Storm the Court will be out to put an end to the futility Saturday at Gulfstream Park in the Silks Run S., but he is 20-1 in the morning line for a race that brought together a surprisingly deep field. Expectations are that the Silks Run will be the 21st straight loss for the now 7-year-old horse.

“The race came up super tough,” said his trainer Bill Morey.

Storm the Court won his debut on Aug. 10, 2019, for trainer Peter Eurton. He lost his rider in his next start, the GI Del Mar Futurity, and then was third in the GI American Pharoah S. Ridden by Flavien Prat, he won the Juvenile in a game effort in which he outfought Anneau d'Or (Medaglia d'Oro). Since then absolutely nothing has gone right.

“A lot of it has to do with fact he matured a lot earlier than most horses do,” Eurton said. “In the Breeders' Cup he was in the right place at the right time. The rest of the horses caught up to him.”

Storm the Court's 3-year-old campaign coincided with the pandemic, which pushed the GI Kentucky Derby back to Sept. 5. He lost all five of his starts leading up to the Derby, but ran creditably when third in the GIII Ohio Derby and second in the GIII La Jolla H. In the Derby, he finished sixth, beaten nine lengths. That was sixth straight loss, and it would only get worse.

Being that the horse was an Eclipse Award champion and a Grade I winner, the owners looked into turning him into a stallion, but the response from the breeding farms was lukewarm at best.

“There was some talk about turning him into a stallion back when he was four,” Eurton said. “But it didn't happen. His pedigree, it's just not there.”

His five-year-old season ended with a 12 3/4-length drubbing in the GIII Tokyo City S. That would be his last start for Eurton.

“The owners thought the horse would be better off back East and would have more opportunities there,” Eurton said.

He was sent to Tom Amoss and made two starts for him, the last of which resulted in a 23-length loss in an allowance race at Churchill in September.

The ownership group then decided to make another change and sent the horse to Morey. The new trainer hasn't gotten him to the winner's circle in three tries, but at least Storm the Court has been competitive. He's had three starts for the new outfit, all of them in allowance sprints on the grass. He finished third at Horseshoe Indianapolis and then second in consecutive races at Tampa Bay Downs.

“I had some other horses for the ownership group and they called me and asked what I doing for the winter,” Morey said. “When I told them I'd be racing at Turfway and Tampa, they thought Tampa might be a good place to get him reinvigorated and back on his game. That was the idea. It just seemed like the horse was obviously stale with what he was doing so we decided to try something drastically different. So far, it has worked to some extent. We haven't gotten to the winner's circle yet, but we seem to have him going pretty good. We're training him to be a sprinter rather than continuing to train him to be a router. I have trained him to sprint. I am assuming that the trainers who had him before me were all training him for routes.”

Morey is optimistic he can break the losing streak, but understands that it probably won't happen Saturday. Storm the Court is running against horses who are considerably faster than him on the Beyer scale, including Big Invasion (Declaration of War), who was second in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

“In this game you take chances,” Morey said. “There wasn't an allowance at five furlongs on the grass at Tampa for the foreseeable future. An on-the board-performance in a race as tough as this would almost feel like we had broken the losing streak. This looks like a tough spot. Maybe we'll get lucky and hit the board or maybe win. If not, hopefully we'll get him into the winner's circle the next time.”

At Santa Anita, Eurton will be watching. He hasn't had the horse for a year and a half, but will always have the memories of his win in the Breeders' Cup.

“I would love to see him win a race. One hundred percent,” he said. “There will always be a soft spot in my heart for this horse.”

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“I was very pleased. He had a serious work last week–fifty-nine-and-change [for five furlongs]. We were just looking for a maintenance work today,” Pletcher said.

Fierceness is coming off a 6 1/4-length romp in the Nov. 3 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

“Knock on wood. He's done everything super this winter. We're excited getting him going again,” Pletcher said.

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who guided Fierceness to victory in the Juvenile, was aboard for Saturday's breeze.

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“Fierceness has trained super. He's such a terrific workhorse. He does everything effortlessly,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “I think with Fierceness we feel like the quality's there [and] the talent's there. Like everyone else we just need to keep moving forward and stay healthy.”

Tentative plans call for Fierceness to use the Holy Bull as a steppingstone to the GI Florida Derby Mar. 31. Fellow 'Rising Star' Forte (Violence) won last year's GII Fountain of Youth S. and Florida Derby.

“So far it's worked out really well,” Pletcher said. “We didn't have to let him down too much after the Breeders' Cup [and] kept him ticking over with the Holy Bull in mind. We kind of liked the spacing coming out of that to the Florida Derby and hopefully things continue on towards Kentucky.”

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He posted his second work of the new year Saturday at Palm Beach Downs, breezing five furlongs in 1:01.17 (8/12).

“He worked super this morning and everything is going according to plan, so far,” Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. “We're targeting the Holy Bull.”

