Stormy Liberal Ekes Out BC Turf Sprint Repeat
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Stormy Liberal edges out World of Trouble to win the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs
A former claimer took on Thoroughbred racing's elite Nov. 3 at the Breeders' Cup World Championships and emerged with the title not once, but for the second consecutive year.
Picked up when he was running for a $40,000 tag in October 2016, Stormy Liberal won the 2017 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) by a head at Del Mar in a blanket finish at odds of 30-1. This year at Churchill Downs, his odds were much lower at 7-1—but the victory was still no easy task.
With 2-1 choice World of Trouble on the lead on the hedge, the 6-year-old Stormy Atlantic gelding ranged up with a bold, three-wide move off the turn for home. He looked the favorite in the eye and found a stubborn foe, and the two hooked up for a head-to-head battle down the stretch.
Stormy Liberal has been known to wait on horses when he finds company in the lane, but Rockingham Ranch's Brian Trump said he's just clever enough to know when his maximum effort is needed.
"He's a very, very smart horse," Trump said. "He just knows where the wire is."
Stride by stride, 3-year-old World of Trouble refused to yield, but just inside the final sixteenth, Stormy Liberal finally gained the advantage and edged ahead by a neck. It was 7 1/4 lengths back to Disco Partner in third. The final time for 5 1/2 furlongs was 1:04.05 on turf rated yielding.
Stormy Liberal earned his fourth consecutive win this season for Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen and trainer Peter Miller, and his first in grade 1 company since his Breeders' Cup score last year. The win was jockey Drayden Van Dyke's first in a Breeders' Cup event.
"I think the long-term target is to try and triple up on this race next year," Bernsen said. "He just has a tremendous heart. He really wants to win. He does just enough, he doesn't overexert himself in any race or any workout … his soundness and durability have also been keys. With most horses, you can't do this. They're just not able to. He's just a special horse in so many ways."
Bred in Kentucky by Dapple Bloodstock and Gryphon Investments out of the Royal Academy mare Vassar, Stormy Liberal joins Mizdirection (2012-13) as the only repeat winners of the race. With a 12-8-1 record from 30 starts, he has earned $1,918,930.
"It's a little surreal (to earn a repeat Breeders' Cup victory), to be honest with you, especially with a horse you claimed," Miller said. "We claimed him for $40,000, and he was sharp when we claimed him. He won the day we claimed him, and he's been pretty sharp ever since. He liked our program, he liked being at San Luis Rey (training center), and I think those things have just really helped him to blossom and mature in the last couple of years."