Star Stonestreet 2-Year-Olds Shooting For May

Stonestreet Stables scored a double Dec. 3 with juvenile winners Julia Shining  in the Demoiselle Stakes (G2) and Dubyuhnell  in the Remsen Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack. The homebreds have put Barbara Banke on the early trail to the first weekend in May in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), respectively.

During the sixth race Saturday, 1-2 favorite Julia Shining bobbled coming out of the gate, sat in the six path, then swung five wide on the final turn and got up to win by a neck over a sloppy track. She's 2-for-2 after staying 1 1/8 miles for rider Luis Saez despite a difficult trip. 

The full sibling to 2021 Champion 3-year-old filly and six-time grade 1 winner Malathaat , an earner of $3.79 million, was bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings. Both are by Curlin   and trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.

The similar-looking fillies are out of Banke's homebred, grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Dreaming of Julia . Recently retired as a 4-year-old, Malathaat was purchased by Shadwell Estate Co. during the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $1,050,000 from Denali Stud.

"Todd says she's got a world of talent; she's just got to put it all together," Stonestreet's John Moynihan said of Julia Shining. "In both races, she's faced a little bit of adversity because she doesn't really like kickback. Her first race at Keeneland took her out of the race for the first part of it, and then she came running. A little bit of the same happened yesterday with the off racetrack. We're excited to see what she does when she gets a racetrack she likes."

The 2-year-old filly will ship to Palm Beach Downs with Pletcher before a plan is put together to get her on the best possible track back to Kentucky in May.

In Saturday's next race, Stonestreet saw a son of its Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) winner, Good Magic  , stalk in second under Jose Ortiz before taking the 1 1/8-mile Remsen by a half-length.

A chestnut colt from the first crop by Good Magic, Dubyuhnell (pronounced W-H-N-L), is 2-for-3 for West Paces Racing and Stonestreet Stables. He earned 10 qualifying points toward next year's Road to the Kentucky Derby series for trainer Danny Gargan. 

West Paces Racing has been on board since purchasing the colt in September 2021 for $400,000 from the Eaton Sales banner through agent Connor Foley with Oracle Bloodstock.

"I know the trainer always felt the horse would be better going longer and was excited about yesterday's race," Moynihan said. "I thought he would run well, and Danny has been talking about the horse, liking the horse so much since September, so I'm glad he came through and he started to run like he always thought he was going to run. So it's excellent to see when that happens."

The 2-year-old colt will have a winter break and migrate south to Florida for the winter before gearing up for next year's campaign.

"Danny's driving that ship, whatever he thinks is best," Moynihan said. "The encouraging thing is we know he can run that far, running a mile and an eighth, when you're a 2-year-old. There are not a lot of races for him, and the ones that prove they can do it usually have no trouble staying the mile and a quarter when it comes Derby time, so that's exciting to know at least he can get the distance. For a sire to have a horse on the Derby trail already in Good Magic, with his first crop of horses, we're super excited about that, and we got some Derby points."

The son of the grade 1-placed Forest Wildcat mare Wild Gams  was born in Kentucky. He is a sibling to eight winners of nine runners, including the grade 2 winner Cazadero , grade 3-placed Almost Famous , and stakes winner Mt. Brave . Stonestreet purchased the mare in 2008 for $1 million from the Taylor Made Sales Agency at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

Every year Banke sends horses through the sales ring, usually succeeding on the day the hammer falls and later on the track. It's a testament to the program her late husband, Jess Jackson, began 17 years ago and that she has continued to forge.

"It's exciting, we're happy," Moynihan said. "The success validates what we work so hard to do, and that's to produce good racehorses for other people if we sell them and for us, if we keep them, so it's exciting."