STORM BIRD
A tall, rangy, well-balanced bay horse standing 16.1 hands, Storm Bird was athletic but high-strung. He was reportedly good-natured as a youngster but later developed a nasty disposition that worsened as he aged. Foaled in Ontario, Canada in 1978, Storm Bird was bred by E. P. Taylor's Windfields Farm. He was owned by Robert Sangster, who purchased the colt for $1 million from the 1979 Keeneland July yearling sale. He was trained by Vincent O'Brien and jockeyed by Pat Eddery. He had a 6;5-0-0 record. Storm Bird won £72,594 which translates to $97,091. In 1980 he won William Hill Dewhurst Stakes (ENG-G1), National Stakes (IRE-G2,), Larkspur Stakes (IRE-G3), and Anglesey Stakes (IRE-G3). He was crowned English champion 2-year-old male (1980) and Irish champion 2-year-old male (1980). Storm Bird had talent of a high order but was derailed from potential greatness by his own high-strung temperament, coupled with human malice. After going undefeated as a juvenile, he was subjected to a bizarre attack by a stable employee at the New Year. While he was not harmed physically (the attack consisted of cutting away the hair of his mane and tail), the experience apparently damaged his trust in humans and pushed his disposition to the breaking point so far as racing fitness went. His stable also reported a hind leg injury and a respiratory illness as reasons for not competing in the 1981 Two Thousand Guineas (ENG-G1), for which he would likely have started as favorite, and the Derby Stakes (ENG-G1). Storm Bird ended up making only one more start, in which he showed nothing of his earlier form, and was retired to stud. There he was a noted success and begot several good sire sons. His line now persists primarily through the sons and grandsons of Storm Cat.
He typically transmitted speed more than stamina to his foals. He was not the most fertile of stallions, and some observers noted a higher than usual rate of respiratory issues among his progeny. According to The Jockey Club, Storm Bird sired 377 winners (53.9%) and 62 stakes winners (8.9%) from 699 named foals. His foals earned over $30 million. In 1981 Sangster and his group sold a 75% interest in Storm Bird to Dr. William Lockridge and Robert Hefner for $21 million. He entered stud in Kentucky in 1982 at Ashford Stud. At Ashford, he was usually bridled after having his morning feed and wore his bridle and bit throughout the day, which seemed to help with managing him. When John Magnier and his Coolmore partnership bought Ashford in 1984, Storm Bird remained at the farm throughout his stud career. Storm Bird was the indirect cause of the Coolmore acquisition of Ashford Stud, as Ashford owners William Lockridge and Robert Hefner had gone into substantial debt to buy into the colt and ended up passing Ashford to John Magnier and Coolmore as part of the debt settlement. In the 1999 Kentucky Derby (gr. I). The first three finishers--Charismatic, Menifee, and Cat Thief --traced back to Storm Bird in the male line. Storm Bird was pensioned in 1999 and was euthanized at the age of 26 due to colic on December 3, 2004.
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