Stormy Liberal to ship for Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint
ARCADIA, Calif. – Stormy Liberal, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3, will start in Saturday’s $150,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint at five furlongs, trainer Peter Miller said on Sunday.
Stormy Liberal was second in his only start since the BC Turf Sprint, the Grade 3 Joe Hernandez Stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Jan. 1. Miller was critical of the way he prepared Stormy Liberal for the Hernandez, saying he “undertrained” the 7-year-old gelding.
Miller said the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates on March 30 remains an early-spring goal for Stormy Liberal. The $2 million Al Quoz Sprint is run at six furlongs on turf on a straightaway course.
Stormy Liberal was second by a half-length in the 2018 Al Quoz. Miller had planned to go from the Hernandez to the Al Quoz but said a start in the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint has better timing.
“Ninety days is a little long,” he said. “I’d rather get another race in him.”
In the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint, Stormy Liberal is expected to face World of Trouble, who was second by a neck in the BC Turf Sprint.
Stormy Liberal is a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding turf male of 2018. The Eclipse Awards will be presented in Florida on Thursday. Owned by Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen, Stormy Liberal has won 12 of 31 starts and earned $1,938,930.
On Saturday, the Miller-trained Roy H won the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes at six furlongs in his first start since a win in the BC Sprint on Nov. 3. Roy H is expected to be named champion sprinter for the second consecutive year at this week’s Eclipse Awards.
In the $200,000 Palos Verdes Stakes, Roy H ($2.60) closed from third in a field of six to win by four lengths, finishing in 1:08.89. A 7-year-old gelding, Roy H earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 109.
“He’s something else,” Miller said. “He’s getting better with age.”
The Palos Verdes was a prep for the Grade 1 Golden Shaheen at Meydan Racecourse on March 30. Roy H was third in the $2 million Golden Shaheen last year.
Owned by Rockingham Ranch and Bernsen, Roy H has won 10 of 23 starts and earned $3,139,765.
