THE LAST STORM CAT YEARLINGS TO HIT THE SALES RING

Storm Cat
(Photo : Bloodhorse/WP Stock)

“CATCHING THE LAST OF THE CATS”

We’re about a week away from the arrival of Summerhill’s first son of Storm Cat, the $3 million foal, Brave Tin Soldier. Conceived when his sire’s stud fee stood at a lofty $500,000, the sum paid for our man was the highest ever for a foal at that time. The Blood Horses’ Deidre Biles reports on his final three yearlings to hit the sales ring at Keeneland’s September sale this week, ironically coinciding with Brave Tin Soldier’s arrival at our barn.

Storm Cat is to the thoroughbred marketplace what UCLA was to college basketball in the 1960’s and 1970’s. UCLA when coached by John Wooden, earned 10 NCAA championships, including seven consecutively, and was undefeated in four of those seasons. Storm Cat has been North America’s leading sire of sales yearlings, based on the average price brought by his offspring, seven times.

The 27 year old son of Storm Bird earned his first title in 2001, which started a string of five straight No.1 finishes. He added two more crowns, in 2008 and 2009.

Storm Cat was pensioned because of fertility problems in May 2008 after covering 32 mares at the Young family’s Overbrook Farm near Lexington. The only three horses in his final crop are now yearlings, and they have all been entered into sales.

“Owning one of Storm Cat’s last offspring is exciting”, according to Earle Mack, a former US Ambassador to Finland. But he decided to send her to the Keeneland September Sale instead of keeping her to race because it was a “good” business decision.

“Storm Cat is on a normal turnout schedule, as if he were resting between breeding seasons - out at night and in during the daytime,” said Ric Waldman, who managed the former stallion’s stud book for Overbrook Farm. “Even though he’s starting to show a little bit of his age, he looks great. You might think he was in his early 20’s. When I saw him the other day, he tried to bite my hand off, so he’s still feeling his oats”.

STORM CAT retired from Stud Duty

Storm Cat

The ink has scarcely dried on the announcement that Europe’s greatest ever stallion, Sadler’s Wells, has retired, than the news breaks of the retirement of arguably America’s best of the current era.

Overbrook Farm’s Storm Cat (Storm Bird-Terlingua, by Secretariat), North America’s Leading Active Sire by Progeny Earnings and two-time Leading Sire, has been retired from stud duty due to declining fertility, according to Overbrook’s Manager of Stallion Operations, Ric Waldman. “It was a privilege to be able to manage all but two years of his stallion career and to see him grow in popularity, value and success, from a stallion who was not desirable and not popular to the highest-priced stallion in the world,” Ric Waldman told the Thoroughbred Daily News. “A decline was expected because we saw decline last year, and obviously he’s a year older. We didn’t expect the precipitous decline that we saw this season. His in-foal rate last year was 70 percent, but he was erratic throughout the year.” According to Waldman, the 25-year-old has gotten three mares in foal this season.

From 18 crops to race, Storm Cat has sired 12 champions, 32 Grade I/Group 1 stakes winners and the earners of more than $111 million. He stood the 2008 season for $300,000. According to Waldman, Storm Cat will remain at Overbrook Farm.

Click here to watch video of Storm Cat winning the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile 1985

Click here to watch video of Storm Cat in his paddock at Overbrook Farm

Click here to watch video of Storm Cat outside his barn on Overbrook Farm