Performance of the Week: Voodoo Storm

The beautifully bred Voodoo Storm finally may be reaching his potential.

The 5-year-old ex-claimer, now with his third trainer, was visually impressive in winning a tough allowance race going a mile at Mountaineer last week and may be primed for a return to the stakes ranks in the $130,000 Mountaineer Mile on Nov. 2.

The Saturday evening allowance included multiple stakes winners I’m Steppin’ It Up and Luv Bandit, Grade 2-placed St. Maximus Gato, and multiple-stakes-placed performers Whatthecatdrugin and Mega Rush.

The speedy Whatthecatdrugin carved out early fractions of 23.16 and 45.72 seconds while being pressed by Mega Rush. Voodoo Storm, after bobbling a couple of strides out of the gate, settled comfortably in midpack along the inside. Entering the final turn, Whatthecatdrugin opened up a clear advantage, but Voodoo Storm was in full flight. He stormed up to Whatthecatdrugin, eased outside the pacesetter, and overwhelmed that foe at the quarter pole. Ridden by Deshawn Parker, Voodoo Storm kept to his business in the stretch. He scored by 3 1/4 lengths, completed the distance in 1:37.77, and received a career-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure.

Voodoo Storm’s sire is the incomparable Storm Cat. Winner of the Grade 1 Young America Stakes traveling 1 1/16 miles as a 2-year-old in 1985, Storm Cat also prevailed three times at six furlongs. He achieved lasting fame at stud as the sire of 110 graded stakes winners, and his progeny have earned more than $128 millon.

Voodoo Storm is a half-brother to Voodoo Swinge, a multiple Grade 3-placed turf router. Their dam, Voodoo Dancer (by Kingmambo), won nine stakes races including the Grade 1 Garden City Breeders’ Cup Handicap and the Grade 1 Diana Handicap. Voodoo Dancer earned $1,427,952 and won races on grass at distances ranging from 7 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/4 miles.

Voodoo Dancer is a half-sister to stakes-placed Waycross and Grade 3-placed Gravette. Another half-sister, Zuri Ridge, is the dam of millionaire Grade 1 winner Pool Play.

Bred by Green Hills Farm, Voodoo Storm was foaled in Kentucky on April 15, 2008. He was consigned to the 2009 Keeneland September yearling sale, but was bought back for $375,000 after failing to meet , his reserve.

Considering his pedigree, it wasn’t surprising that trainer Shug McGaughey raced Voodoo Storm exclusively on turf during his juvenile campaign. McGaughey isn’t known for debut success, especially with his babies, and Voodoo Storm gave a promising first-out performance in a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint at Saratoga on Aug. 8, 2010. He finished a late-running fourth and that race gave him the perfect foundation for his first two-turn run the following month.

In that race, Voodoo Storm skipped directly to the front and completed a gate-to-wire gambit despite drifting during the stretch run. That race was the slower division of 1 1/16-mile maiden special weights over the Mellon Turf Course at Saratoga on Sept. 6.

Voodoo Storm finished off the board in five consecutive starts before McGaughey moved him to the main track during the fall of his 3-year-old campaign. After a good runner-up performance in a fast key event at Parx on Sept. 24, 2011, a race in which Voodoo Storm’s late kick almost overcame a speed-favoring track, the colt ran second behind the sharp Middie in a Polytrack route on Oct. 26 at Keeneland. Three subsequent efforts on dirt failed to provide winning results, however, so McGaughey returned his charge to grass for an upset victory at Keeneland on April 6, 2012.

Voodoo Storm couldn’t build on that result, though, and McGaughey eventually dropped him into a $62,500 optional claimer going six furlongs on the main at Gulfstream on Dec. 7. Voodoo Storm couldn’t get out of first gear in that race and was privately purchased soon afterward.

Transferred to trainer Joe Woodard, Voodoo Storm took 3 of 10 starts for his new connections before being haltered for $25,000 by Hoosier Daddy’s Stable and trainer Tim Glyshaw at Ellis Park on Aug. 16, 2013.

Glyshaw has done excellent work this season with hard-knocking veterans Taptowne and Unreachable Star, and it’s possible he’s found another stakes performer in Voodoo Storm. In his first start for Glyshaw, the final prep for last week’s allowance, Voodoo Storm finished a rallying second in a $50,000 seller at Churchill Downs.

Voodoo Storm has an affinity for the Mountaineer racing surface and looks to be in career form for an underrated trainer. He seems like a short-term stakes prospect for watch lists and should be a strong contender in the upcoming Mountaineer Mile.