Midnight Storm adds to resume in Seabiscuit H. (G2)

Midnight Storm found his best stride in the stretch to win the $250,000 Seabiscuit H. (G2) Saturday at Del Mar, the second Grade 2 win for the 4-year-old son of Pioneerof the Nile.

A clean break had Midnight Storm and jockey Victor Espinoza out front, but Espinoza let Macro Access (ARG) have the lead and settled nicely into stride about two lengths off the leader. Espinoza sat patiently until three furlongs to run, when he ranged up alongside and quickly past the pacesetter.

Full of run in the stretch, Midnight Storm was comfortably in front, winning by 1 ¾-lengths in 1:42.70 for the 1 1/16 miles on the firm turf.

“By the 3/8ths pole, he was just doing it so easy, so I just let him go,” Espinoza said succinctly.

Owned in partnership by breeders Alex Venneri and Marjorie Post Dye, and Little Red Feather Racing, Midnight Storm now has a 5-3-0 record from 13 starts with $562,110 in earnings. He won last year’s Del Mar Derby (G2) for his first stakes victory.

Midnight Storm is Pioneer of the Nile’s second-leading earner, behind only certain 2015 Horse of the Year American Pharoah.