dA son of Storm Bird (a son of Northern Dancer) out of the stakes-winning mare Terlingua (sired by Secretariat), Storm Cat was bred and raced by William T. Young. During his racing career, he captured the Young America Stakes (gr. I) and finished second in the 1985 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) on the way to $570,610 in career earnings.
Storm Cat retired from racing in 1987 to stand at Overbrook Farm. After breeding his first book of mares in 1988 at a fee of $30,000, he spent 20 years at stud during a career that saw his fee rise to as high as $500,000.
Storm Cat sired earners of over $127 million, eight champions, and 108 graded stakes winners including winners of the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), Belmont Stakes (gr. I), Kentucky Oaks (gr. I), and five Breeders' Cup races. He ranked second on the all-time Breeders' Cup sire list and was the sire of numerous European group I winners. He topped the general sire list twice, the juvenile sire list a record seven times, and was leading broodmare sire in 2012.
At the September 2004 Keeneland yearling sales, a Storm Cat colt since named Mr. Sekiguchi sold for $8 million, and in the 2005 sale, another of his colts, Jalil, sold for $9.7 million. The price was the highest ever paid for a yearling sold at the Keeneland September sale and is third-highest overall.
Of his yearlings, 462 sold at public auction for over $319 million, including 91 yearlings which brought $1 million or more. By comparison, his grandsire Northern Dancer ranked second with 52 yearlings which brought $1 million or more, according to Overbrook.
Storm Cat retired from active stud duties in 2008. His schedule included daily care from Eduardo Terrazas, his original stallion manager, and regular visits from his lifelong veterinarian, Dr. Robert Copelan.
He was truly a great champion and his prodigy will live on and will continue to cement his impact on the sport of horse racing.
Thirty is pretty good. Glad he had quality care to the end. They should all be so lucky.
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