The young stallion Good Magic and the rising blue hen mare Puca landed in rare company with their son Dornoch’s victory in last Saturday’s Belmont Stakes – and Dornoch’s connections essentially landed a lottery ticket by purchasing the colt at a relative bargain before the family exploded thanks to his full brother, 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage. Good Magic, by two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, was an Eclipse Award champion juvenile and a multiple Grade 1 winner who finished second to Triple Crown winner Justify in the 2018 Kentucky Derby. Now standing alongside Curlin at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Paris, Ky., he has recorded American classic winners in each of his first two crops, with Mage’s Derby win followed by Dornoch’s Belmont score. He came agonizingly close to another first-crop score when Grade 1 winner Blazing Sevens missed by a head in the 2023 Preakness as Mage finished third. It’s a strong start at stud that isn’t often achieved. Among stallions to sire winners of Triple Crown races since 1990, only Birdstone had two in his first crop as Mine That Bird won the 2009 Kentucky Derby and Summer Bird won the Belmont five weeks later. Arrogate sired 2023 Belmont winner Arcangelo in his second crop and Preakness winner Seize the Grey in his third crop this year. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Curlin had a consistent start to his stud career, with a classic winner or a classic-placed runner in each of his first six crops, led by 2013 Belmont winner Palace Malice in his first crop and 2016 Preakness winner Exaggerator in his fourth. His sons, including Good Magic, also are emerging as sources of stamina. “Good Magic is moving his mares up significantly,” said Tom Ryan of SF Bloodstock, which owns Good Magic’s graded stakes winner Reincarnate in partnership and has continued to support the young stallion. “He is the clear heir apparent to the mighty Curlin. . . . The best is yet to come.” Along with Mage, Dornoch, Blazing Sevens, and Reincarnate, Good Magic’s other top runners include Grade 1 winner Muth and graded stakes winners Curly Jack, Dubyuhnell, How Did He Do That, Society Man, and Vegas Magic. Society Man was the latest to join the club, as he won the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes on Sunday at Churchill Downs. He, like Dornoch and Dubyuhnell, is trained by Danny Gargan. “I’m a big fan,” Gargan said of the stallion. “They’re very talented horses that want to go long. I wish I could have 10 or 20 of them.” Meanwhile, as Good Magic continues his rise, Puca became just the ninth broodmare to produce a pair of American Triple Crown race winners. She joins Maggie B.B. (1879 Preakness winner Harold, 1884 Belmont winner Panique), Cinderella (1896 Belmont winner Hastings, 1898 Derby winner Plaudit), Lady Margaret (1896 Preakness winner Margrave, 1902 Belmont winner Masterman), Ignite (1900 Preakness winner Hindus, 1906 Derby winner Sir Huon), Leisure (1908 Preakness winner Royal Tourist, 1914 Preakness winner Holiday), Prudery (1927 Derby winner Whiskery, 1928 Preakness winner Victorian), Weekend Surprise (1990 Preakness winner Summer Squall, 1992 Belmont winner A.P. Indy), and Better Than Honour (2006 Belmont winner Jazil, 2007 Belmont winner Rags to Riches). Puca, a Grade 2-placed stakes winner, was purchased specifically to support Good Magic. Grandview Equine, an investment portfolio group launched by Three Chimneys Farm founder Robert Clay, purchased the mare for $475,000, carrying her first foal, by Gun Runner, at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale. She was intended for the first book of Good Magic in 2019, as Grandview had multiple shares in the young horse. “She’s a lovely, big, strong mare – she fit a lot of horses,” Clay said this spring. “She fit [Good Magic] well physically – she fit him on the pedigree side.” After delivering her Gun Runner filly in spring 2019, Puca was bred to Good Magic in back-to-back years, the matings that resulted in Mage and Dornoch. Gunning, that Gun Runner filly, began to elevate the family, as she was stakes-placed at Ellis Park in 2022 and Oaklawn Park in early 2023. Then Mage, the first of the Good Magic colts, broke through. He was sold for $235,000 by Grandview as a yearling before he was selected for $290,000 by his racing connections, OGMA Investments, Commonwealth, Sterling Racing, and Ramiro Restrepo at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old sale. Less than a year later, he was a Kentucky Derby winner and eventually retired with three additional Grade 1 placings. Dornoch was purchased for $325,000 as a Keeneland September yearling before Mage had started – a lucky stroke for the connections. “I had seen Mage work in Maryland – he had worked really impressively at the 2-year-olds in training sale – and I thought he was talented,” Gargan said. “We looked at him several times, and I kind of regretted not buying him at the sale, because he didn’t sell for crazy money. I was at Keeneland, and I really liked [Dornoch]. . . . We were just lucky enough and blessed enough to be in a situation where we could afford to buy him.” Running for West Paces Racing, R. A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing, Two Eight Racing, and Pine Racing, Dornoch won the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes last December. This year, he won the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes before finishing off the board in both the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes and the Derby with excuses, bouncing back with a more favorable trip in the Belmont. Illustrating the dramatic rise of Puca’s stock, last September – while Dornoch was stakes-placed, but still a maiden – her next foal in the pipeline, a colt from the first crop of McKinzie, sold for $1.2 million at the Keeneland September yearling sale – more than twice Mage and Dornoch’s yearling sale prices combined. Now named Baeza, he was purchased by Mayberry Farm for C R K Stable and trainer John Shirreffs; he has not yet posted a timed work. Puca also drew gaudy bids when she went through the auction ring last fall at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale. She drew a high bid of $2.8 million in the ring, which initially failed to meet her reserve. John Stewart, a major new player in the marketplace, then privately purchased her for $2.9 million for his Resolute Farm in Midway, Ky. Puca delivered a full brother to Mage and Dornoch on April 4 and was booked to five-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief for this season. Stewart has announced intentions to race his homebreds. “He’s great,” Resolute’s breeding director Chelsey Stone said of Puca’s 2024 colt. “He has so much personality. He came out looking two weeks old, and he has no fear.” Meanwhile, Good Magic’s fee at Hill ‘n’ Dale was $125,000 for the winding-down breeding season, spiking from $50,000 last year. His stock should continue to rise for 2025. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.