Creek Rising -- Thoroughbred Sire Storm Creek Hits in Pedigree Nicks

re: Creek Rising -- Thoroughbred Sire Storm Creek Hits in Pedigree Nicks

Kathy McCann — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:09:08 GMT

I purchased a Storm Creek colt at the 2008 weanling sales - he has grown into a lovely, though not "pretty" horse (gelding now) - and is showing his strength. Have followed progeny of Storm Creek since, and although not a lot racing yet, have shown promise in New Zealand.

re: Creek Rising -- Thoroughbred Sire Storm Creek Hits in Pedigree Nicks

shesfast — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:50:13 GMT

where is storm in may now? i hope he is standing somewhere.

re: Creek Rising -- Thoroughbred Sire Storm Creek Hits in Pedigree Nicks

Peter Jenkins — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:27:43 GMT

You may be interested to learn that Storm Creek also has a contender for the Gr1 New Zealand Derby to be run on February 28 in the form of The Spaniard (ex. Di Talento by the Australian-bred Truly Vain, who has an interesting pedigree in himself. The dam of The Spaniard carries a couple of lines of Tourbillon plus an additional line of Ksar through Amfortas.

Of course Storm Creek is also the sire of Capt. Candyman Can - a 2009 Triple Crown contender. His sire has another intriguing pedigree especially the damline of Candy Stripes in relation to this discussion.

Declared interest here - I managed Storm Creek for 5 years (until very recently) at Stoney Bridge farm in NZ.

re: Creek Rising -- Thoroughbred Sire Storm Creek Hits in Pedigree Nicks

Alan Porter — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:14:38 GMT

Thanks for the comments Kent. I've something of an affinity for this family. I was involved in planning the mating for Primal Force when I worked for Mr. Firestone...she was hurt before she had an opportunity to prove how good she was, but I belive Bill Mott told Andy Stronach that she was the fastest filly he'd trained...which is why they bought her from the Firestone disperal....

I was also involved in planning the mating for Zanjero for Tony Holmes and Dr. Walter Zent. ..

You're response prompted me to look back at the pedigree of Square Generation. It's quite an unusual one. Relic, the sire of Olden Times is bred on a reverse cross to Blue Swords (sire of her second dam). Olden Times' dam, is inbred to Tourbillon, and there is an important tie-up between Tourbillon's dam oand the family of Blue Larkspur and Relic (Marcel Boussac must have known that when he obtained Relic to cross on his Tourbillon saturated broodmare mare band).

To finish off the story, Square Generation's broodmare sire, Count Turf, has the brothers Sunreigh and Sun Briar 3 x 3. They carry a sire called Orion (Bend Or - Shotover). He is a brother to Ornis, the fifth dam of Tourbillon!

Whoever created Square Generation's pedigree was pretty smart. Breeding her to Mr. Prospector, whose dam had Count, Fleet, Blue Larkspur and Frizette (tail-female to Ornis) wasn't exactly dumb either!

re: Creek Rising -- Thoroughbred Sire Storm Creek Hits in Pedigree Nicks

Kent D. Hersman — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:39:57 GMT

Below is an article that I wrote shortly before the 2007 Derby. Feel free to extract details.

It seems that emerging sires and broodmare sires have been evolving from the Square Generation broodmare line for some time: Awesome Again, Macho Uno, and Storm Creek all include this influence.

What is interesting is that the recent success of the juveniles mentioned above and two of last year’s Derby contenders can be traced to another daughter of Square Generation: Shawnee Creek.

I have thought about breeding my mare, Laun Shaw, to Macho Uno to capitalize on the inbreeding of Square Generation.

2007 Article:

Unlikely Story in the Shadow of the Final Derby Prep Races

As Curlin accelerated to the finish in Arkansas and Dominican placed himself on the top ten list for the Kentucky Derby (G1), two other closely related game performers seemingly went unnoticed.

Both of these contenders finished with heart to ensure that their names would not miss the post position draw on the first Saturday in May.

It is common knowledge that almost every week a new name emerges, as the various hopefuls jockey for position, on the priceless list that places the 3 year olds in contention for racing’s highest honor.

Today, the illusive story involves a mare that has imparted a fair deal of excitement to this year’s Triple Crown Trail.

Shawnee Creek, the dam of Storm Creek, who was a leading first crop sire in 2000, is making a name for herself again. This time she does so by taking position as the grand-dam of not only one, but two, of the colts’ expected to vie for the first illusive jewel in the Triple Crown.

Zanjero, out of the multiple stakes producing daughter of Shawnee Creek, Checkered Flag, held for third in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) by fighting hard in the stretch to increase his graded earnings to $205,000.

Not to be outclassed, Storm in May, out of Laun Shaw, also a daughter of Shawnee Creek held on for second after a sustained drive in the Arkansas Derby (G2). The additional $200,000 gained by this finish catapulted the competitive Florida bred into a secure position with a total of $227,500 in graded earnings.

Stranger things have happened, but the careful examination of the performances of these two “cousins” reveals that each has finished at an above average in the money rate. With Storm in May breaking from the gates 13 times and Zanjero posting 8 starts, neither horse has finished off the board more than once. Worth bragging about, even in the claiming ranks, but Storm in May and Zanjero accomplished this feat in stakes company for 12 of the 21 races, 8 of which were graded.

The Sunshine Millions Dash winner, Storm in May, again demonstrated his versatility by making the switch back to the dirt in Arkansas after his front running third place finish in the Palm Beach Stakes (G3).

Shawnee Creek, the stakes winning daughter of Mr. Prospector, is sure to be a common thread on pedigrees of high performers in the years to come. The broodmare’s list of black type progeny already includes popular names, such as Amadeus Wolf and Victory Lap.

Time and the pace will tell what the future holds for this extraordinary bloodline. For certain, the connections of these two big-hearted colts are strategizing for a successful bid in the stretch run at Louisville on the 5th of May, 2007.

It should be noted that since this article was written in April 2007, Zanjero won the West Virginia Derby, the Indiana Derby, and the Kentucky Cup Classic; Storm in May suffered several setbacks and has been laid off.

re: Creek Rising -- Thoroughbred Sire Storm Creek Hits in Pedigree Nicks

Bellwether — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:15:31 GMT

Storm Cat...thats all you have to say...i love that HEAD!!!Long Live Stom Cat!!!