Stonestreet Stables

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency STONESTREET BLUE-BLOOD DEBUTS IN LEX 10th-KEE, $84K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 5:48 p.m. Stonestreet Stables homebred WILLAKIA (Tapit) makes her career bow in this spot for trainer Graham Motion. Barbara Banke's operation purchased her Sovereign Award-winning dam Hillaby for $500,000 at Fasig July. Her second dam is Canadian Horse of the Year Sealy Hill (Point Given), who is responsible for MGISW Cambier Parc (Medaglia d'Oro) and GSWs Belle Hill (Sky Mesa) and Gale Force (Giant's Causeway). TJCIS PPs

Stonestreet Stables' Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) headlines Friday's GIII Buffalo Trace Franklin County S. at Keeneland. A debut winner at Gulfstream in 2020, she took Royal Ascot's G2 Queen Mary S. a month later and followed suit with a win in Deauville's G1 Prix Morny S. that August. Fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at this venue last November, the bay came up a head short in the G1 Commonwealth Cup back at Royal Ascot June 18, but was promoted to first when the winner was disqualified....

Stonestreet Stables LLC's 2-year-old filly Twilight Gleaming (Ire) (National Defense {GB}) gained recompense for a defeat in Royal Ascot's G2 Queen Mary S. with a first black-type success in Saturday's Listed Prix de la Vallee d'Auge at Deauville, becoming the first black-type winner for her freshman sire (by Invincible Spirit {Ire}). Saturday, Deauville, France PRIX DE LA VALLEE D'AUGE-Listed, €60,000, Deauville, 8-7, 2yo, 5fT, :58.86, vsf. 1--TWILIGHT GLEAMING (IRE), 123, f, 2, by National Defense (GB) 1st Dam: Thames Pageant (GB), by Dansili (GB) 2nd Dam: Golden Stream (Ire), by...

Stonestreet Stables's Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), the winner of last week's G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, will skip an intended start in the G1 July Cup on July 10 and instead ship back to trainer Wesley Ward's Keeneland base on Wednesday. Campanelle's new target is the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, Ward confirmed. "We're going for the Maurice de Gheest on Aug. 8, so we'll have plenty of time to get her back here tomorrow and get her ready and get her there a couple days before...

Royal Ascot 2021 cannot be accused of lacking melodrama, especially in the 24 hours from Thursday's Gold Cup to Friday's G1 Commonwealth Cup, with the monstrous monsoon and grim skies the backdrop for an epic renewal of the meeting's premier 3-year-old sprint. As the TDN Rising Stars Dragon Symbol (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}) and Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) drove past the post, it was the former who was announced the winner by a head but after an agonising spell for connections of the transatlantic duo the stewards duly reversed the...

3rd-Belmont, $78,300, Msw, 6-10, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:06.47, ft, 9 3/4 lengths. VELVET SISTER (f, 2, Bernardini--Backslash, by Sharp Humor), bought for $500,000 after breezing a :10 1/5 furlong at Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream, debuted a sharp maiden winner Thursday at Belmont for Stonestreet Stables and Steve Asmussen. Showing a quartet of half-mile works at Keeneland, highlighted by a :47 2/5 (5/99) spin from the gate May 8, and a pair of maintenance spins over the local training track, the New York-bred was made a distant 12-5 second choice in a three-horse...

3rd-BEL, $90K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, post time: 4:09 p.m. ET VELVET SISTER (Bernardini) brought $500,000 from Stonestreet Stables after breezing an eighth in a powerful :10 1/5 at Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the bay is a half-sister to the tough-as-nails 7-year-old gelding MSW My Boy Tate (Boys At Tosconova). Stonestreet has enjoyed top- level success with Bernardini's Cavorting and Rachel's Valentina. Gerrymander (Into Mischief), a half-sister to last Saturday's runaway GII Brooklyn S. winner Lone Rock (Majestic Warrior), is the 2-1 morning-line favorite. The Klaravich Stables...

NEWMARKET, UK--Since 2009, Wesley Ward has made Royal Ascot an annual pilgrimage, both for his horses and his family. The enduring and endearing repetition of that first visit is the presence of the now 14-year-old Strike The Tiger (Tiger Ridge), Ward's first of 11 Royal Ascot winners, who is now a much valued stable pony and has accompanied his team to Newmarket. The trainer was in his customary relaxed mood on Wednesday morning at Newmarket's National Stud, where his team has been based on his visits to England over the...

Twilight Gleaming (Ire) (National Defense {GB}), a strong second debuting on the Keeneland main track last month, got to her likely preferred surface of turf Sunday at Belmont and rocketed clear in the lane for 'TDN Rising Star' honors. Bought for £75,000 by Ben McElroy at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale last October, Twilight Gleaming became the first starter for her freshman sire when backed down to 3-5 Apr. 8 at Keeneland, and ran a game second despite being pinched at the start and going wide on the turn. Recording...

Khalid Abdullah's legacy will live long in Thoroughbred genealogy thanks to the female families he cultivated, like the one that supplied him Sunday's 'TDN Rising Star' and G1 Cadoo Oaks contender Noon Star (Galileo {Ire}). Juddmonte's sires, likewise, have started the season off with a bang. In this space last week we were singing the praises of Frankel (GB) off the back of a week of intercontinental successes. While Frankel remains poised to have an excellent season, in the space of 35 minutes at Sandown on Friday along came his...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 1st-KEE, $60K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, post time: 1:05 p.m. ET NAPA SPIRIT (IRE) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) sports a flashy worktab for trainer Wesley Ward, including a trio of bullets over the Palm Meadows turf, for this debut run. Agent Ben McElroy paid £420,000 on behalf of Stonestreet Stables for the bay at last year's GOFSEP Yearling sale. Joel Rosario has the call on the even-money morning-line favorite, who hails from the extended female family of G1 Golden Jubilee S. winner Malhub (Kingmambo). Ward and...

2nd-Santa Anita, $61,000, Msw, 4-18, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 1:16.86, ft, 5 1/2 lengths. CURVETTE (f, 3, Curlin--Fiftyshadesofhay {MGSW & MGISP, $1,097,951}, by Pulpit) was bet like a good thing for her debut Sunday at Santa Anita and ran to the money with an open-length score for Bob Baffert. Showing an upbeat local worktab capped by a five-furlong spin in 1:00 flat (9/64) Apr. 11, the Stonestreet homebred broke cleanly as the 6-5 favorite. Tracking barnmate Reem (Danza) from a close second through a :22.07 quarter, the bay turned up...