Gulfstream Park: Storming Inti back on grass for Kitten's Joy

HALLANDLAE BEACH, Fla. – It had to be tempting for trainer Chad Brown to try Storming Inti one more time on dirt after he closed out his 2-year-old campaign with a one-length triumph over the main track in the Pulpit Stakes. But Brown has opted instead to put Storming Inti back on grass when he launches his 3-year-old season Sunday at Gulfstream Park in the $100,000 Kitten’s Joy.

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Storming Inti had made all three previous starts on the grass when forced to run over a sloppy main track in the one-mile Pulpit. But despite the surface change, Storming Inti, a son of Stormy Atlantic, made the most of the opportunity, contesting all the pace before edging to a game decision over Notyouraveragejoe. Storming Inti had already won the Awad Stakes over the Belmont turf five weeks earlier.

“He ran well over the main track in the stakes here and is a very versatile and classy horse,” said Brown. “He’s continued to train very well since his last start but I just believe he seems to be better on grass than the dirt and we’ll probably plan a turf campaign for him this year.”

Alan Garcia, who was aboard Storming Inti for the first time in the Pulpit, will retain the mount on Sunday.

Like Storming Inti, most of the eight other 3-year-olds who will contest the Kitten’s Joy are sons of fashionable grass sires. But only one of them, Cabo Cat, is by Kitten’s Joy himself.

Cabo Cat has already shown his mettle on grass, winning his maiden at first asking this fall at Belmont Park before finishing second behind the highly regarded Mr Speaker in the Grade 3 Dania Beach to conclude his 2-year-old season. Cabo Cat is trained by Mark Hennig for owner-breeder Lee Lewis and will be ridden by Joel Rosario.

Grade 1 winner We Miss Artie will likely be favored over Storming Inti in the Kitten’s Joy returning to more suitable company coming off his seventh-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. A son of Artie Schiller trained by Todd Pletcher, We Miss Artie overcome a troubled trip to upset the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity over Polytrack at Keeneland. He won his turf debut last summer at Saratoga.

Scoria will wear blinkers for the first time while making his stakes debut in the Kitten’s Joy. Scoria rallied furiously from far back only to fall a half-length short of catching Rope a Dope when finishing second under allowance conditions here last month. Rope a Dope will also make his stakes debut on Sunday in a field that includes Enthrone, Drover Road, Daddy’s Kid, and Go Go Romeo.