Storm the Court | Horse Racing Free Tips

Fifty Months And Twenty Races Later, Storm The Court Looking To Get Back To Winner’s Circle

Even though he won the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, no one was ready to declare that Storm the Court (Court Vision) was a star in the making. After all, he was 45-1 that day at Santa Anita and the field for that year's Juvenile was one of the weakest in the history of the race. But nobody could have predicted what was to become for that year's 2-year-old male champion, an epic losing streak that has lasted now for more than four years and 20 races.

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.”

The post Fifty Months And Twenty Races Later, Storm The Court Looking To Get Back To Winner’s Circle appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Brickyard Ride Gives Rider Alexis Centeno First Graded Victory In San Carlos

Fresh off a huge win versus California-breds, Alfred Pais's homebred Brickyard Ride made short work of open company in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., as he made every pole a winning one in covering seven furlongs in 1:21.51. Ridden by apprentice Alexis Centeno and trained by Craig Lewis, Brickyard Ride, a 4-year-old colt by top California-based stallion Clubhouse Ride, was never threatened as he won by four lengths.

Breaking like a shot from post position six in a field of nine, Brickyard Ride outfooted 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Storm the Court while under restraint in the early running and was merely a chestnut blur around the far turn. With just three taps of the stick to keep him focused, Brickyard Ride cruised to the wire, where he received a congratulatory pat on the right shoulder from Centeno, who celebrated his first-ever graded stakes victory.

“Well, speed kills and he killed today, with his speed,” said Lewis, who also trained Clubhouse Ride. “He's blessed with a lot of natural speed obviously, he's learning how to relax. He's maturing, he's a big powerful horse. He reached for (more) ground like a horse that could run forever. He's starting to look like he could be the goods.”

A 3 ¼ length winner of the six-furlong Don Valpredo Cal Cup Sprint on Jan. 16, Brickyard Ride was off at 5-1, a considerable overlay off of his morning line of 3-1, and paid $12.00, $5.40 and $4.20.

“This is of big significance to me,” said Centeno, a 27-year-old Puerto Rican native. “Craig Lewis gave me the opportunity to work this horse and since I've been on him, he's run well for me and he's comfortable with me.”

Out of the Southern Image mare Brickyard Helen, Brickyard Ride collected his first graded stakes win and his seventh overall victory from 13 starts. With the winner's share of $120,000, he increased his earnings to $380,277.

Fellow Cal-bred Tigre Di Slugo, who was second to the winner in the Cal Cup Sprint, rallied well for second today, finishing a nose better than Exaulted. The 5-2 favorite with Joel Rosario, Tigre Di Slugo paid $3.80 and $2.80.

Ridden by Mike Smith, Exaulted was off at 6-1 and paid $3.40 to show.

Fractions on the race were 21.63, 43.93 and 1:08.49.

The post Brickyard Ride Gives Rider Alexis Centeno First Graded Victory In San Carlos appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Lightly-Raced Colonel Liam Tops Pletcher Trio In Pegasus Turf

Robert and Lawana Low's Colonel Liam, making just his sixth career start and first in graded company, figures to garner plenty of support in the richest grass stakes of the winter season, Saturday's $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park.

The third running of the 1 3/16-mile Pegasus Turf and the fifth renewal of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) at 1 1/8 miles on dirt comprise the Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series, headlining a blockbuster 12-race program featuring seven graded-stakes worth $4.725 million in purses.

First race post time is 11:40 a.m. EST. The Pegasus Turf will be part of NBC's live national telecast from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

This year, the Pegasus Turf will serve as a 'Win and In' qualifier for the $1 million Middle Distance Turf Handicap Feb. 20 at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In addition, the Pegasus World Cup is a 'Win and In' race for the $20 million Saudi Cup.

During Wednesday's post-position draw inside Gulfstream's Sport of Kings Theatre, Colonel Liam was made the narrow 7-2 program favorite over stablemate Largent (9-2) in a field of a dozen stakes winners, 10 of them graded, including Grade 1 winners Aquaphobia, Next Shares, Say the Word and Storm the Court, the 2-year-old male champion of 2019.

Colonel Liam and Largent are part of trainer Todd Pletcher's triple threat that includes Social Paranoia (8-1), also among the five horses listed at less than double-digit odds. The others are Anothertwistafate (5-1) and Say the Word (6-1).

“The mile and three-sixteenths is a little different distance for Largent. He's never been quite that far but the way he ran in the Fort Lauderdale going a mile and an eighth certainly gives you confidence he'll handle it,” Pletcher said.

