Malathaat justifies seven-figure price tag with Ashland Victory

Malathaat lived up to the golden pedigree that made her a seven-figure sale yearling with her victory in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland, as she became the third consecutive member of her direct female line to win at least one Grade 1 race.

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Malathaat, by Curlin, was a $1.05 million purchase by Shadwell from breeder Stonestreet Farm out of the 2019 Keeneland September yearling sale. She punched her ticket to the Kentucky Oaks with her Ashland victory, which was her 3-year-old debut. In December, she won the Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes at Aqueduct. Malathaat is unbeaten in four starts.

The filly is out of the A.P. Indy mare Dreaming of Julia, who in turn is out of the Wild Rush mare Dream Rush, both accomplished performers.

Dream Rush was at her best around one turn, winning the Grade 1 Prioress and Grade 1 Test Stakes. Privately purchased by Stonestreet to join the broodmare band, she has produced five winners from seven starters, with Grade 1 winner Dreaming of Julia joined by Grade 3 winner Dream Pauline, stakes winner Atreides, and stakes-placed Perchance. Dream Rush is the dam of a Bernardini filly born this year.

Dreaming of Julia, racing as a Stonestreet homebred, won the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes as a 2-year-old before finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. At 3, she romped by 21 3/4 lengths in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks. Malathaat is the mare’s first starter. Malathaat is trained by Todd Pletcher, as was Dreaming of Julia.

“I see some similarities,” Pletcher said. “They are both nice fillies to be around and very professional in the mornings and very sweet around the barn. They are very easy to take care of, and they both have shown they want to run long.”

Dreaming of Julia has a yearling full sister to Malathaat and delivered a Medaglia d’Oro filly this year for Stonestreet.