Wildatlanticstorm ($32) surges to Springboard Mile triumph

Wildatlanticstorm emerged as the top 2-year-old male of the Remington Park meet Saturday night when he barreled to a 1 1/4-length win over 4-5 favorite Giant Mischief in the $400,000 Springboard Mile.

The closing night feature – which is the co-richest of the meet alongside the Oklahoma Derby – carried points for the Kentucky Derby. It was showcased on a card featuring six stakes worth a cumulative $840,000.

Wildatlanticstorm ($32), who also won the $100,000 Clever Trevor this meet at Remington, did not earn points nor did Giant Mischief because both horses raced on the diuretic Lasix.

However, the three horses in the race who opted to run Lasix-free all ended up earning points. Echo Again, who was third, earned three points; Gunflash, who was fourth, earned two points; and Campfire Creed, who was fifth, earned one point.

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The Lasix status for each horse is according to the official chart of the Springboard Mile.

Wildatlanticstorm broke well Saturday night and tracked pacesetter Echo Again, as Giant Mischief hopped out at the start and found himself trailing his rivals. Wildatlanticstorm sat just off an opening quarter in 23.89 seconds and a half-mile in 47.14. The eventual winner moved to the lead along the rail, was in front by the quarter pole, and went on to cover the distance on a fast track in 1:38.24.

“When I called on him, he just took off,” winning rider Leandro Goncalves said in an interview conducted by Remington. “There’s way more left in the tank.”

Wildatlanticstorm, by Stormy Atlantic, is an imposing 2-year-old. He weighed 1,230 pounds going into the Clever Trevor, and 1,238 ahead of the Springboard Mile, according to weights posted by Remington.

Ray Ashford Jr. trains Wildatlanticstorm for his breeder, Jim Jorgensen.

“He seems to be getting better and better,” Ashford said in an interview broadcast by Remington. “We’re excited.”

Ashford said plans going forward for the horse are to be determined. He said the decision was made to continue to race on Lasix for the Springboard Mile.

“We were going to see how he did in this race and if he showed he was good enough, we will have to take him off down the road in other Kentucky Derby point races,” Ashford told publicity at Remington.

Wildatlanticstorm is an Iowa-bred, part of a significant crop this year that includes four-time stakes winner Tyler’s Tribe. Wildatlanticstorm has now won 4 of 6 starts and earned $366,568.

Giant Mischief circled the field on the final turn of the Springboard Mile and ran on stoutly through the stretch in what was his first start around two turns. He was undefeated heading into the race, with wins in a maiden special weight at Horseshoe Indianapolis and a first-level allowance at Keeneland.

Echo Again, who broke from the rail and took the lead soon after the start, finished three lengths behind Giant Mischief.

Remington’s card of 12 races on Saturday closed out a season that opened in the middle of August.

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