Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa stalwart Stormy Atlantic has been pensioned, the farm announced June 18.
The 27-year-old son of Storm Cat out of the grade 1-winning Seattle Slew daughter Hail Atlantis has sired 109 black-type winners, of which 48 are graded stakes winners and nine are champions.
"Stormy Atlantic has been generous to Hill 'n' Dale and his shareholders," said John Sikura, president of Hill 'n' Dale. "I would like to thank George Isaacs from Bridlewood for showing the confidence in us for moving Stormy Atlantic from Ocala. He was truly an important sire, whose influence will endure."
Stormy Atlantic was bred and raced by the late Arthur Appleton, the founder of Bridlewood Farm, which is now owned by John and Leslie Malone. Isaacs has been general manager of the farm since 1996. The colt found his best stride at 4 when he won six of 13 starts and captured the Havre de Grace Stakes at Pimlico Race Course and the Damitrius Stakes at Delaware Park. He retired with a 6-2-1 record from 15 starts and earned $148,126.
His deep family made him a solid stallion candidate, with 31 black-type performers now listed under Hail Atlantis alone. Hail Atlantis is out of the stakes winner Flippers, who is a half sister to grade 1 winner Apalachee and grade 3 winners Belted Earl, Brahms, and Nantequos.
Stormy Atlantic entered stud at Bridlewood in 1999 and stood there until he was relocated to Hill 'n' Dale for the 2003 breeding season. He ranked ninth among the leading North American freshman sires of 2002 and was the co-fourth-leading sire that year by number of stakes winners with three. He was the leading freshman sire in Florida with $566,126 in progeny earnings. He remained among the top 12 of his sire class through his second-crop and third-crop years.
A prolific sire of stakes winners, Stormy Atlantic averaged 12 stakes winners a year over a 10-year period.
His top producers included champions Stormy Liberal, 2018 Eclipse champion turf male; Up With the Birds, 2013 Canadian Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male; El Tormenta, 2019 Canadian champion turf male; Conquest Typhoon, 2014 champion 2-year-old male; Leonnatus Anteas, 2006 Canadian champion 2-year-old male; Maritimer, 2011 Canadian champion 2-year-old male; Storm Allied, Puerto Rican champion imported 3-year-old; Dixie Wave, Peruvian champion grass horse; and Dahy, 2013 Mexican Horse of the Year.
Other elite runners included Get Stormy, three-time grade 1 winner and seven-time graded stakes winner who earned $1,606,812. He stands at Crestwood Farm for $7,500. The grade 1 roster also includes Stormy Lucy, Stormello, Next Question, and Victor Security.
Stormy Atlantic's stakes winners showed ability on both dirt and turf, with 57 stakes winners excelling on dirt and 67 stakes winners on turf. His total progeny earnings is just shy of $100 million and averages $74,678 per runner.
Nearly half of Stormy Atlantic's stakes winners are daughters, so his position among North America's most important broodmare sires is not surprising. His daughters have produced 62 black-type winners, which include 21 graded stakes winners and five champions.
