STORM SURGE
2002 by Storm Cat-Especially, by Mr. Prospector
A multiple stakes winner at 2, and graded stakes scorer at 3, Storm Surge is by Storm Cat from the family of leading sires Rahy, Saint Ballado and Singspiel. Storm Surge is out of a mare by Mr. Prospector — as is Storm Cat’s very successful son, Tale of the Cat.
It is important to note that no less than 13 individual sires out of Mr. Prospector mares have sired stakes winners with Mr. Prospector inbreeding, seven of them siring group or graded winners, and five getting group or grade one winners. Storm Surge’s dam is bred on the Mr. Prospector/Hoist the Flag (Tom Rolfe) cross, which might make him particularly interesting with mares descending from stallions echoing that cross, notably Forty Niner and Cryptoclearance. Mr. Prospector’s sire, Raise a Native through Exclusive Native/Affirmed and Alydar — bred on very similar lines to Mr. Prospector — should also work well.
Storm Surge’s granddam is a half-sister to Ballade, the dam of Saint Ballado and Devil’s Bag and granddam of Rahy, so mares carrying those strains have obvious appeal here. Storm Cat and Mr. Prospector have both tended to work well with Seattle Slew, so we would recommend introducing that line. Seattle Slew is a grandson of Boldnesian, and the Bold Ruckus branch of that line is worth considering. Other strains that it might pay to consider here are Damascus; Hail to Reason, through Halo, Roberto and Stop the Music/Cure the Blues; and Ribot, particularly through his grandson, Pleasant Colony. — by Alan Porter