“Social Paranoia has won as far as a mile and five-sixteenths, and Colonel Liam was a little bit unlucky in the Saratoga Derby at a mile and a quarter. I think [the distance] should work for all three of them,” he added.

Colonel Liam, a 4-year-old son of Liam's Map, is the least experienced runner in the Pegasus Turf. Liam's Map was a two-time Grade 1 winner on dirt for Pletcher, taking the 2015 Woodward and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

“It's always fun when you're training the offspring of a horse that you've trained,” Pletcher said. “It's great to see Liam's Map doing well as a stallion and showing his versatility of getting dirt horses and turf horses and good 2-year-olds, and showing that he's capable of siring just about any type of horse.”

A $1.2 million purchase as a 2-year-old in training in April 2019, Colonel Liam went unraced as a juvenile before debuting against older horses going a mile on dirt last April at Gulfstream, where he was placed first after finishing a troubled second. Moved to the grass for the first time in his third start, he beat his elders again in an open allowance at Saratoga, then encountered trouble again while running fourth, beaten less than a length, in the Saratoga Derby.

Colonel Liam turned in his best performance to date last time out, rating in mid-pack off a moderate pace before coming with a four-wide move to take the lead and widen his advantage through the stretch to win the 1 1/16-mile Tropical Park Derby by 3 ¼ lengths Dec. 26 at Gulfstream.

“Very impressed,” Pletcher said. “I loved the way he pulled away at the end. We've always had high hopes for him, so it's nice to see him living up to those.”

Irad Ortiz Jr., up in the Tropical Park Derby, rides back from Post 5.

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Twin Creeks Racing Stable's Largent also had a career-best effort in his most recent start, saving ground inside before forging a short lead at the top of the stretch and drawing clear to a two-length triumph in the 1 1/8-mile Fort Lauderdale (G2) Dec. 12. The 5-year-old Into Mischief gelding, never worse than second in nine starts with six wins, beat Virginia-breds in turf stakes at Laurel Park and Colonial Downs last summer.

“That was his breakthrough performance,” Pletcher said. “He's always been very consistent. He's run against some really nice horses. We took advantage of his Virginia-bred status because that's what you're supposed to do when you have those kinds of options. It wasn't so much that we felt like he didn't belong at Saratoga or some bigger races; we had the opportunity and wanted to take advantage of it.”

Paco Lopez gets the return call on Largent from Post 6.

Winner of the one-mile Poker (G3) in July, The Elkstone Group's Social Paranoia, 5, went unraced until capturing a 7 ½-furlong optional claiming allowance Dec. 16 on the Gulfstream turf. The son of Street Boss owns three wins in four tries on the local surface including the one-mile Appleton (G3) last winter. He won the Dueling Grounds Derby going 1 5/16 miles at Kentucky Downs in 2019.

“He's consistent and likes this course, and he's proven at the distance,” Pletcher said. “The key, for him and Colonial Liam both, was we needed a race under their belt to kind of set them up for this. They were both coming off short layoffs so a prep race was important for both of them.”

Luis Saez, whose previous trip aboard Social Paranoia came in his March 2019 maiden triumph at Gulfstream, has the assignment from outside Post 12.

Peter Redekop's Anothertwistafate, based in California with trainer Peter Miller, is a stakes winner on three surfaces. He won the El Camino Real on Golden Gate's all-weather track and was second by a neck in the Sunland Derby (G3) on dirt, both going 1 1/8 miles, while on the 2019 Triple Crown trail.

The 5-year-old son of Scat Daddy won the Longacres Mile (G3) going a mile at Emerald Downs last September in one of only two 2020 starts, and in just his second race for Miller captured the 1 1/8-mile San Gabriel (G2) on the Santa Anita turf Jan. 2. Joel Rosario rides for the third straight race from Post 8.

“I don't think [distance] will be an issue,” Miller said. “He's the type of horse that doesn't seem to get tired. He's got a lot of stamina and is built like a horse that can get a mile and a half.”

A win by homebred Say the Word would be a fitting sendoff for Sam-Son Farm, the legendary owner and breeder of 84 Sovereign Award winners and four Eclipse Award winners, which is undergoing a complete dispersal of its racing and breeding stock. The 6-year-old gelding became a Grade 1 winner in the 1 ½-mile Northern Dancer (G1) last October on the Woodbine turf and exits a third, beaten one length, in the 1 ½-mile Hollywood Turf Cup (G2) Nov. 27 at Del Mar.

Flavien Prat, up in the Turf Cup, rides Say the Word (6-1) from Post 11.

