One of the wine industry’s top executives and innovators, Jackson Family Wines Chairman & Proprietor Barbara R. Banke has spent the last two decades leading the company she co-founded with her late husband, wine icon Jess Jackson, while building and expanding their mutual passion for Thoroughbreds via Stonestreet Farm.
The UCLA and Hastings Law School graduate is no stranger to juggling diverse workloads. A former land use and constitutional law attorney, Banke spent more than a decade arguing cases before the United States Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal, and raised three children with Jess (Katie, Julia and Christopher Jackson).
The Jackson Family is as passionate about thoroughbred breeding and racing as it is about wine. They raced Curlin, a Racing Hall of Fame inductee with 9 graded stakes wins including the 2007 Preakness Stakes, 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic and 2008 Dubai World Cup. A four-time Eclipse Award winner, Curlin was named Champion 3 Year Old Colt in 2007, Champion Older Horse in 2008 and Horse of the Year in both 2007 and 2008. Rachel Alexandra enters the Racing Hall of Fame in 2016; she became the first filly to win the Preakness Stakes in 85 years and was also named the 2009 Horse of the Year. Homebred 2011 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner My Miss Aurelia was named Champion 2 Year Old Filly in 2011.
A leading commercial breeder, Stonestreet has bred and raised horses that have won a combined 70 Graded and Listed stakes races, including the 2014 G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with Texas Red.
Barbara is proud of her service to a number of Thoroughbred industry organizations including The Jockey Club, the Breeders’ Cup, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame and her participation as a member of Keeneland’s Advisory Board of Directors. Barbara is committed to pursuing a bright future for an industry and sport that have provided her with so many thrills and memories.
