Hoping to create an Irish Firestorm in the U.S. Midwest
Strange as it may seem, there are not a lot of Irish pubs in Indiana. Just ask Ciaran Morrison. The transplanted Irishman is in the U.S. Midwest racing the twoyear-old pacing filly Firestorm, who has a shot Friday night at the $600,000 Breeders Crown at Hoosier Park, north of Indianapolis.
With just one horse to care for the past week, Morrison has had plenty of time on his hands to explore.
“Plenty of cornfields, but I haven’t seen any Irish pubs,” quips the Burford-based horseman.
That aside, he is very happy with Firestorm, who finished second in last week’s elimination to earn a berth in the final; although getting post position eight in the 10-horse field is less than encouraging.
“She was good. Very good in fact,” he said. “She is a big, strong girl, but athletic at the same time. Really, from the time I got her last fall, she has been all I could ask for. And regardless of what happens in this race, which is her last for the season, she could be any kind of filly as a three-year-old.”
Bill Donovan, a Florida-based owner who has horses with many people, bought Firestorm as a yearling for $100,000. But it was not until Morrison read an article in a trade magazine that he learned she was destined for his Princeton barn.
“I’d gotten to know Bill a bit, but was totally unaware that he was sending this filly to me. He buys a lot of horses and places them with a variety of different trainers. When she did arrive and came off the trailer she looked the part, too. Horses don’t know what they cost, but this one had a presence about her.”
However, it’s been a bit of a problematic season for Firestorm. She had a number of setbacks making this race just her seventh of the year.
“Back in June when the season was about to start, she had a muscle strain, which set her back six weeks. Then she came up sixth in September, forcing us to scratch her for an Ontario Sires Stake Gold event, leading to her not having enough points to make the $250,000 final,” says Morrison.
“She keeps improving, so I was not surprised she did well last week. But this post position hurts us. Then her regular driver, Jody Jamieson jumped off to take another horse, so we have Scott Zeron for the first time. And then maybe the biggest obstacle is the favourite Youaremycandygirl, which Donovan also owns.”
Nevertheless, Morrison is justifiably proud of Firestorm, the flagbearer for his modest stable of 10 horses based at Princeton Farms training centre.
“This has been a nice experience to come to Indiana, where I had never been. And I hope for Bill’s sake the filly gets a good shot at the Breeders Crown.
“But I’m ready to come back to Ontario and get started on the next bunch of young horses.”
And there just might be a local Irish pub awaiting his return.