Stormy Lord upsets PTHA President's Cup

Last updated: 9/17/11 6:09 PM

Stormy Lord thundered to the wire of the PTHA President’s Cup
(Alyssa Spakowski/Equi-Photo)

An extremely slow pace in Saturday’s $250,000

PTHA President’s Cup at Parx Racing resulted in little change to the order
of the top three throughout the nine-furlong test conducted on yielding turf.

Lubash (Freud), a 54-1 outsider, cantered through splits of :26, :52 3/5 and
1:17 1/5, tracked all the while by 5-1 chance Citrus Kid (Lemon Drop Kid) and
the 9-1 Canadian invader STORMY LORD (Stormy Atlantic). The long-time leader
tried to cling to his advantage at the top of the stretch, but jockey Justin
Stein had plenty of horse underneath as Stormy Lord rallied outside both Citrus
Kid and Lubash to win going away by 1 1/4 lengths. Trained by Ian Black, Stormy
Lord paid $21.40, $12.20 and $8.60 after completing the distance in 1:54 1/5.

Citrus Kid, making his first start since April, ran a game race to edge
Lubash for second by a neck. The remainder of the field were all victims of the
tepid pace and were never prominent win factors. Fourth, a half-length behind
Lubash, was Bim Bam (Deputy Wild Cat), who crossed the wire ahead of Feels All
Right (Ire) (Danehill Dancer), Afleet Again (Afleet Alex), Cat Park (Tale of the
Cat), even-money favorite Smart Bid (Smart Strike), Violon Sacre (Stravinsky)
and The Cognac Kid (Hennessy).

Stormy Lord earned his first
stakes win in the U.S. when taking the President’s Cup
(Alyssa Spakowski/Equi-Photo)

This was the first U.S. stakes success for Stormy Lord, who ran third
in last year’s Kent S. (G3) and sixth in the Commonwealth Turf S. (G3).
However, the four-year-old gelding has enjoyed occasional success in his
homeland, landing the Connaught Cup (Can-G2) on May 29, the Ontario
Jockey Club S. on July 13, and the 2010 renewal of the Toronto Cup.
Among his various stakes-placings was a close second in last year’s
classic Breeders’ S., but the chestnut entered the President’s Cup in
mixed form with poor finishes in the Highlander S. (Can-G2) and Play the
King S. (Can-G2) interspersed among his successes in the Connaught Cup
and Ontario Jockey Club this season. His record now stands at 19-7-5-1,
$849,770.

Foaled in Ontario and bred by owner Kinghaven Farms, Stormy Lord was produced
by the Meadowlake mare Lady Auchamore, a daughter of multiple stakes winner
Explosive Kate (Explodent). The latter was a half-sister to Grade 2 winner
Whadjathink (Explodent). Other notables from this extended family include
multiple Grade 1 winner Influent (Ascot Knight), French Group 1 hero Execute
(Suave Dancer), and the English and German Group 1 star Tel Quel (Fr) (Akarad).

Stormy Lord has an unraced juvenile half-brother named Incredicat (Discreet
Cat), a yearling half-sister by City Zip and a weanling half-sister by Tale of
the Cat.