Stonestreet's 'royalty' on display in Kentucky Oaks
Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Stables will send out homebred colorbearers Clairiere and Pauline's Pearl, both by proven classic sires and out of Grade 1-winning mares, in the Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs.
" 'Royally bred' is not a good enough adjective," said Steve Asmussen, who trains both fillies.
In fact, the only other filly in the Oaks who might be able to contest those girls in gold is a filly raised alongside them. Shadwell Stables' Malathaat, who was bred and sold by Stonestreet, is also out of one of the farm’s Grade 1-winning broodmares.
“I really wish them well with her – she’s going to be pretty tough in the Oaks,” Banke said. “I think it’s a nice problem to have. We’re hoping they all do really well.”
Stonestreet has a robust breeding program headquartered in Kentucky. While the operation does race its homebreds, bloodstock adviser John Moynihan says that, with some 80 foals born each year, Stonestreet ultimately sells "about 90 percent" of its crop each season to keep the head count down and the operation solvent.
"You're trying to run it as a business, and keep a bit of cash flow," Moynihan said.
Banke said that one consideration in racing versus sales decisions is continuing to feed back into the broodmare band with fillies out of its accomplished mares.
"We tend to sell all of our colts, maybe get partners for some of them," Banke said. "If a colt doesn't sell or has a slight issue, we'll keep them. We try to keep 10 or 12 well-bred fillies. Sometimes, [the question is], do you have something else out of the mare - do you have another filly you like?"
Clairiere, by Stonestreet's two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, is out of Cavorting. The latter was purchased by Stonestreet as a weanling - and came by her name honestly.
"When we bought her, she leaped out of the van - we thought she injured herself," Banke recalled. "She leaped out of a field. She was very sweet, but always a bit of a handful. But she was great when she went onto training. She just needed the activity, I guess."
Cavorting won the Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes in the summer of her 2-year-old season, then went on to win the Grade 1 Test Stakes as a 3-year-old. As an older runner, she stretched out to win two additional Grade 1s in New York in the Ogden Phipps and Personal Ensign. Clairiere, her first foal, was a bit slower to come to hand, as she did not debut until the fall. The bay filly has a win in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra and two runner-up efforts in graded stakes to rival Travel Column coming into the Oaks.
"Clairiere was a little bit of a different model," Moynihan said. "A little bit slower to develop, which you wouldn't be surprised of with Curlin, but she was one of those horses that every day she got better, she constantly improved."
Moynihan credited Asmussen for patient development of both Clairiere and Pauline's Pearl, who didn't debut until December and who scored her first graded win in the Grade 3 Fantasy at Oaklawn in April. Pauline's Pearl is particularly special to Banke, as she is out of Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes winner Hot Dixie Chick, the first runner she campaigned in her own name. Hot Dixie Chick, a half-sister to Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming, is already the dam of Grade 3-placed stakes winner Union Jackson.
Pauline’s Pearl is named for Banke's mother. She shows similarities to her own dam with a laid-back personality, despite the influence of sire Tapit, whose offspring can be high-strung.
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"Hot Dixie Chick was one of the most mellow racehorses I've ever seen," Banke said. "At Saratoga, she was almost lackadaisical in the paddock. She didn't really warm up. She trotted slowly over to the starting gate, came out of the starting gate, and broke the track record. Nothing fazed her."
Meanwhile, Malathaat is also from a family that Stonestreet had early success with. The filly's granddam, multiple Grade 1 winner Dream Rush, was privately purchased by Stonestreet to join its fledgling broodmare band and has been a key component of it, producing Grade 1 winner Dreaming of Julia, Grade 3 winner Dream Pauline, stakes winner Atreides, and stakes-placed Perchance. Dreaming of Julia's first starter is Malathaat, who Stonestreet brought to the 2019 Keeneland September yearling sale, where she caught the eye of Todd Pletcher, who had trained her dam.
"She was really high on our draft board," Pletcher said.
Pletcher wound up as the underbidder for his clients, as Shadwell went to $1.05 million to secure the filly. Afterward, he expressed excitement for Kiaran McLaughlin, a regular trainer for Shadwell. But as the story would have it, McLaughlin chose to retire from training last year, and the filly landed in Pletcher's barn after all.
“Malathaat is a little bit bigger and a tad bit scopier than Dreaming of Julia, but they both have that very rhythmic stride,” Pletcher said.
Stonestreet also bred and sold a Kentucky Derby candidate this year in Grade 3 winner Midnight Bourbon, by Tiznow and out of the unraced Malibu Moon mare Catch the Moon, a multiple stakes producer. Stonestreet sold the colt for $525,000 at Keeneland September to Winchell Thoroughbreds.