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Storming Home is a retired, British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire who was trained in the United Kingdom and the United States during a racing career which ran from 2000 to 2003. He won five Conditions races races, but is probably best known for his disqualification in the 2003 Arlington Million.
He is inbreeding 2x3 to Mr. Prospector, meaning that this stallion appears in both the second and third generations of Storming Home's pedigree (see below).
Storming Home was sent into training with Barry Hills at Lambourn and was ridden by his trainer's son Michael in most of his European starts. He was later transferred to Neil Drysdale in California, where Gary Stevens took over as his regular jockey. Although among the highest-rated horses in the world at his peak, he had a reputation for being inconsistent and temperamental and often raced in some form of Blinders to help his concentration
He was then moved up in class for the Conditions races Solario Stakes at Sandown Park Racecourse two weeks later. He showed himself to be a colt of some ability by finishing strongly after being unable to find space to run in the straight, and taking second place, half a length behind King's Ironbridge. On his final start of the year he ran unplaced in the Somerville Tattersall Stakes, behind horses including future Group One winners Grandera and Imperial Dancer.
His official rating of 109 placed him among the top forty European colts of the year, ten pounds below the highweight Minardi.
At Royal Ascot two weeks later, he recorded his first important win by taking the Group Two King Edward VII Stakes from Snowstorm, with the favourite Milan, well beaten in the fourth. Barry Hills commented on the colt's promise after the race: "The penny is finally dropping with him and I think there may be more improvement to come." Hills demonstrated his confidence by next running Storming Home in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes over the same course and distance the following month. Storming Home started at 25-1 and exceeded expectations by staying on to finish fourth to Galileo, beaten three lengths.
At York a month later, he was made favourite for the Great Voltigeur Stakes but was unable to confirm his earlier form with Milan, who defeated him by a length and a half. His season ended after a disappointing performance in the Prix Niel.
Barry Hills took the decision to fit the colt with cheek-pieces to improve his concentration, and the experiment was successful. An easy, six-length win in the listed Godolphin Stakes, was followed by a return to the top level in the Group One Champion Stakes at Newmarket. Sent off at 8–1, he raced prominently, took the lead a furlong out, and stayed on strongly to defeat the subsequent Dubai World Cup winner Moon Ballad by half a length. Michael Hills emphasised the importance of the cheek-pieces, saying that they had "made a big difference to him and he just travels so much better; it is much easier to ride a race on him now". His father, whilst pleased with the result, pointed out that Storming Home was "not a straightforward horse."
His season ended with an unplaced effort in the Japan Cup. His trainer offered no real excuses: "The draw didn't help. He was going well for a while but ran out of petrol".
At the same track a month later he followed up with an odds-on victory in the Grade I Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap, in which he came from last place to win after Gary Stevens was forced to take him to the extreme outside entering the straight.
These performances saw him sent-off a 3-1 second favourite for the 21st running of the Arlington Million in Chicago. Held up at the rear of the field, he produced a powerful run to take the lead a furlong out. He was pressed in the closing stages by the international challengers Kaieteur (Britain), Paolini (Germany) and Sulamani (UAE/Britain), but seemed to be holding on for the victory when an extraordinary incident occurred. Twenty yards from the line, he seemed to be "spooked" by something on the infield and veered violently to the right, bumping Kaieteur and Paolini and unseating Gary Stevens as he crossed the line. He finished half a length ahead of Sulamani, with Kaieteur and Paolini a head further behind in a dead-heat for third, but Objections and a Steward's Inquiry followed. The closeness of the race for second led the Stewards to conclude that the incident had affected the result and Storming Home was disqualified, with the race being awarded to Sulamani, who had not been directly affected by the interference. The decision was greeted with boos by the Chicago crowd.
Stevens suffered injuries to his shoulder, chest and back, but made a quick recovery. He was back as the jockey when Storming Home reappeared at Santa Anita Park six weeks later in the Grade I Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship Stakes. Although Drysdale was concerned when the field were "dawdling" in the early stages, Storming Home produced a strong late run to catch Johar close to the finish and take the race by half a length. Stevens called the performance "a sweet vindication".
On his final racecourse appearance, Storming Home was sent off the 9/4 favourite for the Breeders' Cup Turf, but failed to give his running, finishing seventh behind the dead-heaters Johar and High Chaparral, in a performance which Stevens was at a loss to explain.
In the 2003 edition of the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings Storming Home was rated at 122, making him the fourth-best older male in North America and the twentieth-best horse to race in the world that year. This placed him several pounds behind Johar and Sulamani, despite the fact that he had "beaten" both of them.
Storming Home's highest Timeform rating was 128.
He finished runner-up to High Chaparral in the voting for the 2003 Eclipse Award for Best Male Turf Horse.
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