Storm Tower

It now seems likely that Maryland racing fans will have a local horse and jockey to root for in the Kentucky Derby.Trainer Ben Perkins Jr., whose large and well-stocked racing stable is headquartered at the Bowie Training Center, said yesterday that he is leaning favorably toward starting Storm Tower in the Derby on May 1.Rick Wilson, a 39-year-old Pimlico-based jockey who lives in Sykesville, would ride the horse, who won the $500,000 Wood Memorial at...

Milton Higgins was headed back to the paddock after the General George Stakes yesterday, sure that his horse, Who Wouldn't, was a loser.The gritty gelding swept to the outside of stylish front-runner Storm Tower in the long stretch at Laurel Park and caught him at the wire. His jockey, Joe Rocco, had his head down, pushing the old horse.Powis Castle, the heavily favored California invader, was nowhere close to the top pair as they surged past the finish in the seven-furlong $200,000 stakes.

Florida Derby runner-up Storm Tower arrived at the Bowie Training Center from Gulfstream Park yesterday. He will skip the Kentucky Derby."He'll be pointed for the Preakness," trainer Ben Perkins, Jr. said. "But he'll have to win something first."Perkins listed three races -- the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 17; the April 18 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland; and the Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico on April 24 -- as possible spots for the colt's next start. Perkins said he plans to confer with Charlie Hesse, one of Storm Tower's co-owners, who is on vacation.

Few horses peak at the age of 6, but Who Wouldn't showed he's at the height of his career yesterday when he edged former glamour colt Storm Tower by a head in the $54,700 Northern Wolf Stakes.Always a gutsy if somewhat unsound campaigner, the Baederwood gelding has now put together a four-race winning streak at Laurel Park, earning nearly $100,000 in the last eight weeks for owners Milton Higgins III and Tom Bowman."He's never been in a position to do this before," Bowman said as the horse's trainer, Donald Barr, reeled off a list of the animal's infirmities -- a chipped knee, a fractured splint bone and pulled ligaments -- all now healed.

If Woods of Windsor ever gets serious about racing, look out world -- and the Preakness.The Bowie stablemate of Storm Tower "fooled around" yesterday at Pimlico Race Course and still ran off to a 2 3/4 -length victory over Dynamic Brush in the $100,000 Federico Tesio Stakes prep for Maryland-based Preakness hopefuls. Raglan Road, with Mike Luzzi aboard, finished third.Woods of Windsor, a 3-year-old dark bay colt, is now headed for the Preakness, where he could face his more famous stablemate in an intriguing matchup.

It's final.Storm Tower is headed to the Kentucky Derby.What's more, the horse is training for the race this week i Maryland at the Bowie Training Center.It is the first time a Derby favorite has prepped for the race at Maryland track since 1988, when Private Terms, who, like Storm Tower, won the Wood Memorial, was based at Laurel Race Course.Storm Tower arrived at Bowie yesterday about noon after three-hour van ride from Aqueduct Race Course.Trainer Ben Perkins Jr. said the 3-year-old colt, one of the thre Kentucky Derby favorites along with Prairie Bayou and Personal Hope, will go to the track about 8:30 a.m. today and train at Bowie all week.

HALLANDALE, Fla. -- About 8:30 a.m. yesterday, two old friends sat in the grandstand at Gulfstream Park, not saying much, waiting to catch a glimpse of the animal that might take them to the Kentucky Derby.One man, Tony Tornetta, accompanied by his daughter, Maryann, and grandson, Tony, sat in a wheelchair, hooked up to an inhalator. He has spent a lifetime in the racing game and has dished out the bucks, chiefly made from a large commercial truck dealership he owns near Philadelphia, buying thoroughbreds.

LOUISVILLE, KY. -- Anthony Tornetta had a passion for owning and betting on racehorses.So much so that when he was close to death 10 days ago, h chartered a special hospital plane from his winter home in Turnberry Isle, Fla., and flew to New York to see the colt, Storm Tower, that he owned in partnership with his long-time friend, Charles Hesse III, win the Wood Memorial.Now, just a week before the horse runs in the Kentucky Derby Tornetta has died.He died Saturday night at his home, Whitpain Farm, in Blue Ball Pa., at age 63. He will be buried Wednesday, the day before Derby entries are officially drawn at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The first horse's name you will hear during the call of the Kentucky Derby tomorrow probably will be Storm Tower.But it is just about the worst-case scenario that could have happened to the Maryland-based colt if he is going to have a chance to win the 10-furlong race.A field of 19 3-year-olds was entered yesterday for the 119th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Track oddsmaker Mike Battaglia installed Prairie Bayou, the only horse in the field to score recent back-to-back stakes victories, in the Jim Beam and Blue Grass stakes, as the 5-2 favorite.

Maryland's first off-track betting parlor, near Frederick, has yet to be licensed and no date has been set for its opening, but the operators of Pimlico/Laurel already are planning a second facility, in Cecil County.Unlike the first site at the Cracked Claw restaurant in Urbana, which is being operated by its owner-manager Johnny Poole, the second parlor will be run by Maryland Jockey Club management.According to Pimlico/Laurel senior vice president and general manager Jim Mango, Pimlico/Laurel is leasing a large restaurant and catering facility called Poor Jimmy's, located on U.S. Route 40 near Elkton, and is refurbishing it as an OTB outlet.

