El Tormenta Upsets Woodbine Mile with Late Stretch Run
Description:
In a stretch run no one saw coming until it was too late, Sam-Son Farm homebred El Tormenta skimmed the rail all the way to an upset victory in the $1 million Ricoh Woodbine Mile Stakes (G1T) Sept. 14 at Woodbine.
Ridden by Eurico Rosa da Silva and trained by Gail Cox, the 4-year-old gelded son of Stormy Atlantic ran down the hard-driving favorite, Got Stormy, in the stretch to win by a half-length. The final time for the one-mile race was 1:32.60 on turf rated firm.
Got Stormy held for second. Following a stewards inquiry, Lucullan was disqualified from third to fourth, and Raging Bull was moved up to third.
It marked the first top-level win for El Tormenta, who was bred in Ontario out of the El Prado mare Torreadora. He entered Saturday's race off a fourth-place finish in the Aug. 24 Play the King Stakes (G2T). The Woodbine Mile is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series "Win and You're In" race with an automatic berth in the Nov. 2 TVG Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) at Santa Anita Park.
This story will be updated.