WILDATLANTICSTORM IMPRESSIVE IN WINNING SECOND CAREER RACE, SCORING TWO-YEAR-OLD FEATURE AT REMINGTON PARK

At 27 years of age, the stallion Stormy Atlantic was pensioned last summer at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms, retiring from stud duty, but not before he sired a colt named Wildatlanticstorm in 2020 in his next-to-last crop.

That colt went to the track for the third time in his 2-year-old career, winning by 5-1/2 lengths at Remington Park, making it to the winner’s circle in two of his three starts. Wildatlanticstorm may be Stormy Atlantic’s swan song and one of the best of his last runners, time will tell. The only loss he took was in his career debut on the grass in a half-mile race at Lone Star Park on July 8. Even then, he checked in second, beaten only a length and a half that day. The son of Stormy Atlantic, out of the Big Brown mare Imsortaspecial, has excellent bloodlines top and bottom. He was bred in Iowa by owner-breeder Jim Jorgensen of Thornton, Iowa.

Wildatlanticstorm’s maternal grandsire, Big Brown, won two-thirds of the Triple Crown in 2008, taking the Kentucky Derby and Preakness before being pulled up in the Belmont Stakes. It was the only loss in a career in which he was 7-for-8 for $3.6 million in earnings. On the top side of Wildatlanticstorm’s pedigree, Stormy Atlantic is a son of one of the greatest stallions of all time, Storm Cat and his dam, Hail Atlantis, was a daughter of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. Stormy Atlantic sired 109 stakes winners, 48 of them in graded stakes, and nine of them turned out to be champions.

On Thursday night, Wildatlanticstorm appeared he could add to his daddy’s resume with the way he won the allowance optional $75,000 claiming race for juvenile runners. He’s won two in a row now by open lengths. The colt broke his maiden at 5-1/2 furlongs at Prairie Meadows in Iowa on Aug. 6 by 2-3/4 lengths, his first race on the dirt. He is now two-for-two on main track surfaces.

The victory Thursday came at six furlongs at extremely generous 9-1 odds. The Ray Ashford trainee beat two horses in the race from the barn of all-time winningest trainer in horse racing history, Steve Asmussen. Those two horses, Village Way and Perfect Prank, finished a distant second and third, respectively. Village Way was 2-1/2 lengths ahead of his stablemate in third. Village Way went off as the 9-5 wagering favorite after breaking his maiden at first asking at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, by a half-length. He came back in the $150,000 Texas Thoroughbred Association Futurity to run second to trainer Bret Calhoun’s Vietnam Victory, two lengths back.

Four-time defending champion jockey David Cabrera guided Wildatlanticstorm home for his second win and Ashford’s first of two winners on the night. The win for Cabrera moved him into a tie for second in the riders’ standings with eight trips to the winner’s circle this meet. He is deadlocked with Weston Hamilton and Stewart Elliott who picked up two wins on Thursday to join the second-place group. They are one behind leading rider Cristian Torres’ nine wins.

Wildatlanticstorm’s winning time was 1:10.64 over the fast track. His pedigree, swift winning time and the way he won suggest he might even enjoy the longer distances. He made every pole a winning one and set early fractions of :22.17 for the first quarter, :45.99 for the half-mile and :58.05 for five-eighths of a mile. He paid $20.40 to win, $7.80 to place and $4.80 to show. He earned $20,298 from the $34,000 purse and improved his record to three starts, two wins and one second for a total bankroll of $51,568.

Live racing at Remington Park continues week with racing Friday and Saturday, Sept. 9-10. The first race is at 7:07pm-Central each night.

Tracked by more than 171,000 fans on Facebook and 10,600 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $301 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District, Remington Park features the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby and Grade 3 Remington Park Oaks on Sunday, September 25. Thoroughbred racing continues through December 17 with simulcast racing daily, and a casino that is always open! Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.

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