He continued, “We like the little bit of space to the (GI Curlin) Florida Derby (Mar. 30), and we like the five weeks from the Florida Derby to Kentucky. We've still got a long way to go, but so far it's going according to plan.”

Work of the Day from #PalmBeachDowns—Locked (Outside), 1:01.27, and Fierceness, 1:01.17, worked 5 Furlongs on January 13th, 2024, for trainer @PletcherRacing. pic.twitter.com/pAxEW0B26o

— XBTV (@WatchXBTV) January 13, 2024

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Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will also saddle front-running Del Mar debut winner and 5-2 second-choice Pilot Commander (Justify).

Baffert is seeking his record 13th win in the San Vicente, which was previously held in early February.

“They changed the format,” Baffert said. “While I liked it better when this race was in February, I think this should be a good starting point to his season. I think the winner (Fierceness) just ran a crazy fast race (in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile). Muth ran well, he just got beat.”

This weekend's graded stakes action also includes Sunday's GIII Santa Ynez S. at Santa Anita. The rail-drawn Kopion (Omaha Beach), a sharp debut winner for trainer Richard Mandella at Del Mar in late November, is the 3-5 morning-line favorite.

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Victorious in Monmouth's Sapling S. in August after breaking his maiden at Saratoga, he missed graded victory by a nose Oct. 8 in Keeneland's GII Bourbon S. and finished way back in the field last month at the Breeders' Cup.

Breaking as the 6-5 favorite and bumping with the outside runner, Noted settled in seventh for the lion's share of the race before being coaxed along into the far turn. Angled out sharply leaving the bend and causing tight quarters for a pair to his outside, he kicked on from eight wide into the final furlong to nail Reminder in the final strides to win by a neck. With the victory here, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. completed his sweep of the turf features on the card.

“I was a little concerned with the 7 1/2 [furlongs, today] but he seemed to come out of the Breeders' Cup well, he carries good condition and he's an easy horse to train, so I felt like he was ready to run back,” Pletcher said. “We're not going to rule [dirt] out. If he trains really well we might give him another shot at some stage. He's got that win in the Sapling that looks good on paper, but in the Breeders' Cup, he didn't fire.”

#8 NOTED ($4.40) was stuck in a crowd but got out late to storm home and win the Pulpit Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The son of Cairo Prince was ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. and is trained by Todd Pletcher.
Nice call @bernier_matt who gave out 26-1 2nd place finisher #4 Reminder pic.twitter.com/nZsKKc5aok

— TVG (@TVG) December 9, 2023

The first to the races after his eldest full-brother died in 2021, Noted leads the way for his young dam's broodmare career. She produced a yearling filly by Global Campaign as well as a 2023 filly by Upstart. Sea View Nellie, out of MSW & GISP Pocho's Dream Girl–making her a full-sister to MGSW Mark Valeski and a half to GSW & GISP Albano (Istan), went back to Upstart for 2024. This is the extended female family of MSW Pacific Pink, herself the dam of GSP Make the Boys Wink (More Than Ready), and SP Caironi (Cairo Prince). Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

PULPIT S., $100,000, Gulfstream, 12-9, 2yo, 7 1/2fT, 1:27.30, fm.
1–NOTED, 120, c, 2, by Cairo Prince
           1st Dam: Sea View Millie, by Proud Citizen
           2nd Dam: Pocho's Dream Girl, by Fortunate Prospect
           3rd Dam: True to Romeo, by Gallant Romeo
($200,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Repole Stable; B-Brereton C. Jones (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.. $58,900. Lifetime Record: GSP, 6-3-2-0, $338,525.
2–Reminder, 118, c, 2, Audible–Mom's Deputy, by War Chant. ($100,000 Ylg '22 OBSWIN; $200,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $185,000 2yo '23 OBSAPR). O-Tami Bobo; B-Courtney L. Meagher (FL); T-Jose Francisco D'Angelo. $19,000.
3–Palm Tree, 118, g, 2, Street Boss–Desert Gazelle, by Smart Strike. 1ST BLACK TYPE. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh. $9,500.
Margins: NK, HD, NK. Odds: 1.20, 26.30, 2.70.
Also Ran: General Ledger, Double Your Money, Prevent, Ship to Shore, Tocayo, Summer Storm Stric, Liam's Journey. Scratched: Okiro.

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As brilliant as he was in winning his six-furlong debut by better than 11 lengths, good for a 95 Beyer, he was equally disappointing at 55 cents on the dollar when clearly failing to handle the slippery underfoot conditions behind 'Rising Star' Timberlake (Into Mischief) and General Partner (Speightstown) in the GI Champagne S. The gamblers were unforgiving as they gravitated to Locked, Muth and Timberlake, but Fierceness put himself right into the race with a clean dispatch from gate nine, pressing a modest early tempo outside of General Partner. Sidling up at the quarter pole, Fierceness exploded when John Velazquez went for him and pulled clear with each stride in a final time about 2 1/2 seconds faster than the Juvenile Fillies.

