Mariah's Storm
Encyclopedia
Mariah's Storm was an American
thoroughbred
filly
racehorse
, bred by Donald T. Johnson's Crescent Farm in Lexington, Kentucky
. She suffered a serious injury while racing but later made a full recovery and continued her career.
In 2005, film director
John Gatins made a motion picture titled Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story
in which the horse "Soñador" is based on Mariah's Storm.
filly with a lot of racing prospect. She was a daughter of Rahy
, who would also sire 2001 European Horse of the Year
Fantastic Light
, Noverre
, Champion 3-Year-Old in England, and Dreaming of Anna
, 2006 U.S. 2-Year-Old Champion Filly
& Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
winner. Mariah's Storm's grandsire was the important Blushing Groom
and her damsire was Epsom Derby
winner, Roberto
.
In 1993, Mariah's Storm was working on building points to qualify for a chance to run in that fall's Breeder's Cup. The dream of getting there came to a bitter end when she fractured her front left cannon bone while running in the Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland Race Course. When a horse injures her cannon bone, it usually ends her racing career. However, Mariah's Storm's owners and trainers refused to give up hope and with the work of several skilled veterinarians, the fractured cannon bone healed and strengthened. But the question of whether she would ever race again still hung in the balance.
Arlington Park
. This was a Grade III
stakes for two-year old-fillies. After her injury healed, and she had fully recovered, she made a return to racing in 1994 and won the Arlington Oaks
and, in 1995, the Arlington Matron Stakes. Since her record of winning all three stakes races at Arlington Park was a rare accomplishment, Arlington officials named the Mariah's Storm Stakes in her honor.
Racing at age four, in September 1995 Mariah's Storm won the Turfway Breeders' Cup Stakes at Turfway Park
, in the process defeating the future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
filly, Serena's Song
, also a daughter of Rahy. She went on to win the Falls City Handicap
at Churchill Downs
then competed in the Breeders' Cup Distaff
where she finished ninth in a ten horse field.
(by Storm Cat), the European Horse of the Year for 2000. Mariah's Storm has also produced Freud, a full brother to Giant's Causeway who stands at Sequel Stallions New York. Freud was the leading sire in New York in 2008.
was loosely based on the story of Mariah's Storm. However, in the movie Soñador (the horse based on Mariah's Storm) won the Breeders' Cup Classic (as the fifth filly ever to participate in that race), whereas in real life, Mariah's Storm ran in the Breeders' Cup Distaff and finished ninth in a ten horse field.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
filly
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
racehorse
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
, bred by Donald T. Johnson's Crescent Farm in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
. She suffered a serious injury while racing but later made a full recovery and continued her career.
In 2005, film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
John Gatins made a motion picture titled Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story
Dreamer (2005 film)
Dreamer is a 2005 American family drama film starring Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning, inspired by the true story of an injured Thoroughbred racehorse named Mariah's Storm. It marked the directing and screenwriting debut of John Gatins.-Plot:...
in which the horse "Soñador" is based on Mariah's Storm.
The story of Mariah's Storm
Mariah's Storm was a very well bredHorse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...
filly with a lot of racing prospect. She was a daughter of Rahy
Rahy
Rahy was an Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in England and the United States. Bred by Hill 'n' Dale Farms in Lexington, he was a son of the very important sire Blushing Groom and out of the Eclipse Award winner and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame mare, Glorious Song.Rahy was purchased as a...
, who would also sire 2001 European Horse of the Year
European Horse of the Year
European Horse of the Year is an award in European Thoroughbred horse racing. Since 1991 the honor has been part of the Cartier Racing Awards. It is presented annually by Cartier SA to a horse of any age racing in Europe.-Honorees:...
Fantastic Light
Fantastic Light
Fantastic Light is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. He was foaled in the United States but was trained in England and Dubai during his racing career, which ran from August 1998 to his retirement following the Breeders' Cup Turf on October 2001...
, Noverre
Noverre
Noverre is a Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Darley Stud Management Inc. and raced by a sister operation, Godolphin Racing, he was sired by Rahy and out of the mare Danseur Fabuleux, a daughter of the great Northern Dancer who was also the dam of 1991 European Horse of the Year, Arazi.Trained at...
, Champion 3-Year-Old in England, and Dreaming of Anna
Dreaming of Anna
Dreaming of Anna is an American thoroughbred filly racehorse. She was sired by the outstanding English and American stud, Rahy out of the Broad Brush mare, Justenuffheart, who was a multi graded stakes race winner and half-sister to Grade I Turf winner Kitten's Joy. Although there is no Northern...
, 2006 U.S. 2-Year-Old Champion Filly
Eclipse Award for Outstanding 2-Year-Old Filly
The American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a female horse in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971....
& Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a 1 1/16-mile thoroughbred horse race on dirt for two-year-old fillies run annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships.-Automatic Berths:Beginning in 2007, the Breeders' Cup...
winner. Mariah's Storm's grandsire was the important Blushing Groom
Blushing Groom
Blushing Groom was a French Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by American businessman John McNamee Sullivan and was raced by HH Aga Khan IV. A descendant of Nearco, Blushing Groom was sired by Red God and out of the mare Runaway Bride....
and her damsire was Epsom Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
winner, Roberto
Roberto (horse)
Roberto was an American-bred Thoroughbred Champion racehorse who competed in Ireland and England.-Background:Roberto was bred by Galbreath at his Darby Dan Farm near Lexington, Kentucky. The son of the successful sire Hail To Reason out of the dam Bramalea, Roberto's grandsire was Turn-To, a...
.
In 1993, Mariah's Storm was working on building points to qualify for a chance to run in that fall's Breeder's Cup. The dream of getting there came to a bitter end when she fractured her front left cannon bone while running in the Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland Race Course. When a horse injures her cannon bone, it usually ends her racing career. However, Mariah's Storm's owners and trainers refused to give up hope and with the work of several skilled veterinarians, the fractured cannon bone healed and strengthened. But the question of whether she would ever race again still hung in the balance.
Full recovery, and a big surprise
In September 1993, before the injury had occurred, Mariah's Storm won the Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes at Chicago'sChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Arlington Park
Arlington Park
Arlington Park is a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago region has been a popular sport since the early days of the city in the 1830s, and at one time Chicago had more horse racing tracks than any other major metropolitan area...
. This was a Grade III
Graded stakes race
A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...
stakes for two-year old-fillies. After her injury healed, and she had fully recovered, she made a return to racing in 1994 and won the Arlington Oaks
Arlington Oaks
The Arlington Oaks is an American Grade III Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Arlington Park racetrack near Chicago, Illinois. Raced on dirt over a distance of 1 1/8 miles , the race is restricted to three-year-old fillies. It offers a purse of $100,000.Inaugurated in 1930, after the running...
and, in 1995, the Arlington Matron Stakes. Since her record of winning all three stakes races at Arlington Park was a rare accomplishment, Arlington officials named the Mariah's Storm Stakes in her honor.
Racing at age four, in September 1995 Mariah's Storm won the Turfway Breeders' Cup Stakes at Turfway Park
Turfway Park
Turfway Park is an American horse racing track located just outside the city limits to the north of Florence, Kentucky, about 10 miles south of the Ohio River at Cincinnati...
, in the process defeating the future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
filly, Serena's Song
Serena's Song
Serena’s Song is an American Thoroughbred race horse. She won 17 graded stakes races, including 11 Grade I , in three seasons for $3,286,388 in earnings....
, also a daughter of Rahy. She went on to win the Falls City Handicap
Falls City Handicap
The Falls City Handicap is a Thoroughbred horse race run annually near the end of November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. A Grade II event, the race is open to fillies and mares, age three and up, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt.-Records:* 1:48.85 - Silent Eskimo...
at Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs, located in Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, is a Thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby annually. It officially opened in 1875, and held the first Kentucky Derby and the first Kentucky Oaks in the same year. Churchill Downs...
then competed in the Breeders' Cup Distaff
Breeders' Cup Distaff
The Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up. Known as the Breeders' Cup Distaff from its inception in 1984 through 2007, it is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders'...
where she finished ninth in a ten horse field.
Produce Record
Mariah's Storm easily made her mark on the racing industry as a broodmare, producing the great Giant's CausewayGiant's Causeway (horse)
Giant's Causeway is a Kentucky-bred thoroughbred racehorse who competed primarily in Europe. In 2000, he won five straight Group One races. His performance that year earned him European Horse of the Year honors....
(by Storm Cat), the European Horse of the Year for 2000. Mariah's Storm has also produced Freud, a full brother to Giant's Causeway who stands at Sequel Stallions New York. Freud was the leading sire in New York in 2008.
In the media
The movie Dreamer (2005 film)Dreamer (2005 film)
Dreamer is a 2005 American family drama film starring Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning, inspired by the true story of an injured Thoroughbred racehorse named Mariah's Storm. It marked the directing and screenwriting debut of John Gatins.-Plot:...
was loosely based on the story of Mariah's Storm. However, in the movie Soñador (the horse based on Mariah's Storm) won the Breeders' Cup Classic (as the fifth filly ever to participate in that race), whereas in real life, Mariah's Storm ran in the Breeders' Cup Distaff and finished ninth in a ten horse field.
See also
- Dreamer: Inspired by a True StoryDreamer (2005 film)Dreamer is a 2005 American family drama film starring Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning, inspired by the true story of an injured Thoroughbred racehorse named Mariah's Storm. It marked the directing and screenwriting debut of John Gatins.-Plot:...
- Giant's Causeway (horse)Giant's Causeway (horse)Giant's Causeway is a Kentucky-bred thoroughbred racehorse who competed primarily in Europe. In 2000, he won five straight Group One races. His performance that year earned him European Horse of the Year honors....