It was a history-making Saturday at Saratoga for Bluewater Sales graduate Got Stormy when the 6-year-old registered her second G1 Fourstardave H. win in the last three years.
The second Grade 1 winner of the year for Bluewater Sales after Kimari at Keeneland, Got Stormy has been successful since the beginning of her career with stakes success dating back to 2018. Breaking her maiden early that year as a 3-year-old, her first stakes victory came in the Listed Penn Oaks S. and it was game on from there.
She won three stakes in a row that summer but turned into an even more successful racemare the following year.
Third in the 2019 G1 Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. in her Grade 1 debut, she turned heads when she won the Listed Fasig-Tipton De La Rose S. at Saratoga in early August that year. Only a week later, trainer Mark Casse brought her back in her first G1 Fourstardave H. and the rest is history.
Got Stormy finished second in her next two races – both Grade 1s and plans for her to sell at that year’s Fasig-Tipton November Sale with Bluewater Sales were delayed.
Owner Gary Barber was immediately paid back for that decision when she added a second Grade 1 to her resume in the G1 Matriarch S. in December 2019. Racing exclusively in graded stakes in 2020, Got Stormy registered wins in two Grade 3 races and finished second in two Grade 1s – including the 2020 G1 Fourstardave.
In 2020, Got Stormy made eight starts with four top two finishes and ended her season in the Fasig-Tipton November Sales ring.
A popular member of the Bluewater Sales consignment, Got Stormy was the focus of a bidding war that saw her ultimately bring the seventh highest price of the session at $2.75 million. Purchased by Spendthrift Farm, it didn’t take long for the operation to announce she was returning to trainer Mark Casse and would race another year.
The winner of February’s G3 Honey Fox S. in her debut for Spendthrift Farm and My Racehorse, all roads led back to the G1 Fourstardave. It was a bumpy journey at times but for Casse, it made Got Stormy’s authoritative 1 ½ length victory even sweeter.
“This was maybe even more exciting because they wrote her off,” he said. “They did the same to Tepin, and she came back. I’m really proud. There’s been some bumps along the road with her, but she came when it was time.”
As for Got Stormy’s goals the rest of the year, the Breeders’ Cup looks to be on tap for her in November.
“They’ll have some sharp turns at Del Mar, so that’ll work out just fine. It would have to be the [Breeders’ Cup] Mile,” Casse said. “I have to think [about potential races in between]. It’s so difficult with her; there’s things she really likes and things she doesn’t. I took her to Woodbine two years ago and she got beat there [second in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile]. I have to think it over. I have to talk to the owners, so we’ll figure it out.”
The Breeders’ Cup is a familiar race meet for Got Stormy. After her 2019 Fourstardave victory, she finished second in the G1 TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita.
Cutting back to 5 ½ furlongs in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint last year, Got Stormy finished just two lengths behind the winner before joining Bluewater at the Fasig-Tipton sale.