Malathaat

Stonestreet Stables' Clairiere (Curlin), forced to check in tight quarters at the top of  the stretch, found running room along the rail and knew just what to do with it, outbattling Malathaat (Curlin) and Crazy Beautiful (Liam's Map) in a stirring stretch duel before pulling away to win the GII Shuvee S. by 1 1/2 lengths Sunday at Saratoga. Caught four wide into the first turn, Clairiere was last behind moderate splits in the compact four-horse field. Malathaat was moving up on the outside as Crazy Beautiful took over the...

A lack of competitors doesn't always translate to a lack of competition and the GII Shuvee S. at Saratoga is a case in point, with an abbreviated field of four featuring a pair of titans. Fellow Curlin daughters Clairiere and Malathaat will bring their rivalry to round six in the 1 1/8-mile contest at the Spa; the latter coming out on the better end on four prior occasions. Malathaat will be breaking from the gate sporting blinkers for the first time in her career, likely intended to combat her tendency...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- Just a mere mention that Clairiere (Curlin) might be underappreciated, brought a quick, robust reaction from Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. "Not by us," Asmussen said, shaking his head. Asmussen promptly made the case for the 4-year-old filly, a Stonestreet Stables homebred daughter of Cavorting (Bernardini), who will seek her third win in four starts this year in the GII Shuvee S. Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. "She's a multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire by one of the greatest horses of all time out of one...

Shadwell Stable's Malathaat (Curlin), who came up just a head short of Clairiere (Curlin) when second in the June 11 GI Ogden Phipps S. last time out, tuned up for the July 24 GII Shuvee S. with a four-furlong work in :49.22 (44/113) in company Sunday at Saratoga. Last year's GI Kentucky Oaks winner and champion 3-year-old filly, who has won seven of 10 lifetime starts, will be adding blinkers for her third start of the year next Sunday. "She seems a little more locked in and a little more...

Saturday's GI Ogden Phipps S. may have only attracted five horses, but it was the "right" five with champions Malathaat (Curlin) and Letruska (Super Saver), Grade I winners Clairiere (Curlin) and Search Results (Flatter) and MGSW Bonny South (Munnings). After a knock down, drag out fight on the front end between Letruska and Search Results, it was left to the two Stonestreet Stables-bred fillies, Clairiere and Malathaat, to decide it in the lane. In the end, it was Clairiere, carrying her breeders' famed gold and burgundy silks, who got her...

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher's potential GI Belmont S. duo of Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and the filly Nest (Curlin) worked in company Friday morning. Nest, with Jose Ortiz aboard, and Mo Donegal, who was piloted by Irad Ortiz, Jr., went to the fast main track under cloudy skies and temperatures in the 60s. Nest worked to the inside of Mo Donegal as both horses completed their five-furlong moves in 1:02.99, followed by an extended three-eighths gallop out. "The main thing I tried to emphasize to Jose and Irad...

A trio of 3-year-olds from the barn of Todd Pletcher took to the Belmont dirt training track Friday morning as they prepare for stakes engagements during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo), who defeated GI Preakness S. hopeful Early Voting (Gun Runner) in the GII Wood Memorial S. Apr. 9 ahead of a closing fifth in the GI Kentucky Derby May 7, breezed a half-mile in the company of his GI Central Bank Ashland S.-winning stable companion Nest (Curlin) in :50.02. Owned by Donegal Racing and Repole...

Champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat (f, 4, Curlin--Dreaming of Julia, by A.P. Indy), last seen rallying for third in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Del Mar Nov. 6, kicked off her 4-year-old campaign with a hard-fought win as the 1-5 favorite in Friday's GIII Baird Doubledogdare S. at Keeneland. Drawn on the fence in this six-horse affair, she was guided out and into the clear in the two path by John Velazquez rounding the clubhouse turn. Fourth heading down the backstretch, Malathaat began to edge closer rounding the...

Recipients of the 2021 KTOB Kentucky-Bred Champion awards were voted on by the full membership of KTA/KTOB and revealed Wednesday. In existence since 1967 and 1983, respectively, the KTOB and KTA direct their efforts toward promoting and protecting the Thoroughbred industry by maintaining the highest levels of racing, breeding and training standards in the Commonwealth. Here are the 2021 Kentucky-Bred Champions and their breeders: • Broodmare of the Year: Indian Miss (Owner: OXO Equine LLC) • Horse of the Year, Three-Year-Old Male: Essential Quality (Godolphin) • Two-Year-Old Male: Corniche (Bart...

If you think you've heard this story before, it's because you have. On the opening weekend of the 2021 spring meeting at historic Keeneland, trainer Todd Pletcher led over a filly by leading sire Curlin out of an A.P. Indy mare in the GI Central Bank Ashland S. A little more than 102 seconds later, 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat was being unsaddled and 27 days later, was getting her picture taken after the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks. The high-profile connections of Nest (Curlin) will certainly be hoping that lightning strikes...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 8th-OP, $108K, Alw/OC, 4yo/up, f, 1 1/16m, 5:39 p.m. GIW MARACUJA begins her 4-year-old campaign Friday against an allowance field at Oaklawn Park. She returns off a six-month freshening following a fourth-place effort behind Clairiere (Curlin) in the GI Cotillion S. Sep. 25 at Parx, where she seemed poised to strike but ultimately weakened down the stretch. The gray/roan daughter of Honor Code makes her first trip to Oaklawn after racing exclusively on the East Coast in her career thus far. Her crowning achievement came...

The Stonestreet-bred, Shadwell-campaigned seven-figure Keeneland September yearling Malathaat (Curlin) was an unsurprising recipient of the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly Thursday evening. Her signature win came in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, but she also took the GI Central Bank Ashland and GI Alabama S. for trainer Todd Pletcher before a close third in a wild running of the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff.