All in the Family with Stonestreet=S Oaks Fillies
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SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 2021 ALL IN THE FAMILY WITH THIS SIDE UP: A WISE EXAMPLE FOR EVERY HORSEMAN STONESTREET=S OAKS FILLIES by Chris McGrath Nobody was paying a great deal of attention to him back then, either. But before ceding the weekend headlines to those storied Oaklawn handicaps, the GI Apple Blossom and GII Oaklawn, perhaps we can all take a step back and pay an overdue tribute to a novice who came to Hot Springs in the winter of 1977. Charlie LoPresti had just turned 20 and, learning the ropes under trainer Joe Cantey, was able to count Cox's Ridge and Miss Raja among the first Thoroughbreds to stimulate the skill and devotion that would find their ultimate measure in one of the most accomplished turf runners of modern times. Cont. p8 Barbara Banke introduces us to the siblings of three Stonestreet-bred sophomore fillies, plus a Kentucky Derby-bound colt. IN TDN EUROPE TODAY ARC AIM FOR WONDERFUL TONIGHT by Katie Ritz All roads will lead to the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2021 Barbara Banke has a lofty goal heading into this year=s for Wonderful Tonight, according to trainer David Menuisier. GI Kentucky Oaks. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. AI would love for there to be a Stonestreet trifecta,@ she said. AThat 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 give the Stonestreet Stables team their 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? AIt=s pretty simple,@ the farm=s owner explained. AWe 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. AAll three of the broodmares were really, really fast,@ Banke said. AWe raced them and saw what they could do, and then we treated them like horses.@ Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Senior Contributing Editor Saturday, April 17, 2021 Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Deputy Editor Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Associate Editors Christina Bossinakis @CBossTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN News and Features Editor In Memoriam: Ben Massam (1988-2019) ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Project Manager Rachel McCaffrey Advertising Assistants Amie Newcomb How do you like these apples? Saturday's GI Apple Blossom H. features a clash Kristen Lomasson between champions Monomoy Girl and Swiss Skydiver, both pictured at Oaklawn Friday morning. See page 11 for more. | Coady Photographer/Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] VALIANT MINISTER COLT FIRES A BULLET AT OBS 13 Social Media Strategist A colt from the first crop of Florida stallion Valiant Minister was Justina Severni one of two to breeze a bullet quarter mile in :20 3/5 at the Ocala Associate Producer Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale under-tack show Friday. Katie Ritz Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes TODAY’S GRADED STAKES [email protected] ET Race Click for TV 9:35a TRI Equistrian Gladness S.-G3, CUR -------------- TVG Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen 10:10a Holden Plant Rentals Alleged S.-G3, CUR -------------- TVG 5:30p Elkhorn S.-GIII, KEE TJCIS PPs TVG Director of IT & Accounting 5:49p Oaklawn H.-GII, OP TJCIS PPs TVG Ray Villa 7:09p Apple Blossom H.-GI, OP TJCIS PPs TVG [email protected] [email protected] 7:51p Californian S.-GII, SA TJCIS PPs TVG WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 17 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • APRIL 17, 2021 Stonestreet Oaks Fillies cont. from p1 Banke said that Cavorting=s second daughter, La Crete, is not far from seeing the starting gate. | Stonestreet Farm AThey=re rough and tough and we raise their babies the same way,@ Banke said. AThey 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. ACavorting was very rambunctious,@ she recalled. AWhen 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 up 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. AWe 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 1 1/8 niles 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 flag-bearing sire Curlin. When the bay filly arrived, Banke said she knew early on that the TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 17 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • APRIL 17, 2021 Malathaat=s full sister will be staying home from the sales this year, Banke reports. | Katie Ritz youngster would grow to be something special. AClairiere was a beautiful foal,@ she recalled. AShe=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. AIt was fabulous when she won the Rachel Alexandra,@ Banke said. AShe 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 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. AClairere 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. ALa 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 strongB 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 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 17 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • APRIL 17, 2021 This Quality Road half-brother to Midnight Bourbon could one day become the fifth graded stakes winner out of Catch the Moon. | Katie Ritz 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. AHot Dixie Chick was the most mellow racehorse of all time,@ Banke recalled. AShe would fall asleep in the saddling paddock and then go out and break the track record.