By Bill Finley
When Storm the Court (Court Vision) won the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2019, trainer and co-owner Peter Eurton tried to be realistic. The horse went off at 45-1 and that year's race was considered one of the weakest runnings of the Juvenile ever. He knew he didn't have a superstar on his hands, but he had every reason to believe that Storm the Court would at least be competitive in stakes company. Maybe he'd be a GIII Ohio Derby-type horse.
It's just that it didn't turn out that way. When Storm the Court finished third in a July 5 allowance race at Laurel, his losing streak was up to 23 races. And he's just a few months removed from his losing streak extending all the way to five years.
“The problem is that he never got any better than he was as a 2-year-old and he hasn't won since then,” said Eurton, who no longer trains the horse but still has an ownership interest in him. “That's kind of a bummer. Everybody else got better. He matured very quickly and he had his big day, which is something we'll never forget. But he never got any better and that's the bottom line.”
Storm the Court's 3-year-old season was in 2020, during the COVID outbreak, which caused Churchill Downs to move the Derby to September. So, as a 3-year-old, he raced five times before running in the Derby. He wasn't getting blown out. He was third in the GII San Felipe S, third in the Ohio Derby and second in the GIII La Jolla H. on the turf. Even his Derby performance wasn't terrible. He ran sixth, beaten nine lengths.
After the Derby, the connections tried to find sports where he could win, they returned him to the grass and he ran second in then GII Mathis Brothers Mile S. at Santa Anita. But still no wins. Then they tried sprinting him on the dirt and he lost two more races, to up his losing streak to 11.
After a dull showing in the GIII Tokyo City Stakes, the owners moved him from Eurton and sent him to Tom Amoss. He went 0-for-2 for Amoss, so they again trained something new. He was sent to trainer Bill Morey and the focus was on turf sprints. Morey came close. Storm the Court ran second for him twice and third in another race. But instead of tackling stakes horses, Storm the Court stayed in the allowance ranks, where he was still eligible for a race for non-winners of two allowance.
Morey had five chances to win a race with him, but couldn't get it done. So they sent him to Maryland-based trainer Lacey Gaudet. Now seven, Storm the Court made two starts for her and finished third both times.
“We were really excited to get him,” Gaudet said. “It's fantastic to have a horse that won a Breeders' Cup race. But he's been through quite a few hands and it's been almost five years since he won a race. Obviously, we'd like to get him back to the winner's circle. He always tries.”
The reason Storm the Court is still running is that he has little or no value as a sire, though some small regional markets might give him a chance. Gaudet said the horse is sound and doing fine.
“He loves his job,” Gaudet said. “We were excited to have a horse of this caliber in the barn. He gets extra attention.”
Like Eurton, Gaudet said that Storm the Court will never run in a claiming race. That guarantees that he will stay with owners who will make sure he gets a good home when he finally stops running.
“When a special horse comes along you have a duty to take care of them,” Gaudet said. “Even though he hasn't won a race since the Breeders' Cup, the connection are very fond of him. And they really want him to wind up in a safe spot.”
So he will continue to try to get to the wire first in allowance races, something he hasn't been able to do. But he's come close, giving his connections hope that his losing streak won't last forever.
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