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Kendall-Jackson, La Crema Named Preferred Wines Of The Kentucky Derby

Churchill Downs Incorporated announced Tuesday a four-year partnership that names Kendall-Jackson and La Crema the Preferred Wines of the Kentucky Derby from 2021 through 2024.

Founder Jess Jackson started Kendall-Jackson in the early 1980s and built upon his success to expand and acquire other wineries, such as La Crema. The two sister wineries have been leading the wine category in popularity year after year. Kendall-Jackson has been the number one selling Chardonnay in America since 1992. La Crema played a fundamental role in propelling single-vineyard wines from cool-climate appellations and was an integral part of the Sonoma Coast's rise to winemaking fame as one of the first wineries to craft Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the previously unfamiliar region.

The Jackson family's storied legacy in winemaking runs deep, but their endeavors in the elite horse racing world are lesser known. Jackson ignited a life-long dream in 2005 when he and Barbara Banke, Chairman and Proprietor of Jackson Family Wines, established Stonestreet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, where they have been named the leading North American commercial breeder of Thoroughbred yearlings nine times.

“To have passionate leaders in the horse racing community like Barbara Banke and the Jackson family support the Kentucky Derby with Kendall-Jackson and La Crema, two of their most prominent, critically-acclaimed wineries, just reinforces the tradition of excellence to which we are committed here at Churchill Downs,” said Mike Anderson, President of Churchill Downs Racetrack.

“Our winemaking reputation is built on a vision that through a commitment to excellence, hard work, and integrity, you can accomplish great things,” said Barbara Banke. “Not only do we embrace these ideals as the backbone of our 40-year wine business, but also our approach to Thoroughbred horse racing. To bring two of our greatest passions together on the global stage at the Kentucky Derby is monumental for us, and we couldn't be happier to be partners with Churchill Downs.”

As part of the 2021 sponsorship, Kendall-Jackson and La Crema will be poured at all Churchill Downs Racetrack events and highlighted in a variety of activations as the Preferred Wines of the Kentucky Derby.

The post Kendall-Jackson, La Crema Named Preferred Wines Of The Kentucky Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Forest Music, Dam Of Maclean’s Music, Dies At Age 20

Forest Music, a cornerstone of the Stonestreet Farm racing and breeding program, has died at age 20, the operation announced Friday on social media.

The Unbridled's Song mare was a vanguard for Stonestreet, as the first graded stakes winner for an operation that is now a regular producer of graded success on the racetrack and the breeding shed.

Forest Music initially raced for owner Michael Gill, who campaigned her to a victory in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness Stakes, a pair of non-graded stakes scores, and third-place efforts in the G1 Prioress Stakes and G1 Test Stakes.

She was purchased privately by Stonestreet in the summer of her 4-year-old season and placed in the barn of trainer Steve Asmussen. Her first start under her new ownership came in the G2 Honorable Miss Handicap at Saratoga, and her two-length victory marked the first graded stakes win for Stonestreet Stables as an owner.

Forest Music raced two more times for Stonestreet Stables before retiring with six wins in 18 starts for earnings of $370,566.

The mare's impact was just as immediate for the Stonestreet operation once she entered the breeding shed. Her first foal was the Distorted Humor colt Maclean's Music, whose lone start was such an eye-popping triumph, it earned him a spot in the stallion barn at Hill 'n' Dale Farms in Kentucky. Maclean's Music sired Preakness Stakes winner Cloud Computing from his first crop at stud.

Other runners of note produced by Forest Music include Grade 3 winners Kentuckian (by Tiznow), Electric Forest (by Curlin), and Uncle Chuck (by Uncle Mo).

After the early success of Maclean's Music, Forest Music's foals became sought after in the auction ring. Sonoma County (by Street Cry) brought $1.2 million as a yearling in the months following Maclean's Music's maiden score. In 2015, Senor Jobim, a full-brother to Maclean's Music, brought $1,525,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Between those seven-figure horses, Kentuckian brought $610,000 as a yearling.

Forest Music had two surviving fillies. Electric Forest is currently a member of the Stonestreet broodmare band. Equineline reports show that Forest Music had her final foal, a filly by Bernardini, on Jan. 25 of this year.

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Bloodlines Presented By Mill Ridge Farm: Clairiere Displays The Winning Formula For Stonestreet

The prep races at the Fair Grounds brought out some of the bright prospects for the 2021 classics, and the winners of both the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra and the G2 Risen Star Stakes are a filly and a colt marked for classic potential by their immediate antecedents.

