Stormy Lucy Provides Matriarch Stunner

Blocked by a wall of five horses exiting the final turn, Steve Moger's Stormy Lucy found space to the outside and just got up to catch Recepta at the wire and win the $300,000 Matriarch Stakes (gr. IT) Nov. 29 at Del Mar.



The 6-year-old Stormy Atlantic   mare trained by Ed Moger Jr. stunned the full field of 14 at odds of 65-1 with the head victory, and broke an eight-race winless streak that went back to her back-to-back scores in the Santa Barbara Handicap (gr. IIIT) and Santa Ana Stakes (gr. IIT) in the spring of 2014. Favored Filimbi (5-2) finished third, 1 1/2 lengths back, coming off an allowance win following a second in the Longines Just a Game (gr. IT) at Belmont Park.

It was the first grade I win for the owner-trainer duo of bothers.

"She was doing great and she's such a good horse," Ed Moger Jr. said. "When you've got a good horse you've always got a chance. We've been trying to get a grade I win for her all year. It's the first grade I for me and I've been waiting for it for a long time. I’ve been training for 40 years. We wanted to run her in the Breeders’ Cup and then go to the (Fasig-Tipton) sale. But then she didn’t get in and we really wanted to win a grade I, so that’s why we’re here."

After Curlin's Fox set hot fractions of :22.69, :46.20, and 1:11.08 through six furlongs, Stormy Lucy hit the wire in 1:35.16 under jockey Kent Desormeaux for the mile on firm turf. She raced in eighth early, 5 3/4 lengths back, but cut that deficit in half at the top of the stretch before surging on the outside.

"She ran huge—huge," Desormeaux said. "The trainer told me she doesn't switch leads, but she did today. She sure did. Terrific race for her."

The winner paid $132.80, $50.40, and $21.20 across the board. Recepta brought $9.20 and $6.60, while Filimbi delivered $3.80 to show.



Queen of the Sand closed from 13th to finish fourth, followed by Gender Agenda, Prize Exhibit, Stellar Path, She's Not Here, Hard Not to Like, Chati's On Top, Crowley's Law, Olorda, Curlin's Fox, and Baruta, to complete the order of finish.



Hard Not to Like, who was seeking her fourth grade I victory at a fourth different racetrack, stumbled and nearly fell out of the gate, and found herself 15 3/4 lengths back early, but was still able to improve her position late to finish ninth, 6 1/2 lengths behind the winner.

"She was ready for the break," said Hard Not to Like's jockey, John Velazquez, who was nearly unseated after the gates opened. "I don’t know why she stumbled like she did.”

Bred in Kentucky by Mercedes Stable from the Dixieland Band mare Here Comes Lucinda, Stormy Lucy has a 8-2-5 record from 31 starts and earnings of $771,700.