Just above the inside doorway in his office are a handful of photos of John Sikura posing alongside the respective Michael Jordans of the Thoroughbred breeding industry.
In one, the owner of Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa is gazing in awe at the legendary Northern Dancer, whose bloodlines flow through generations of game-changing runners. Another has Sikura posed alongside the Coolmore stalwart that was Galileo. And still another sees him proudly at the end of the shank of the prolific Mr. Prospector.
He can peer up from his desk at any moment and be reminded of what enduring success in a fickle industry looks like. Most importantly for Sikura, however, he can also head down to the stallion barn situated on his endlessly bucolic property and see firsthand the generational legacy being built under his own roof.
The wild celebration that broke out at Churchill Downs May 6 when Mage captured the 149th Kentucky Derby (G1) had a partner in jubilation some 90 miles away in scenic Paris, Ky. In addition to putting his name in the record books by joining Triple Crown winner Justify (2018) and Apollo (1882) as the only horses to win the Derby without having raced as 2-year-olds, Mage provided Hill 'n' Dale stallion Good Magic a classic winner from his first crop, putting the Eclipse Award-winning son of Curlin on a path to possibly inherit the throne from his sire, who also stands at Hill 'n' Dale.
If the exploits on the first Saturday in May weren't grand enough, Good Magic has a chance to have his bloodlines dominate the second leg of the Triple Crown. Of the seven runners expected for the 148th edition of the Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course May 20, three are sons of Good Magic as Mage is scheduled to be joined in the starting gate by grade 1 winner Blazing Sevens and stakes winner Perform.
The gangbusters start Good Magic has enjoyed at stud is the very thing his pedigree and talent suggested was possible. Bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings and campaigned by Stonesteet in partnership with e Five Racing Thoroughbreds, Good Magic was named champion 2-year-old male in 2017 off his victory in that year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and went on to run second to eventual Triple Crown winner Justify in the 2018 Kentucky Derby.
Retired to stud at Hill 'n' Dale for 2019 after a career that saw him also notch victories in the Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) and Blue Grass Stakes (G2) during his sophomore season, Good Magic was placed next to the shoes he is aiming to fill: standing alongside his sire, Curlin, the two-time Horse of the Year who was campaigned by Stonestreet and is dripping in accolades for his achievements at stud where he has finished among the leading sires five times.
Last year saw the father-son duo fire their first collective salvo as Curlin became the first stallion to sire three Eclipse champions in the same year with Malathaat (older dirt female), Nest (3-year-old filly), and Elite Power (champion male sprinter) while Good Magic was second on the first-crop sire list, just behind Bolt d'Oro . Elevated by Mage's Kentucky Derby triumph, Good Magic has opened a commanding lead on the second-crop sire list and is 12th overall on the general rankings (through May 18).
With Curlin already stamping his prowess on the track and in the commercial marketplace, the coveted distinction of being a sire of sires looks to be a strong possibility.
"It's what you always hope for," Sikura said of Good Magic, who stands for $50,000 this year. "He's been very prolific and hopefully it indicates that he's going to be the heir apparent for Curlin, which is not just important for the farm but it's an emotional attachment too for (Stonestreet owner) Barbara Banke and Stonestreet's connection.
"It's kind of a dynastic thing where you can have a great sire and his best son and he's achieving so much and they're standing side by side with the same relationship of people. It's nice when there is that certainty and succession between generations—that's the Thoroughbred business in the grandest tradition. Things used to be that way and now they seldom are. It's kind of a throwback to where you have a sire and son together. We've done our best to give them the best chance and enhance their reputations and try and continue that Curlin legacy. It's very fulfilling."
Good Magic's early accomplishments not only heighten Curlin's ongoing status as one of the most desirable stallions in the industry, it continues Hill 'n' Dale's run of success with young sires. Violence , a son of Medaglia d'Oro who stands for $50,000 in 2023, has his own top sophomore runner in champion 2-year-old male and 2023 Florida Derby (G1) winner Forte . Army Mule , who won each of his three career starts, has caught some off guard with his strong start at stud, finishing fourth on the first-crop sire list in 2022 and currently ranked fourth on the second-crop sire list.
"The last few years we haven't bought any stallions. I thought pretty good horses were being sold as if they were great horses," Sikura said. "It was a bit frustrating and there was a bit of a disconnect of people going 'How come you haven't bought any horses?' We have two horses in Good Magic and Army Mule, and for many people Army Mule was a complete surprise—he wasn't for me. I'm not saying I had some special knowledge, but I believed in the horse. And Good Magic, he speaks for himself.
"I'm not just going to do something for money. I'm not just going to take a stallion because he's priced right, and then you can be out in two years and sell him to Turkey. If that happens, for me it's a failure even if you make money. The goal for me is to be highly selective and feel passionate about every horse we bring in. I'm not always right. But even if I'm completely wrong, at least I believed in them all the way."
Given the highs and lows that come with the breeding and racing industry, the moments of validation are to be savored. In Curlin, Hill 'n' Dale has a stallion who is ironclad in his impact. With Good Magic, Sikura can feel even more confident in the notion that he can look up and see greatness before him for years to come.
"Any time you have excellence in any endeavor, I think it really makes a business legitimate," Sikura said. "When you can look at a great stallion, that's a sense of permanence. They're prolific beyond what they should be, they break records, their stakes winners and percentages of good horses are two- and three-times what other good horses have. That's a great thing."
