Stormy Liberal to Get Al Quoz Prep at Santa Anita

Unlike other American horses prepping for a trip to Dubai this year, Stormy Liberal's final Southern California start ahead of the March 30 Al Quoz Sprint Sponsored by Azizi Developments (G1) won't be any kind of audition.

The five-horse, five-furlong allowance turf sprint Feb. 22 at Santa Anita Park, which kicks off the Friday afternoon card, will be quite literally a paid workout for the 7-year-old Stormy Atlantic  gelding owned by Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen.

"He just needed a race. He needs to stay fit," said Brian Trump, racing manager for Rockingham Ranch. "It's one thing to work the horse (during regular morning training hours), but it's another to go against other horses in a race. He needs to stay fit for Dubai. It's a glorified workout."

The champion turf male of 2018, Stormy Liberal took a similar path last year for trainer Peter Miller ahead of the Al Quoz Sprint—where he finished second—in the Daytona Stakes (G3T) in February. But this season Santa Anita moved the Daytona to May, and there isn't another turf sprint stakes for males at the Arcadia, Calif., racetrack until the March 16 San Simeon Stakes (G3T).

Stormy Liberal will surely go off as the odds-on favorite in the allowance sprint Friday off his 2019 debut, a second-place run to Caribou Club in the Jan. 1 Joe Hernandez Stakes (G3T) at about 6 1/2 furlongs down Santa Anita's hillside turf course.

Hronis Racing's Cistron, the 7-2 second choice on the morning line for Friday's race, finished fourth in the Joe Hernandez, two lengths behind Stormy Liberal. Peter Miller-trained stablemate Calculator is also entered in the Friday allowance after a nonthreatening sixth-place effort in the Joe Hernandez that was followed by unplaced finishes in an allowance and the Clockers' Corner Stakes.

A pair of California-breds round out the short field—stakes winner Tough Sunday and multiple stakes-placed Eddie Haskell, who finished third in the Clockers' Corner Stakes last time out Jan. 27.

Last year, the Al Quoz Sprint was just a piece of the puzzle that led to Stormy Liberal's championship, the first for a sprinter in the category. In the first half of the year, he finished second in the Daytona, second in the Al Quoz, and sixth in the Jaipur Invitational Stakes (G2T) at Belmont Park. He then closed out his season on a four-race tear, which included stakes wins in the Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar, Eddie D Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita, and his second straight Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) score at Churchill Downs.

Since he was claimed by Miller for $40,000 in October 2016, Stormy Liberal has earned more than $1.7 million. He's the second-leading purse earner of Miller's training career and only trails two-time male sprint champion Roy H (more than $3.1 million), who is also owned by Rockingham and Bernsen. Roy H will also head to Dubai for his second try at the Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored by Gulf News (G1).