A couple of years ago, Storm Tower was the talk of Maryland racing, a locally based 3-year-old who invaded New York, won the Grade I Wood Memorial and then set the pace for the first mile in the 1993 Kentucky Derby before fading to finish 16th.A lot of things have changed since then. Storm Tower's trainer, Ben Perkins Jr., is now headquartered in New Jersey, and the horse has failed to live up to his early potential."He just doesn't seem to have that mental grit, which probably happens to a lot of those horses that are raced hard early in their 3-year-old careers," Perkins said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The first horse's name you will hear during the call of the Kentucky Derby tomorrow probably will be Storm Tower.But it is just about the worst-case scenario that could have happened to the Maryland-based colt if he is going to have a chance to win the 10-furlong race.A field of 19 3-year-olds was entered yesterday for the 119th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Track oddsmaker Mike Battaglia installed Prairie Bayou, the only horse in the field to score recent back-to-back stakes victories, in the Jim Beam and Blue Grass stakes, as the 5-2 favorite.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Today's post position draw could decide the Kentucky Derby fate of Maryland-based speed horse Storm Tower.The colt worked a half-mile in 48 seconds yesterday and "is doing as well or better than he did before the Wood Memorial [which he won]," said exercise rider Leo Murray.Asked whether he would go with Personal Hope, the other speed horse, try to get a clear lead or tuck in behind, trainer Ben Perkins Jr. said he would let jockey Rick Wilson decide."We'll wait for the post position draw, see if we're inside or outside him," Perkins said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Today's post position draw could decide the Kentucky Derby fate of Maryland-based speed horse Storm Tower.The colt worked a half-mile in 48 seconds yesterday and "is doing as well or better than he did before the Wood Memorial [which he won]," said exercise rider Leo Murray.Asked whether he would go with Personal Hope, the other speed horse, try to get a clear lead or tuck in behind, trainer Ben Perkins Jr. said he would let jockey Rick Wilson decide."We'll wait for the post position draw, see if we're inside or outside him," Perkins said.

LOUISVILLE, KY. -- Anthony Tornetta had a passion for owning and betting on racehorses.So much so that when he was close to death 10 days ago, h chartered a special hospital plane from his winter home in Turnberry Isle, Fla., and flew to New York to see the colt, Storm Tower, that he owned in partnership with his long-time friend, Charles Hesse III, win the Wood Memorial.Now, just a week before the horse runs in the Kentucky Derby Tornetta has died.He died Saturday night at his home, Whitpain Farm, in Blue Ball Pa., at age 63. He will be buried Wednesday, the day before Derby entries are officially drawn at Churchill Downs.

If Woods of Windsor ever gets serious about racing, look out world -- and the Preakness.The Bowie stablemate of Storm Tower "fooled around" yesterday at Pimlico Race Course and still ran off to a 2 3/4 -length victory over Dynamic Brush in the $100,000 Federico Tesio Stakes prep for Maryland-based Preakness hopefuls. Raglan Road, with Mike Luzzi aboard, finished third.Woods of Windsor, a 3-year-old dark bay colt, is now headed for the Preakness, where he could face his more famous stablemate in an intriguing matchup.

Few horses peak at the age of 6, but Who Wouldn't showed he's at the height of his career yesterday when he edged former glamour colt Storm Tower by a head in the $54,700 Northern Wolf Stakes.Always a gutsy if somewhat unsound campaigner, the Baederwood gelding has now put together a four-race winning streak at Laurel Park, earning nearly $100,000 in the last eight weeks for owners Milton Higgins III and Tom Bowman."He's never been in a position to do this before," Bowman said as the horse's trainer, Donald Barr, reeled off a list of the animal's infirmities -- a chipped knee, a fractured splint bone and pulled ligaments -- all now healed.

A couple of years ago, Storm Tower was the talk of Maryland racing, a locally based 3-year-old who invaded New York, won the Grade I Wood Memorial and then set the pace for the first mile in the 1993 Kentucky Derby before fading to finish 16th.A lot of things have changed since then. Storm Tower's trainer, Ben Perkins Jr., is now headquartered in New Jersey, and the horse has failed to live up to his early potential."He just doesn't seem to have that mental grit, which probably happens to a lot of those horses that are raced hard early in their 3-year-old careers," Perkins said.

BOWIE -- Ah, success. What an annoyance."The motel in Louisville wants $250 a night, four-night minimum," Ben Perkins Jr. was saying yesterday at the barn, "and get this: paid in advance."L Does it get any better than this? And does it get any worse?"That was the lady from Churchill Downs," Perkins said, hanging up the phone again. "It's like $800 for a box of seats. I know we're gonna need at least two."Taking a hot horse to the Kentucky Derby. How sweet it is.And how sour."It is very exciting," said Perkins, whose big horse, Storm Tower, trains at Bowie, "and it is an unreal pain in the neck."

It's final.Storm Tower is headed to the Kentucky Derby.What's more, the horse is training for the race this week i Maryland at the Bowie Training Center.It is the first time a Derby favorite has prepped for the race at Maryland track since 1988, when Private Terms, who, like Storm Tower, won the Wood Memorial, was based at Laurel Race Course.Storm Tower arrived at Bowie yesterday about noon after three-hour van ride from Aqueduct Race Course.Trainer Ben Perkins Jr. said the 3-year-old colt, one of the thre Kentucky Derby favorites along with Prairie Bayou and Personal Hope, will go to the track about 8:30 a.m. today and train at Bowie all week.