Gold Storm upsets Arlington Sprint

Texas may have gotten a hometown horse for the Breeders' Cup Sprint on Saturday. It took a trip to the Chicago suburbs to find out whether Gold Storm was fast enough to compete in the Oct. 30 BC Sprint at Lone Star Park, and 1:08.65 later, the answer might well be yes.

Gold Storm, always in a battle for the lead when racing nearest the rail under veteran Larry Taylor, put away heavily favored Champali in the upper stretch, then turned back a late bid from Super Fuse to win the six-furlong Arlington BC Sprint by three-quarters of a length at Arlington Park.

Gold Storm, trained by former Quarter Horse trainer Bubba Cascio, was entered off back-to-back wins at Lone Star and Retama Park. He returned $20 as third choice in a field of five older horses.

While the race clearly boosted the BC hopes of Gold Storm, a 4-year-old Seeking the Gold colt, it also damaged those for Champali, the Kentucky-based 4-year-old who was beaten six lengths, finishing third as the 3-5 favorite. Champali, ridden by Rene Douglas, dueled between Gold Storm and Avid Skier for a half-mile before beating a steady fade.

Gold Storm, owned by Keith McKinney and Jack Sweesy, now has won seven of 11 starts, with the $147,000 Arlington BC easily his richest career victory. The winning time was a record in eight runnings of the race.

Coach Jimi Lee, the 8-5 second choice, stalked the three front-runners but failed to fire when finishing last.