multi, I need the top four finishers in any order, in a 15-horse field. My horses finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th, great handicapping with zero return for the effort.

I stroll back to the stable area to say hello to Gina. She flashes a broad smile, optimistic that Ameera will run well. In her underfunded stable, positivity is the best tool for long-term survival. I tell her to say hello to her husband Tim, a fellow bicycle rider.

Gina is doubtful about defeating the race favorite but hopes to finish in the top three. I've seen at least seven other horses that have a better chance than Ameera, but I say nothing to discourage her. After all, she's a hands-on trainer, and I do not want to say anything that might diminish her magic touch.

In the walking circle prior to the race, Ameera is acting up, using some of the energy she needs to conserve for the race. As a symbolic gesture I make a small placé wager on Ameera (placé yields a payoff if the horse finishes in the top three).

Ameera breaks well from the gate and presses the early speed horse from the outside, but visually the pace looks too fast for her to handle. She weakens before the stretch and the rider decides not to force the filly when the cause is lost.

Pedaling on my way home I have a lot to think about. I'm in the final outing of my adagio period, and I feel ready to seek climbing challenges while boosting the average number of daily kilometers.

Like Gina I am in it for the long run. But she has short-term bills to pay while I bicycle for free. Her fortunes are tied to a fiercely competitive business and need financial backers. I have total control over my own stamina. Unlike Ameera, I can pedal at my own comfortable pace. If I get passed by mamils (middle-aged men in lycra), it makes no difference.

I'd wanted to buy a racehorse through Gina. But Martha vetoed the project.

“You have a better chance betting on the horses than owning them,” she contended, with her usual objectivity.

(In Ameera's subsequent race, she finished second, less than a length from winning it all, earning purse money that would help pay the bills.)

If Thoreau Had a Bicycle is Available on Amazon

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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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Sunday Insights: $1.25m Keeneland Yearling Grad By Into Mischief Debuts

5th-CD, $120K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 2:45 p.m.
PUMPKIN SCONE (Into Mischief), a $1.25-million Keeneland September Yearling purchase by Spendthrift Farm, debuts for Brad Cox from the outside gate on Sunday. Bred in Kentucky by the China Horse Club, the bay filly is out of Embellish the Lace (Super Saver), who has also produced three-time winner and fellow $1.25-million KEESEP graduate Tap the Faith (Tapit). Pumpkin Scone hails from a female family which includes GI Travers S. hero Afleet Express (Afleet Alex) and MGISP My Miss Sophia (Unbridled's Song), the dam of GISW Annapolis (War Front). She will face a pair of debuting homebreds in Juddmonte's Call Again (Arrogate) and Winchell Thoroughbreds's Absinthe (Gun Runner). TJCIS PPS

1st-BEL, $75K, Msw, (S), 2yo, 5f, 1:00 p.m.
A 2-year-old maiden special weight for New York-breds kicks off Belmont's Sunday card. Trained by Mike Maker, the rail-drawn THE WINE STEWARD (Vino Rosso) hails from the first crop of Vino Rosso, who is represented by one winner from five starters. The $340,000 OBS March buy's dam Call to Service (To Honor and Serve) counts MGSW Isotherm (Lonhro {Aus}) as a half-brother and the unraced half-sister Adande (Bwana Charlie), who is responsible for GSW Skelly (Practical Joke). TJCIS PPS

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