Stonestreet Stable's Clairiere (by Curlin) won the Rachel Alexandra and is by a Preakness Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic winner out of a mare by a Preakness winner, Bernardini (A.P. Indy). Juddmonte's Mandaloun won the Risen Star and is by the sire of 2020 Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Authentic (Into Mischief) out of a mare by Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker (A.P. Indy).

The recipe is clear. Breed a top-class stallion to a daughter of a classic winner, especially if it's a classic son of Belmont Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic winner A.P. Indy.

In addition to Authentic, Into Mischief is also responsible for Kentucky Derby third Audible, who is a G1 winner and is a sire standing at WinStar Farm. This year, Into Mischief also has the highly regarded Life is Good (2021 Sham Stakes) and Mutasaabeq (2021 Mucho Macho Man Stakes) working their way along the classic trail.

In contrast, Curlin is light-handed for colts at the moment, but the glowing chestnut titan is flush with fillies. As of the weekend, chief of these is Clairiere, who picked up 50 points for the Kentucky Oaks and guaranteed herself a starting gate position if all goes well between now and the filly's classic.

And among Curlin's stakes horses of 2021, at least five by the two-time Horse of the Year are out of daughters of Horse of the Year A.P. Indy or one of his sons. Is this the greatest cross of the present day?

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Bloodstock LLC, Clairiere is the first foal of the Bernardini mare Cavorting, who won three Grade 1 races (Test, Personal Ensign, and Ogden Phipps). That race record shows that Cavorting had first-class speed, especially for a daughter of champion Bernardini, who sires a sprinter only by accident, but some of his best are so talented that they can race effectively at almost any distance.

Cavorting was one of the latter, as she proved with a Grade 2 victory in the Adirondack Stakes at two, then progressed at three and four to win Grade 1 races both years.

Bred by Swettenham Stud and purchased by Stonestreet as a weanling for $360,000 at the 2012 Keeneland November sale, Cavorting earned $2 million her new owners. John Moynahan picked out Cavorting for Stonestreet and recalled that she “was a beautiful foal. Total quality.

“Then as a yearling, she looked like she'd be a very precocious 2-year-old. She won her debut by 11 lengths, then won the Adirondack by a length and a quarter,” from Angela Renee, another Bernardini filly who won the G1 Chandelier Stakes later that year. Fifth in the Adirondack was Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway), who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and was named champion of her division for 2014.

Cavorting went to the G1 Frizette unbeaten in two starts but finished seventh and “had to be put on the shelf due to some minor bone bruising,” Moynahan recalled, “although she never had any real soundness issues.”

“When she got older,” Moynahan said, “[trainer] Kiaran [McLaughlin] came with the idea to try her going two turns,” and Cavorting won the last three starts of her career going a mile or more, including two of her three Grade 1s.

On retirement, great hopes were held for Cavorting because “she's kind of a throwback who can last on the New York circuit to win major races at two, three, and four. Real hickory,” Moynahan said.

Sure enough, the lovely bay mare has continued her winning ways at stud. Clairiere is the first foal of her dam and now is her first graded stakes winner. The Rachel Alexandra winner is the 74th stakes winner for Curlin. Since Clairiere, Cavorting has produced a 2-year-old filly by Medaglia d'Oro who is yet unnamed and has a yearling full brother to Clairiere. Bred to Quality Road last year, the mare was barren.

The mare is booked to Into Mischief.

Clairiere is the third generation of her female family to win a graded stakes, as the filly's second dam is the Carson City mare Promenade Girl, who won the G2 Molly Pitcher, four other stakes, and also was third in the G1 Spinster and Ogden Phipps.

“Cavorting's pedigree, physique, and attitude made us very hopeful for her prospects as a broodmare,” Moynahan said, “and now it looks like she could be a tremendous producer, the sort of mare who could get a world-class champion.”

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Monday’s Racing Insights: Seven-Figure Colt Debuts at Big A

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

1st-AQU, $80K, Msw, 3yo, 7f, 1:20 p.m. ET
Jonathan Thomas sends out $1-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad Will E Sutton (Curlin) for Robert V. LaPenta, Stonestreet Stables and Bridlewood Farm on this card that was pushed back a day due to winter weather. The daughter of debut winner and stakes-placed juvenile Yes Liz (Yes It's True) sports an upbeat tab over the Belmont training track. TJCIS PPs

The post Monday’s Racing Insights: Seven-Figure Colt Debuts at Big A appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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