Got Stormy eyes Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint after 'gratifying' win

After a "gratifying" win for Got Stormy in the Grade 3 Ladies Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs on Saturday, trainer Mark Casse said she will be pointed towards the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland Race Course on Nov. 7.

With Tyler Gaffalione aboard on a rainy Saturday in Franklin, Ky., Got Stormy ran down the pacesetters in the stretch and drew off for an easy 1 1/2-length win in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint.

[RELATED: Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Sprint recap]

It was the first win for the 5-year-old daughter of Get Stormy since the Matriarch Stakes (G1) at Del Mar in December. And it came on the heels of a second-place effort against males in the Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga in August — a race she won in 2019, ahead of Raging Bull and Uni.

"She’s amazing," Casse said. "It was very gratifying to see her run the way she did. A lot of people had been counting her out. It’s just been the weather, it’s just been a crazy year. She doesn’t mind the soft turf — it just shortens her up, she can’t go as far. She showed that yesterday."

Casse said he and owner Gary Barber are considering whether to run Got Stormy again prior to the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

"We may run her one time in between, we’ll just see — possibly at Keeneland, just as a prep, 5 1/2 (furlongs)," Casse said.

Saturday’s race was Got Stormy’s sixth outing this year, with a second-place finish in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1) her only other time to hit the board.

Got Stormy was a finalist for the 2019 Female Turf Horse Eclipse award — won by Uni — after a year in which she finished in the money in each of her eight races.

Before her score in the Matriarch Stakes, she came in second in two G1 races: the Breeder’s Cup Mile at Santa Anita in November and the Woodbine Mile in September. She has a lifetime record of 9-5-3 in 24 starts and winnings of $1.9 million.