Velazquez was winning his 20th Breeders' Cup race and first Juvenile since guiding this owner's Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) back in 2010. Repole 'Rising Star' Forte (Violence) won last year's Juvenile for Todd Pletcher, who was celebrating a 15th Breeders' Cup success.

Fierceness captures the $2 Million @FanDuel #BreedersCup Juvenile pres. by @TBAftercare! Congrats to the connections on a thrilling #FutureStarsFriday victory! https://t.co/rQSmN1o5Kc

— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 3, 2023

Friday, Santa Anita
FANDUEL BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE PRESENTED BY THOROUGHBRED AFTERCARE ALLIANCE-GI, $1,820,000, Santa Anita, 11-3, 2yo, c/g, 1 1/16m, 1:41.90, ft.
1–FIERCENESS, 122, c, 2, by City of Light
           1st Dam: Nonna Bella, by Stay Thirsty
           2nd Dam: Nonna Mia, by Empire Maker
           3rd Dam: Holy Bubbette, by Holy Bull
'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Repole Stable, Inc. (KY); T-Todd Pletcher; J-John R. Velazquez. $1,040,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $1,102,750. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Muth, 122, c, 2, Good Magic–Hoppa, by Uncle Mo. ($190,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $2,000,000 2yo '23 OBSMAR). 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Zedan Racing Stables, Inc.; B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $340,000.
3–Locked, 122, c, 2, Gun Runner–Luna Rosa, by Malibu Moon. 'TDN Rising Star'. ($425,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm; B-Rosa Colasanti (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $180,000.
Margins: 6 1/4, HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 16.50, 2.70, 2.30.
Also Ran: Timberlake, Prince of Monaco, General Partner, Cuban Thunder (Ire), Wine Me Up, Noted. Scratched: Ecoro Neo, The Wine Steward.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Undefeated at two, Essential Quality was a Belmont and Travers winner at three. His first foals were born this year.

“Essential Quality was one of our best yearlings in his crop and he later proved to be the best of his whole crop,” said Michael Banahan, Director of Bloodstock at Godolphin, USA, “winning the Eclipse Award for being Champion 2-year-old and 3-year-old. He also holds a special place in the Godolphin honor roll as a homebred Classic winner. What really distinguished Essential Quality from other horses is that when he left our yearling farm to go into training, he never had a day off until after his last race. He never raced on any medication, was fast, tough, sound and durable. Hopefully, he will pass on those traits to his offspring which will propel him into having a great second career as a stallion.”

Essential Quality (2018 gray or roan horse, Tapit–Delightful Quality, by Elusive Quality)

Lifetime record: Ch. 2yo colt, Ch. 3yo colt, MGISW, 10-8-0-1, $4,755,144

Breeders' Cup connections: B-Godolphin (KY); O-Godolphin, LLC; T-Brad Cox; J-Luis Saez.

Current location: Jonabell Farm, Lexington, Ky.

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“Any hair I had left, he made sure it was gone,” said Casse recently with a laugh. “He was a pistol. A lot of people didn't know this, but six days before the Breeders' Cup–right before we were going to ship–he came up with a foot abscess and couldn't walk. We weren't even sure we were going to get him on the plane.

“We put a three-quarter shoe on him and he won. I have that shoe in my office with the win photo.

“That just showed how truly good he was, a testament to him and his ability. It was wonderful to win it for the Oxleys. They have always been big supporters of ours and they were there, so it was special to win.”

Classic Empire (2014 bay horse, Pioneerof the Nile–Sambuca Classica, by Cat Thief)

Lifetime record: Ch. 2yo colt, MGISW, 9-5-1-1, $2,520,220

Breeders' Cup connections: B-Steven Nicholson & Brandi Nicholson (KY); O-John C. Oxley; T-Mark Casse; J-Julien Leparoux.

Location photographed: Coolmore America/Ashford Stud, Versailles, Ky.

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“I looked after Street Sense for his first season in 2008 in Australia,” said stallion manager Graham Lovatt. “Has as much character in a stallion that I've ever worked with. He'll 'ask' for a carrot or a treat when you walk by and will actually lift a leg up as a prompt. He'll know when his pin is out of his stall door and he'll open it up with his nose/muzzle to get his carrot. He's very respectful. Not a mean bone in his body. I've never known him to bite or kick anyone out of malice.”

Street Sense (2004 dark bay or brown horse, Street Cry {Ire}-Bedazzle, by Dixieland Band)

Lifetime record: Ch. 2yo colt, MGISW, 13-6-4-2, $4,383,200

Breeders' Cup connections: B-James Tafel (KY); O-Jim Tafel LLC; T-Carl Nafzger; J-Calvin Borel.

Current location: Darley America, Lexington, Ky.

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