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey will send out a pair of contenders in North Dakota (10-1) and Breaking the Rules (20-1). Allen Stable Inc. homebred North Dakota, a 5-year-old half-brother to Grade 2 winner and influential sire War Front, needed seven tries to break his maiden but has won four of his last six races. The most recent came in the 1 3/8-mile Red Smith (G3) Nov. 21 at Aqueduct.

“He's been kind of a late bloomer but he's been doing well. His races, really all [last] year, have been good so we're looking forward to running him here,” McGaughey said. “He's a true distance horse, probably even a little more than a mile and three-sixteenths. The way he's doing and the way he's been coming around, all year really, [is great], and his races have been spaced and he's fresh and we're ready to give it a try.”

Another homebred, Phipps Stable's Breaking the Rules is a 6-year-old son of War Front that has three career races over the Gulfstream turf, winning the Tropical Park Derby and finishing second by a head in the Canadian Turf (G3) during the 2018-2019 Championship Meet. He went two-for-five in 2020, running fourth in the Lure and Knickerbocker (G2) in New York and third by two lengths in the Fort Lauderdale under jockey Edgard Zayas after being bumped at the start.

“I think he's had a pretty good year. I was disappointed in his race at Saratoga in the Lure. Then he came back and I thought he ran fine on a track he doesn't prefer. He wants it hard and it had more give to it than I thought,” McGaughey said. “I thought his race here in the Fort Lauderdale was pretty good. I think that Edgard was not familiar with him and he told me he thought he was too far back and I think he moved a little bit soon on him. He got caught up on the outside and didn't get beat far. It was a fast race, so I'm looking forward to getting him stretched out.”

Hall of Famer John Velazquez is named on Breaking the Rules from Post 2, while Jose Ortiz has the call on North Dakota from Post 4.

Exline-Border Racing, David Bernsen, Susanna Wilson and Dan Hudock's Storm the Court (12-1) went winless in eight 2020 starts, including a sixth in the Kentucky Derby (G1), after clinching his Eclipse Award with a front-running head triumph in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). He has raced three times on the turf for trainer Peter Eurton, running second in the 1 1/16-mile La Jolla (G3) last summer at Del Mar as well as the Mathis Brothers Mile (G2) Dec. 26 at Santa Anita. Julien Leparoux gets the assignment from Post 3.

Trainer Mike Maker upset the 2020 Pegasus Turf with Zulu Alpha, and while that horse continues to recover from an injury that knocked him out of the Breeders' Cup last fall, Maker will be represented by the pair of Cross Border (15-1) and Aquaphobia (20-1).

“It was cool to win it last year, it'd be cooler to win this year and even cooler than that to win it again next year,” Maker said.

Three Diamonds Farm's Cross Border owns nine wins from 30 lifetime starts and became a graded winner when elevated to first in the 1 3/8-mile Bowling Green (G2) last summer at Saratoga following the disqualification of Grade 1 winner Sadler's Joy, who edged Cross Border by a neck. Last time out, the gelded 7-year-old son of turf champion English Channel was beaten a head when second in the 1 1/16-mile Buddy Diliberto Memorial Dec. 19 at Fair Grounds.

“I like his chances. He's doing great and shipped over well. We're looking forward to running him,” Maker said. “He's been a very solid horse. We've had luck with him from 6 ½ furlongs to a mile and a half. He just loves his job and he's easy to train.”

Paradise Farms Corp., David Staudacher, Hooties Racing and Skychai Racing's Aquaphobia is the most experienced runner in the Pegasus Turf with 39 career starts, nine of them wins, none bigger than his one-length triumph in the 1 3/8-mile United Nations (G1) last July at Monmouth Park. The 8-year-old Giant's Causeway horse has raced exclusive in stakes since being claimed by Maker for $62,500 last winter at Gulfstream, most recently running sixth by two lengths behind North Dakota in the Red Smith.

“He's a horse we were trying to get for quite some time and we were fortunate to get him,” Maker said. “We gave him some freshening. He just got outrun last time and he's doing super now. He'll get a firmer course here which he likes and I think the distance is favorable for him.”

Tyler Gaffalione will ride Cross Border from Post 9. Joe Bravo, aboard in the United Nations, returns from Post 7.

Godolphin's well-traveled homebred Pixelate (15-1) was a popular head winner of the 1 1/8-mile Del Mar Derby (G2) last September, and is coming off a half-length victory in the one-mile Woodchopper Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds. The 4-year-old City Zip colt will be making his Gulfstream debut in his 15th career start, having raced at nine different tracks in seven states. Edgard Zayas gets the assignment from Post 10.

