El Tormenta Breaks Through in Connaught Cup
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Photo: Michael Burns
El Tormenta wins the Connaught Cup at Woodbine
Sam-Son Farm's El Tormenta out-finished the favorites to earn his first stakes victory in the $146,873 Connaught Cup Stakes (G2T) June 1 contested over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course at Woodbine.
El Tormenta raced between horses stalking frontrunners Shakhimat and Hold'emforransom through opening fractions of :23.29 and :44.83 in the seven-furlong sprint. As the field spread across the track and converged on the pacesetters at the top of the stretch, El Tormenta split rivals and held off the oncoming favorites, winning in 1:20.29 over firm turf.
Emmaus came up a neck short, with Curlin's Honor three-quarters of a length back in third. Yorkton, the favorite who was out front early before settling into an outer stalking position, finished 4 1/2 lengths behind in fourth over Savage Battle and the early leaders.
"This horse was a little rank the last couple times he was here, and today he was nice and relaxed," said winning jockey Luis Contreras. "(Trainer) Gail (Cox) told me about him. He was fine the whole way, so by the time I asked him to run, he just gave me everything he had. I'm so glad we won the race."
El Tormenta, who was a runner-up in his only other stakes start in the one-mile Charlie Barley Stakes at Woodbine, recorded a pair of wins on the turf last year and now adds a graded stakes victory to his résumé.
"He's been a really nice horse to have and train, but he was just so speedy last year—hard to get him to settle, and he certainly did today," said Cox, who won back-to-back editions of the Connaught Cup in 2012 and 2013 with Something Extra. "I think he's just a little more mature this year. … This is a big, big step up for him."
With the lion's share of the purse, El Tormenta doubled his bankroll to $195,539. The 4-year-old Stormy Atlantic gelding has won a third of his nine races.
Earlier on the card, reigning Canadian sprint champion Pink Lloyd continued the ride of a lifetime for jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva and Hall of Fame trainer Robert Tiller in the $92,513 Greenwood Stakes.
After settling midpack through opening splits of :21.56 and :44.25, Pink Lloyd launched outside in the turn and won the six-furlong sprint going away in 1:08.98.
"Deep down inside, I wasn't worried about it," said Tiller. "I knew we had him in good order, I knew he was happy. As long as everything goes good with the gate thing and his little issues last fall, I knew he was going to run a big one. I really wasn't concerned about the delay. He's a smart horse."
Formerly known as the Achievement Stakes, the Greenwood Stakes was originally slated for May 25 but was rescheduled when a late-afternoon thunderstorm prompted a rain delay following the post parade and a subsequent cancellation.
Pink Lloyd was fresh off his season debut in the May 4 Jacques Cartier Stakes (G3). The 7-year-old Old Forester gelding won the Achievement Stakes twice amid an 11-stakes win streak and now boasts 18 victories from 23 starts and over $1 million in earnings for Entourage Stable.