Former star sprinter gets a second coming in the Stradbroke

Written by Jessica Owers

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

For Eagle Farm trainer Lauren Abbott, a mother, former jockey and qualified journalist, history will need repeating this weekend when she saddles up Superstorm in the G1 Stradbroke H. The Sebring gelding is posting odds of 100-1.

The last time a horse won the race at this price, it was Sir Wisp in 1977. That horse hadn’t shown much leading into his Stradbroke, but he mowed down the field from near last to post a memorable victory for trainer Tony Mezzaglia.

It could be a similar story for 6-year-old Superstorm, who has probably earned those wide odds with a long absence from the track and a last-start last in the G2 Australia S. in January.

However, in 2021, Superstorm was one of the hottest sprinters on the scene, winning the G2 Feehan S. and G1 Cantala S. for trainer Danny O’Brien. He was also third in the G1 Underwood to Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}), and third again to I’m Thunderstruck (NZ) (Shocking) in the G1 Toorak H.

After that, things began to unravel with injury, and it was 18 months before Superstorm was seen again. By then he had moved to Pakenham trainer John Leek Jnr, for whom he was last in the Australia S.

In early March, Superstorm was consigned by Leek to the Inglis Digital March Online Sale, selling to owner John Taylor for $70,000, and that was how the gelding ended up with Lauren Abbott at Eagle Farm.

Abbott keeps anywhere between eight and 10 horses in training. She lives minutes away from Eagle Farm, and the likeable Superstorm is her headline horse. He’s been patched back together after his brilliant 2021 season, which has probably endeared his story to her that little bit more.

“He’s had a number of niggling issues,” Abbott said, speaking to TDN AusNZ. “He had a throat operation in the middle of it all, and he had an issue with a splint bone, which was operated on.

“But all told, he’s a pretty sound horse now. Obviously being a top-class horse, all the surgeries he’s had were done at a very high level. When my vet scoped him, she said his throat op had been an excellent job and he’s had no soundness issues in his legs since.”

Superstorm is not over-raced, which has helped his recovery. He’s had 20 career starts, which included in its earliest days a stakes win in Western Australia, a second to Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) in the G1 Australian Guineas, and a second to Regal Power (Pierro) in The All-Star Mile.

But sometimes there comes, with these sorts of comeback stories, a bit of scrutiny. Is Abbott feeling that?

“I guess there’s some pressure there,” she said. “I don’t really feel it too much because I’m just concentrating on the horse. If I can get the horse fit and well, and he’s feeling good about himself, that he’ll do the rest. If I wanted to think about it hard enough, I could probably find myself stressing about it a little bit, but I haven’t really got wrapped up in it.”

Second-chance expert

Abbott has been a licensed trainer since 2018, but she’s worn a few hats down through her years.

She grew up in southwest Victoria, and her first exposure to racing was through a week’s work experience in the John Sadler yard at Flemington. After that, she was sold… the racing industry was where she wanted to be.

She qualified as a jockey, relocating to Far North Queensland to see out her apprenticeship, but while there she graduated from James Cook University in journalism. She moved south to Brisbane where, among riding engagements, she worked in magazines and, at one time, sold advertising for the Queensland Racing Calendar.

“I’ve done a few things here and there,” Abbott said. “But I love horses and I love working with horses. I’ve been lucky throughout my life that I’ve been able to have jobs that have helped me revolve around horses.

“These days, training is all I do. I’m a bit older now and I’ve got an 8-year-old son, so I can’t be like I used to, running around like a lunatic with four things going on at once.”

Abbott runs a good ship in her boutique yard at Bridgeman Downs. She has horses like Easier Said (All Too Hard), a three-time winner since relocating to her as a tried horse, and Silver Pearl (Sizzling), a 3-year-old filly that’s been out of the first three only once in seven career starts.

Abbott rides her own trackwork and she is a deft equestrian, and she doesn’t mind hitting the road for the right races. She is a regular appearance around Townsville and south to the Northern Rivers tracks in New South Wales, and her rehabilitative powers have been pretty successful.

A few years ago, she took over the aged gelding Kievann (Niello), who had bounced from Troy and Gary Portelli to Stephen Brown before landing with Abbott. The horse hadn’t won a race in two years, but under her care, Kievann posted a further seven wins and eight placings before retiring in July 2021.

The trainer will be hoping for a similar good news angle come Saturday when Superstorm takes his place in the Stradbroke.

He’s well-prepared

Superstorm was bred by Bob Peters in 2016 from a brilliant Western Australian family. He is one of four stakes winners from the mare Stormy Nova (Metal Storm {Fr}), with his most prolific sibling being Cosmic Storm (Street Sense {USA}), a winner of the G3 La Trice Classic and Listed Belmont Oaks.

As such, Superstorm has had success in line right from the beginning of his life, and it will be Abbott's job to find out if there's more to come.

“He's been a good story,” she said. “I’ve appreciated the attention and the interest that he’s generated. Because of his rating and the type of racing pattern that he has, the Stradbroke was the obvious race that we could set him for.”

She admits that there are a few things against the gelding’s favour, however.

For a start, the 1400 metres of the Stradbroke is probably not his ideal distance. Superstorm has performed better going a little bit further in the past, but the race is a good start for a new campaign. Also, barrier 16 isn’t ideal, but Abbott said he’s likely to come into 12 by the time the gates crash open.

“He’s been a lovely horse to have in the stable,” she said. “It can take you a while to get to know their quirks and what they like and don’t like. It was a big trip up from Melbourne when we bought him, and he’d been spelling for a few weeks before his sale, so he was a bit light and a bit tired when he arrived.

“Slowly we’ve built up his muscle tone with treadmill work and some beach work, and his fitness has come up. I’ve been happy with his trial and his jump-out leading into Saturday, so I feel he’s well-prepared.”

Superstorm will take on a Stradbroke field that will include Aft Cabin (Astern), Hawaii Five Oh (I Am Invincible) and Think About It (So You Think {NZ}), the latter on a winning streak numbering seven. It’s a formidable field, but it’s an open field, and the Stradbroke has, in its past, warmly welcomed the comeback kings.

Alligator Blood was one such last year, returning after kissing-spine surgery and a new trainer to improve on his G3 BRC Sprint second with a win in the then $1.5 million Stradbroke.

On Saturday, the race is worth $3 million, so Abbott will be hoping that history will be just as kind.