Midnight Storm using Eddie Read as prep towards Breeders' Cup Mile

A dozen years ago, the Little Red Feather partnership won the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Lone Star Park with Singletary.

The same race is a goal this fall at Santa Anita with Midnight Storm, the winner of the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on June 4. In the interim, there are lucrative races to try.

Midnight Storm will have his first start of the summer in the $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar next Sunday.

Originally, trainer Phil D’Amato considered waiting until later this summer to start Midnight Storm, but the 5-year-old has thrived in recent training, according to Little Red Feather president Billy Koch.

“When he’s good, you’ve got to go,” Koch said on Sunday. “When he gets the track he likes and when he’s in good shape, like now, he’s tough to beat.”

Midnight Storm finished fifth in the 2015 Eddie Read when the race was run on a rain-soaked turf course rated “good.” Del Mar was hit with a rainstorm on the opening weekend of the summer meeting last year, the remnants of a wayward hurricane from the Pacific.

Midnight Storm has shown an affinity for a firm turf course.

The Read is expected to have a strong field, including the stakes winners Ashleyluvssugar, Bolo, Finnegans Wake, Flamboyant, and Si Sage.

“I think it will be one of the races of the meeting,” Koch said.

The Little Red Feather partnership is a syndicate. Koch said the stable will have approximately 30 horses at Del Mar, primarily with trainers D’Amato, Richard Baltas, and Mike Puype.

The team includes Riri, who may run in the $75,000 Sandy Blue Handicap on July 17; Allsquare, who is being pointed for the $150,000 Fleet Treat Stakes on July 22; Be Mine, a candidate for the $200,000 San Clemente Handicap on July 23; Nodiac, a potential starter in the $300,000 Del Mar Oaks on Aug. 20; and Bellamentary, who may run in the $100,000 Torrey Pines Stakes on Aug. 28.