Stormin' Lyon faces nothing like Fog here
ALBANY, Calif. - Stormin' Lyon, who missed out on a chance to run against the undefeated Lost in the Fog in the Bay Meadows Speed Handicap because of a minor race-day mishap, heads the field for Saturday's $50,000-added Sausalito Stakes at Golden Gate Fields.
The six-furlong sprint, which will be run as the first race of the day with a post time of 11:30 a.m. Pacific, drew five entrants.
The field includes 4-year-old , winner of the Del Mar Futurity at 2, and 3-year-old Seattles Best Joe, a multiple stakes winner. But trainer Brian Koriner is confident that Stormin' Lyon can win.
has won 2 of 4 starts here and lost a photo in another race. He has a pair of stakes wins on the turf at Hollywood Park, as well as a neck loss to Siren Lure in the Robert Kerlan Handicap there.
He was right there at the head of the lane in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby on July 31 at Del Mar before a breathing problem caused him to weaken, according to Koriner.
"That's one reason I was excited about meeting Lost in the Fog," Koriner said. "He was right there with good horses through very fast fractions."
Koriner isn't sure if the race-day scratch on Oct. 1 will affect the 4-year-old colt. Stormin' Lyon has worked well since, including a good five-furlong move three days after the scratch.
"He was really ready to go the day they scratched him," owner Janet Lyons said. "I know Lost in the Fog could have run a 1:07, but I wish we could have run against him."
A $130,000 Ocala purchase in March 2003, Stormin' Lyon has come back from adversity before. He took ill and developed a high temperature last year when he flew back to Florida for the Carry Back Stakes, which Lost in the Fog won this year.
He was sidelined for almost one year before winning the Bullet Stakes at Hollywood Park in his comeback on May 27.
Seattles Best Joe was fourth to Lost in the Fog in the Bay Meadows Speed and makes his third start off an 11-month layoff.
Although comebacking Carthage and Twentythreejaybird have good early speed and are drawn outside him, Stormin' Lyon has been facing much tougher and appears likely to have the lead here. He is versatile enough, though, that he doesn't need the lead to win.