Storm the Court tops parade of longshots in BC Juvenile

ARCADIA, Calif. – In a race where the favorite stumbled and the second choice faded in upper stretch, the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita was going to come down to a pair of longshots.

Storm the Court, the second-longest shot in the eight-horse field at 45-1 had set all the pace under Flavien Prat. Anneau d’Or, a 28-1 shot was an up-close third and looked poised to make a big run in the lane under Breeders’ Cup rookie Juan Hernandez.

In the end, it was Storm the Court who held off Anneau d’Or by a neck to lead a parade of longshots to the wire. Anneau d’Oro was second by 3 1/4 lengths over Wrecking Crew, a 39-1 shot who finished third.

Scabbard was fourth, followed by Full Flat, Eight Rings, Shoplifted, and Dennis’ Moment, who stumbled badly at the break and finished last.

The victory rewarded the confidence trainer Peter Eurton had to run Storm the Court back after he was beaten 8 1/4 lengths by Eight Rings in the American Pharoah here five weeks ago. It also rewarded Prat’s suggestion and Eurton’s decision to equip Storm the Court with blinkers, which he wore for the first time in a race in the Juvenile.

“Last time he ran a little green,” Prat said. “He broke well, was looking around, he lost his focus and dropped back. I thought the blinkers might help him. I think the fact he ran two turns once was a big help.”

Eurton said the plan was for Storm the Court to stalk the pace, which figured to be set by Dennis’ Moment or Eight Rings. Dennis’ Moment, breaking from the rail stumbled badly under Irad Ortiz Jr. and Prat came out of the gate seemingly intent on putting Storm the Court into the race. John Velazquez, on Eight Rings, was content to let Prat go and stalk him.

Storm the Court was able to set fractions of 23.49 seconds for the quarter and 47.07 while maintaining a one-length advantage over Eight Rings.

Approaching the quarter pole, Velazquez started asking Eight Rings, but he was stuck in neutral. Meanwhile, Hernandez had Anneau d’Or three wide and rolling.

"I was excited, I was pushing my horse really hard," Hernandez said. "My trainer told me 'Hey this is the race of your life you have to ride like that.'"

But Prat was also riding for his life and Storm the Court had just enough at the end to hold on. Eurton said when Storm the Court won his maiden at Del Mar, he turned aside three challengers.

“I knew he would fight, I just didn’t know how much,” said Eurton, who won the 2016 Juvenile Fillies with 33-1 shot Champagne Room. “Once he did put his head out in front like he did, I knew it might be interesting all the way to the wire.”

Storm the Court, a son of Court Vision, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.93 and returned $93.80, the longest-priced winner in the 36-year history of the Juvenile. Court Vision won the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Mile, returning $131.60.

Storm the Court is owned by Ryan Exline, David Bernsen, Susanna Wilson, and Dan Hudock. He was purchased for $60,000 at the OBS 2-year-old-in-training sale, a pinhook of Brian Rice who bought the horse as a yearling for $6,000 from Jim and Sue Power of Stepping Stone Farm. His owners paid a $12,000 supplemental fee by the July deadline to make him eligible for the Breeders’ Cup.

“Which was the best $12,000 we ever spent,” Exline said.

Dennis’ Moment, trained by Dale Romans, was the shortest-priced favorite of the five Breeders’ Cup races for 2-year-olds on Friday’s card. But he stumbled badly out of the gate and could never recover.

“The horse broke so fast when the doors opened, he just go and then he stumbled,” Ortiz said. “After that when I got up, I’m pretty far away. Man, it’s tough to get beat like that, a horse like this we expect a lot from him. You want to see him in a fair race.”

Velazquez said he liked where he had Eight Rings early in the race but when he got to the second turn, “I didn’t have anything.”

Twenty-seven of the previous 35 winners of the Juvenile have won the Eclipse Award as 2-year-old champion. Storm the Court could find himself in a race for that award with, among others, Tiz the Law, the Grade 1 Champagne winner who skipped the Juvenile and is pointing to the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs on Nov. 30.

Storm the Court did earn 20 qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby next May at Churchill Downs.