8th-Saratoga, $103,000, Alw, 7-17, (NW1$X), 3yo/up, 7f, 1:22.90, gd, nose. BEAU LIAM (c, 3, Liam's Map–Belle of Perintown {GSW, $265,465}, by Dehere), sent off the even-money selection in a field that would not look out of place for a graded stakes, was made to work for every yard of the seven-furlong distance, but called on his considerable class to just hold off the late lunge of the comebacking Witsel (Nyquist) Saturday at Saratoga. Hustled away from gate one by Ricardo Santana, Jr., the Stonestreet homebred sped through at the fence to make the lead, but had pace pressure to his outside in the form of longshot Wudda U Think Now (Fast Anna), as Witsel settled just to the inside of 'Rising Star' Mahaamel (Into Mischief) a few lengths back. Narrowly in front turning for home, Beau Liam still had plenty to give, was roused sharply a furlong down and fought his way home first. Witsel split rivals and looked all over a winner, only to be rebuffed by a nose in the run to the line. Mahaamel ran with credit to be third, albeit soundly defeated. The winner's dam, herself a Grade III winner going long at three, is also the responsible for MSW & MGSP Tomlin (Distorted Humor, $251,895); and GSW Strike It Rich (Unbridled's Song, $193,966), the dam of MSW Sea Foam (Medaglia d'Oro) and SP Straw Into Gold (Hard Spun). Another daughter of Belle of Perintown, the MSP Sumptuous (Hennessy), is responsible for GSW & GISP Great Stuff (Quality Road) and SP Decant (Tapit). Beau Liam had a 2-year-old half-sister named Ari Oakley (Gun Runner) and a yearling half-sister by Good Magic. Belle of Perintown was most recently covered by Uncle Mo. Sales history: $385,000 RNA Ylg '19 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $114,138. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Steven M Asmussen.
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.
Sired by Tapit and out of the Grade 1 winner Hot Dixie Chick, Stonestreet homebred Pauline's Pearl has been tabbed as the 2-1 morning line favorite for Friday's Grade 3, $250,000 Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows Racetrack in Altoona, Ia. The 3-year-old filly, trained by Steve Asmussen, won the G3 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn before finishing eighth in the G1 Kentucky Oaks.
A close second choice on the morning line at 5-2 is G2 Black-Eyed Susan winner Army Wife, trained by Mike Maker. The Declaration of War filly will break from the rail under top jockey Joel Rosario.
Winner of the listed Busanda Stakes in January, The Grass is Blue also ships west for trainer Bill Mott. The Broken Vow filly most recently finished sixth in the Black-Eyed Susan.
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.
