Atlantic Hurricane surged from claim to fame in a single season to capture the Sovereign Award as Canada’s Outstanding Female Sprinter.

The Halo’s Image-It’s The Cats Meow chestnut, bred in Florida by Joseph J. DiGrazia & Thomas J. DiGrazia, started the year with a second-place finish while running for a $40,000 tag for then-owners Calypso Racing and Rousseau Racing.

In her next start, again entered for a $40,000 tag but this time on the turf, Atlantic Hurricane sprinted home a four and a quarter length winner, but in the process was claimed by trainer Stuart Simon for himself and Brent and Russell McLellan and Carl Hollick. “We were looking for solid, higher-claiming level, type of horses,” explained Simon. “We saw in the past some Florida turf horses had run well here (at Woodbine), and it looked like she would be a solid turf filly.”

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