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Racing Analysis by Steve Haskin

Bill Currin has never been known for his conventionality. He ran Outta Here in the 2003 Kentucky Derby (gr. I) off only one race as a 3-year-old, and that was the UAE Derby (UAE-II). Outta Here actually ran well at Churchill Downs to finish seventh.

This year, he has one of the fastest and toughest 3-year-olds in the country in Stormello, and despite the colt being stabled at Hollywood Park, he elected to ship Stormello to Florida for the Fountain of Youth (gr. II), where he ran a gutsy race, only to get nosed by Scat Daddy right on the wire. Currin then sent him back home and, instead of running in the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I), has decided to ship him back to Gulfstream for the Florida Derby (gr. I).

There are few, if any, 3-year-olds that have the seasoning and foundation of Stormello. And you’d be hard-pressed to find one tougher and more battled-tested. Following third-place finishes in the Best Pal Stakes and Del Mar Futurity (both gr. II), he captured the Norfolk Breeders’ Cup Stakes (gr. II) by a neck in a game performance.

In the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (gr. I), he dueled on the front end before tiring to finish fifth. Kent Desormeaux felt it would have been a different story had he let him go and opened up on the field. He followed that up with another gutsy effort, coming again to beat Liquidity in the Hollywood Futurity (gr. I) by a neck.

After turning in eight strong works this winter, seven of which were five furlongs or longer, including a :581⁄5 bullet drill, Stormello set rapid fractions in the Fountain of Youth, fought off the challenges of Adore the Gold and Nobiz Like Shobiz, and just got beat by Scat Daddy, whom he never saw. And this was right after a nightmare 14-hour flight to Florida and arriving in hot, humid weather. Stormello is on target to have only two starts before the Kentucky Derby, but with his grit and toughness, that should be enough for him to be a major factor May 5.

Pedigree Profile by Avalyn Hunter

When Stormy Atlantic retired to Arthur I. Appleton’s Bridlewood Farm near Ocala, Fla., he was just another royally-pedigreed but modestly-­performing son of Storm Cat, a fact reflected in his 1999 stud fee of $5,000. To be sure, he had been a stakes winner at 4, but much more had been expected given his lineage.

Eight years later, Stormy Atlantic now stands at John Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms near Lexington for a fee of $30,000. Although his consistency is only fair (he has 218 winners from his 445 foals that are 3-year-olds and up, or 49%), he has gotten some very nice horses among his 26 stakes winners, including his first grade I winner, Stormello, now a leading candidate for the upcoming Florida Derby (gr. I).

Stormy Atlantic had the pedigree to be a good stallion. He descends from the family of Rough Shod II, whose descendants include the great sires Nureyev and Sadler’s Wells and 1996 leading French sire Fairy King. More immediately, his dam, 1990 Santa Anita Oaks (gr. I) winner Hail Atlantis, is a daughter of the great Seattle Slew. She has also produced stakes winner Mr. Katowice and stakes-placed Divine Dixie, dam of 2005 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I) winner Bandini.

Stormello is from Stormy Atlantic’s first Kentucky-bred crop and was produced from Wilshewed, whose sire, Carson City, was also the broodmare sire of the late Barbaro. A half-sister to four minor stakes winners, she is out of So Cozy, a stakes-winning daughter of Lyphard.

Stormello has already proved himself both fast and game, but must still answer the question of stamina. He has shown he can carry his speed farther than his sire; however, his damline has been more oriented toward speed than stamina, and the key issue may well be how much stamina Stormello has inherited from his second damsire, Lyphard. The Florida Derby should do much to determine whether Stormello is a legitimate contender for the American classics or a brilliant colt whose best days will be at shorter distances.