Co-owned by a partnership that includes trainer Richard Baltas and his wife, Debby, Next Shares (20-1) is the richest horse in the Pegasus Turf with a $1.85 million bankroll and one of two millionaires in the field, along with Storm the Court. The 8-year-old Archarcharch gelding and 2018 Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) victor is winless since his triumph in the November 2019 Seabiscuit Handicap (G2).

Next Shares will be making his third straight appearance in the Pegasus Turf, having finished seventh in 2019 and 12th in 2020. Drayden Van Dyke has the call from Post 1.

The post Lightly-Raced Colonel Liam Tops Pletcher Trio In Pegasus Turf appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Giant Expectations, Court Vision To Stand At Pryor Ranch In Nebraska

Nebraska's stallion ranks will add a pair of new faces in 2021, with Giant Expectations and Court Vision relocating to Pryor Ranch near Omaha, Neb.

Farm owner Judy Pryor, whose background comes in the Quarter Horse realm, said the decision to purchase Thoroughbred stallions came after the state passed racino legislation in November, opening up future opportunities for the state's breeding and racing programs. However, she said the process of finding the stallions wasn't easy.

Pryor went to the recent Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale looking for a stallion, but the horses she landed on were scratched from the sale either because the owner decided to hang on to them or a private sale was made before the horse entered the ring. She did, however, take note of Giant Expectations, who was being shown as a stallion prospect at a farm near the sales grounds.

“I kind of came home from there with my tail between my legs, thinking, 'I don't need to work this hard, anyway,'” Pryor said. “I started really researching and asking a lot of questions, and the gentleman that owns Giant Expectations, Justin Border, won the Breeders' Cup and an Eclipse Award with a horse by one of the stallions I was interested in.”

Border, through the nom-de-course Exline-Border Racing, campaigns Storm the Court, who won the 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile en route to champion 2-year-old male honors. Storm the Court is by Court Vision, who had been standing at Acadiana Equine in Louisiana.

Pryor had always been keen on sons and daughters of Gulch – a rapidly shrinking population in 2021 – so seeing the Gulch sire line run through Storm the Court via Court Vision gave her another target for acquisition.

“I started thinking, 'This guy likes what I like,' so I started researching Storm the Court, and I got it in my head that I was going to get Court Vision,” Pryor said.

After plenty of research and phone calls, Pryor ended up with two new stallions; both of them tied to Border's stable either actively or passively.

Giant Expectations, a son of Frost Giant, won four of 25 starts during his on-track career for earnings of $1,343,600. The 8-year-old is best known for his victories in the Grade 2 Pat O'Brien Stakes and San Antonio Stakes.

Bred in New York by Sunrise Stables, Giant Expectations is out of the winning Is It True mare Sarahisittrue, whose five foals to race are all winners. He hails from the family of multiple Grade 2 winner C Z Rocket.

Court Vision, a 16-year-old son of Gulch, is best known on the racetrack for his victory in the 2011 Breeders' Cup Mile at Churchill Downs, a swan song that brought his career record to nine wins in 31 starts and earnings of $3,746,658. His other wins of note included the G1 Hollywood Derby, Woodbine Mile, Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap, and Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes, the G2 Remsen Stakes and Jamaica Handicap, and the G3 Iroquois Stakes.

From seven crops of racing age, Court Vision has sired 156 winners, with combined progeny earnings in excess of $13.9 million. He began his stallion career in 2012 at Park Stud in Ontario, then moved to Kentucky for one season at Spendthrift Farm in 2016 before relocating to Louisiana.

Storm the Court is Court Vision's best runner to date, conceived during Court Vision's lone season in Kentucky. In addition to bringing in an Eclipse Award and a Breeders' Cup trophy, Storm the Court finished a solid sixth in last year's Kentucky Derby, and he most recently ran second in the G2 Mathis Brothers Mile Stakes on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.

Court Vision's other runners of note include Grade 2 winner Mr Havercamp and Canadian champion King and His Court.

Pryor said she was still deciding on stud fees for her two new additions, but her goal would be the same no matter the price: raise a horse that could take her to the Kentucky Derby as a connection instead of a spectator.

Court Vision, in particular, has already gotten one foal to Churchill Downs when the lights were at their brightest, and Pryor hoped history could repeat.

“I'm a 71-year-old lady that always wanted a Kentucky Bluegrass farm, but I live in Omaha, Neb,” Pryor said. “That's been my childhood dream. I know I'll probably never make it, but I'd sure like to go. I've gotten to be in the paddock at all three Triple Crown races a few times.”

The post Giant Expectations, Court Vision To Stand At Pryor Ranch In Nebraska appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post