Bigger Test Looms for Got Stormy in Woodbine Mile

Grazing with top assistant David Adams on the shank Sept. 13 at Woodbine, Got Stormy was more concerned with finding the best grass than with her upcoming engagement in the $1 million Ricoh Woodbine Mile Stakes (G1T)—but her morning training session told a different tale.

The Mark Casse trainee powered through a sharp gallop in the darkness around 6 a.m. at the Toronto track, serving notice she's nothing to be trifled with. Fresh off her sensational trouncing of the boys in a record 1:32 flat in the Aug. 10 Fourstardave Handicap (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course, 4-year-old Got Stormy appears to be thriving.

The daughter of Get Stormy  is a long way removed from July 2018, when she notched her first graded score in Woodbine's Ontario Colleen Stakes (G3T). She's now the 8-5 choice to win the Woodbine Mile over an international cast—the target of 10 rivals gunning for a Breeders' Cup Challenge berth in the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) at Santa Anita Park.

"She did something no other filly's ever done when she won the Fourstardave," Casse said of the first female winner in the race's 34-year history. "She did it off a week's layoff and broke the track record by a second."

Got Stormy wheeled back from a four-length victory in the Fasig-Tipton De La Rose Stakes for Gary Barber and Southern Equine Stable to take the Fourstardave by 2 1/2 lengths over Hollywood Derby (G1T) winner Raging Bull, who will make another run at her Saturday. The quick turnaround was Barber's idea, and Casse couldn't find an excuse to not run back.

"I initially planned on going right from the De La Rose to the Woodbine Mile," the Hall of Famer recalled. "Gary was the one that pushed so hard for the Fourstardave. I gave him all the reasons why we shouldn't do it, and he said, 'OK, that's good, but unless you tell me you're not happy with her, I want to run her back in a week.'

"I said, 'Fair enough.' And as the week went on between the De La Rose and the Fourstardave, she got bigger and stronger. She just started thriving."

Last year, Got Stormy was just another promising 3-year-old with a grade 3 score and a couple listed stakes to her name. When she opened her 2019 campaign with a strong allowance win going a mile at Gulfstream Park, Casse saw another dimension. After a third in the April 13 Coolmore Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T) and a second in the May 4 Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes (G2T), the filly moved to yet another level at Saratoga.

"I think you can start talking about her being on the exceptional side," Casse said.

Seeking her third straight victory at a mile on the lawn and slated to leave post 5 with Tyler Gaffalione riding in Canada for the first time, Got Stormy could join 2016 Woodbine Mile winner Tepin and 2017 winner World Approval to give Casse his third event score.

Got Stormy isn't the only filly in the Woodbine Mile. From Europe comes Lee Yuk Lun Alan's Awesometank, a 4-year-old daughter of Intense Focus who made a solid stateside debut Aug. 10, finishing second—three lengths behind defending champion turf female Sistercharlie—in the Beverly D. Stakes (G1T) going 1 3/16 miles at Arlington International Racecourse.

"She ran a terrific race in Chicago," said trainer William Haggas, who returned the dual stakes winner to his base in England and then sent her back to North America Sept. 9. "She upgraded her performances, and the plan is to leave her in America now. After she runs in Canada, she'll go to Keeneland to run."

Awesometank has won at a mile and will have John Egan aboard. She carries the lowest weight in the field at 116 pounds.

Peter Brant's Raging Bull ran third in the 1 1/4-mile Woodford Reserve Manhattan Stakes (G1T), then cut back to a mile for trainer Chad Brown in the Fourstardave and was well off runaway leader Gidu's blazing fractions. The 4-year-old Dark Angel colt closed sharply from last of 10, but Got Stormy had the advantage after moving earlier from fifth.

Brown also has $20,000 supplement Made You Look off a fifth in the Fourstardave. The grade 2 winner races for Three Chimneys Farm. 

Pin Oak Stable's Synchrony looks to remain perfect at Woodbine while boosting his value with a grade 1 victory. The 6-year-old son of Tapit  won the June 29 King Edward Stakes (G2T) at a mile in his Woodbine debut and was freshened for a return.



"We were experimenting with the one-turn mile because he hadn't done that," trainer Mike Stidham said. "We feel like the mile might be his very best distance. He's always run very well off a freshening. We thought that training him up to the Woodbine Mile, having a fresh horse, would hopefully give us our best chance at his best effort."

Play the King Stakes (G2T) winner Silent Poet, Connaught Cup (G2T) winner El Tormenta, Connaught runner-up Emmaus, Display Stakes winner Admiralty Pier, and allowance winner American Guru complete the field.