Storm Cat (February 27, 1983 – April 24, 2013) was an American Thoroughbred stallion whose breeding fee during the peak of his stud career was $500,000, the highest in North America at the time.
Although best known as a sire, Storm Cat was one of the best two-year-old racehorses of his generation, winning the Grade I Young America Stakes and finishing second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
[3] William T. Young of Overbrook Farm purchased Terlingua in partnership with Bill Lockridge, who arranged the mating with Storm Bird.
[5] Storm Cat was the focus of the well-received 2002 nonfiction book "Stud: Adventures in Breeding" by author Kevin Conley.
[2] Storm Cat entered the 1985 Breeders' Cup Juvenile as the favorite and led by as much as three lengths down the stretch.
"[4] Instead, Storm Cat underwent surgery over the winter for bone chips in his knees,[3] then suffered a tendon injury.
[4] He returned to the racetrack in October 1986, winning an allowance race at the Meadowlands and finishing fourth in the Annapolis Stakes.
[7] Storm Cat retired to stud at Overbrook Farm in Lexington, Kentucky in 1988 with modest expectations.
In some cases, Young even gave seasons away for free to keep Storm Cat's stud career alive.
[9] In 1995, Storm Cat's stud fee increased to $100,000, which was considered a bargain after yearlings from that crop sold for an average of $500,000.
[7] Storm Cat's next crop included 'iron horse' Giant's Causeway, who won five straight Group One races in Europe and then finished second in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Classic.
Storm Cat repeated as the leading sire in North America, and also finished second in the standings for Great Britain and Ireland.
[7] The crop foaled in 1998 was the first to average more than $1 million at auction and included Black Minnaloushe, who won the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St. James Palace Stakes.
[10] In 2009, Storm Cat's services were offered to Quarter Horse breeders using artificial insemination, which is not allowed with Thoroughbreds.
The clone is not considered a Thoroughbred by the rules established by The Jockey Club and the plan is to use him to breed polo ponies.
And I think part of that attitude is imparted on their progeny, and that, as much as good conformation, ability, tenacity and desire, is key to the success of a horse.