Barbara Banke

If there has ever been a quintessential Saturday afternoon sire--as well as Breeders' Cup sire and champion sire--Curlin would have to be at the top of the list. He tends to churn out top-level horses at a dizzying rate. "Not to take anything away from other great stallions, but I don't believe Curlin is second to anybody when you speak of Grade I performers and accomplishments," said John Sikura, who stands the 2007-08 Horse of the Year at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. "If you think of the Breeders' Cup,...

Watercress Farm's Fred Hertrich III and Coolmore Stud's Clem Murphy have been re-elected to the organization's Board of Directors by the Breeders' Cup Members, and SF Racing's Tom Ryan has been elected to the same body, Breeders' Cup announced Wednesday. Each will serve terms lasting four years. "We congratulate Fred and Clem on their re-election and Tom on his election to the Board," said Barbara Banke, Chairman of Breeders' Cup Limited. "Together, their expertise and insight will contribute to the success of future Company initiatives, including the global expansion and...

Nineteen individuals have been elected Breeders' Cup Members by 2023 Breeders' Cup foal and stallion nominators in voting that concluded Monday evening. Each Member will serve a four-year term. The following individuals, listed alphabetically, received the most votes from the Breeders' Cup nominators to fill 19 Member seats: Conrad Bandoroff, Maria Niarchos-Gouaze, Barbara Banke, David O'Farrell, Boyd Browning, Bernie Sams, Doug Cauthen, Alex Solis II, Matt Dorman, Edward (Ned) Toffey, Craig Fravel, Elliott Walden, Eric Gustavson, Barry Weisbord, Bret Jones, Aron Wellman, Gray Lyster, Jacob West, and Clem Murphy. The...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup with Living Legends There are great racehorses and there are great sires. One doesn't always equal the other. Sometimes, but not always, a horse is equally adept at both. "It's rare for world-class racehorse to become a world-class sire. It's two different resumes, two different achievements," said John Sikura, owner of Hill 'n' Dale. Rarely, ever so rarely, a top racehorse becomes a sire so good and so prolific in generating top-class horses that his own championship race record becomes almost an afterthought....

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale of Selected Yearlings, which looked to have a tough task to live up to its record-smashing 2022 renewal, proved more than equal to that task and, when a fast and frenetic session concluded Tuesday night, the auction had once again set high-water marks for gross and average and tied its record median. "We have experienced some magical nights in Saratoga in the past and you've heard me talk about the Saratoga magic, but we ain't seen...

West Point Thoroughbreds President and Chief Executive Terry Finley has been elected to the board of stewards of The Jockey Club, it was announced Monday. He fills the expired position of Vinnie Viola. Ian D. Highet, a steward of The Jockey Club, was reelected to the board. Finley, who has been a member of The Jockey Club since 2019, at the helm of West Point campaigned either solely or in partnership Horse of the Year Flightline (Tapit), GI Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming (Bodemeister), and a number of other Grade...

The Belmont Child Care Association will hold its annual Racing for the Children dinner and auction--"BCCA Can Do!"--Aug. 24 in Saratoga. The evening will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception at the Adelphi Hotel. Guests will then head to Universal Preservation Hall for the dinner and live auction. The event will feature emcee Andy Serling, and auctioneers, Maggie Wolfendale-Morley and Tom Morley. BCCA will recognize Stonestreet Farm owner Barbara Banke as its 2023 Honoree for her efforts in advancing the quality of life for the children and families...

The following is an open letter to the industry by Joanne K. Adams, Executive Director of the Belmont Child Care Association, Inc. (BCCA), a 501 c 3 organization. Our one-of-a-kind organization is changing lives at the racetrack every day as we continue to expand our programs to better serve our families. This year, BCCA launched BCCA Blooms: Nourishing Mind · Nourishing Body · Nourishing Family to help further our mission. Our goal is to Be Transformative by changing the lives of our families through knowledge and by providing the proper...

Antony Beck (Gainesway Farm), Alan Cooper (Niarchos Family/Flaxman Holdings Ltd.) and Bret Jones (Airdrie Stud) were each re-elected to serve a four-year term on the Breeders' Cup Board, the organization said in a release Wednesday afternoon. "We congratulate Antony, Alan and Bret upon their re-election to the Board," said Barbara Banke, Chairman of Breeders' Cup Limited. "We look forward to their continued advice and counsel to the Company in many important initiatives, including critical areas of equine safety and welfare and further enhancing the growth and international impact of the...

Compared to an exquisite painting by her owner Barbara Banke, Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy) has been regarded as racing royalty from the very beginning. Now 13 years old, the Grade I winner reigns as monarch of Stonestreet's world-class broodmare band, and this spring, she was crowned 2022 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year. Thanks to the efforts of her two Curlin daughters Malathaat and Julia Shining, Dreaming of Julia has already put together a produce record for the books, yet Banke and her team at Stonestreet are hopeful that their...

5th-KEE, $80k, Msw, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f, 3:08 p.m. ET Trainer Wesley Ward debuts another well-meant juvenile firster in this full field of 12. BARBTOURAGE (Into Mischief), a $425,000 FTKOCT yearling purchase by Stonestreet Stables, has posted three straight three-furlong bullets in Lexington, including a :35 flat move (1/14) from the gate Apr. 13. The bay was produced by Velvet Mood (Lonhro {Aus}), a 2-year-old stakes winner at Woodbine and half-sister to GI Frizette S. heroine Wicked Whisper (Liam's Map) and GSW & MGISP Point of Honor (Curlin). She is...

After a series of high-profile issues jeopardized the very existence of our sport, a wide cross-section of leaders representing all aspects of the industry came together to support legislation to address long-standing safety issues in racing. Our legislators agreed change was needed and passed the bipartisan Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), which included provisions for a governing body to oversee its implementation. The purpose was simple: to address a system that lacked integrity. Before HISA, horsemen endured a dysfunctional state-to-state patchwork of rules which were inconsistently enforced. Thanks to...