Got Stormy Continues Streak in Ontario Colleen
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Photo: Michael Burns
Got Stormy (center) runs clear of her competition to win the Ontario Colleen Stakes at Woodbine
Gary Barber's Got Stormy just keeps getting better.
The Mark Casse-trained daughter of Get Stormy cleared seven rivals with ease and drew off to score by two lengths under a confident ride from Patrick Husbands in the $125,000 Ontario Colleen Stakes (G3T) July 21 at Woodbine. The Canadian debut was her third straight stakes win and first in graded company.
Got Stormy broke sharply from post 6 to get the first call out of the gate in the mile turf test but relaxed down the backstretch and raced three wide outside of Ladies Night, who set easy early fractions of :24.82 and :48.86. The 3-year-old filly took over with a strong move off the turn for home through three-quarters in 1:12.02 and drew clear in hand. The final time was 1:34.59 on a firm course.
"She's a very keen filly, and this is the first time I got on her," Husbands said. "Mark called me this morning and said, 'Patrick, try to see if you can get her to relax,' because at Woodbine we have (one) turn, (and) there's a big straightaway."
Got Stormy was sent off as the 3-5 favorite following back-to-back wins stateside in the June 2 Penn Oaks and June 23 Wild Applause Stakes, also mile events.
"She ran back to her form," Husbands said. "The last two races that she won, she won pretty easy, so she showed that she was the best today."
A. A. Azula's Arch chased gamely on the rail and managed second, while Ladies Night held three-quarters of a length back in third. The order of finish was completed by Armoricaine, Safe to Say, Get Explicit, Peach of a Gal, and Fairy Hill.
Got Stormy was bred in Kentucky by Mt. Joy Stables, Pope McLean, Marc McLean, and Pope McLean Jr. out of the Malabar Gold mare Super Phoebe. She was a $45,000 purchase by Alan Quartucci from Niall Brennan's consignment to the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Equine Invest pinhooked her to the sale off a $23,000 buy from Pope McLean's consignment to the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She has now won half of her eight lifetime starts and has finished no worse than fourth, for earnings of $283,978.
"She's fabulous. It's nice to see her get a graded win today, that really moves her up," said assistant trainer Kathryn Sullivan. "Mr. Barber has been a great client for us. He loves horse racing."