STORM LEOPARD announced himself as a serious three-year-old staying prospect when he delivered a dominant and authoritative victory in the Group 2 Tulloch Stakes over 2000 metres at Rosehill on Saturday, stamping himself as a horse on the rise and now firmly in the conversation for the Group 1 ATC Derby.
STORM LEOPARD
Trained by the Lindsay Park team of Ben, Will and JD Hayes, the son of Ghaiyyath has taken remarkable strides in a short space of time and his latest performance confirmed what astute judges had begun to suspect. This is a horse with genuine upside, a staying profile and the capacity to measure up at the highest level.
Settling beautifully in transit under Tommy Berry, Storm Leopard travelled in a rhythm that suggested he was always going to be a factor. With a tearaway leader setting a strong tempo, Berry allowed his mount to build into the race, gradually improving his position before issuing a decisive challenge on straightening. Once balanced, Storm Leopard quickly asserted superiority, gathering in the leader at the 200 metres before extending clear under a controlled ride to score by nearly two lengths.
It was not just the margin that impressed. It was the manner of the win. He showed professionalism, strength and a turn of foot that is not always evident in emerging stayers. Berry himself summed it up perfectly post-race, noting that the gelding won with authority and felt as though he had more to give, even suggesting he deliberately eased late with a view to backing up in a Derby.
That comment alone tells the story. This is a horse that is thriving, improving and still learning his craft.
Importantly, this performance did not come out of nowhere. Since making his debut late in the spring, Storm Leopard has been on a steep upward trajectory. At the time of the Magic Millions Yearling Sale in January, he was a maiden winner at Geelong and largely under the radar. However, what has unfolded since has been both rapid and revealing.
In his past four starts, he has returned two wins, a second and a fast finishing fifth in the VOBIS Guineas. That sequence of performances highlights a horse that is not only progressing but doing so at a rate that suggests his best is still well ahead of him. Now a Group 2 winner, he has earned his place among the leading contenders of his generation and has forced connections to seriously consider a late entry into the ATC Derby.
Co trainer Ben Hayes acknowledged as much after the race, indicating that the team had originally planned a different path but would now reassess given the ease and authority of the Tulloch Stakes victory. It is a good problem to have, and one that reflects the rapid rise of a horse who is quickly making his mark.
From a pedigree perspective, Storm Leopard is equally compelling. He is out of the Street Cry mare Brilliance, a mare who has now produced her best runner to date, and who hails from one of the most prolific and high performing families in the Australian Stud Book.
STORM LEOPARD as a yearling
Storm Leopard was a $125,000 purchase by his trainers from the draft of Coolmore Stud at the 2024 Magic Millions Yearling Sale. He has taken his record to three wins and a second from six starts with earnings of $245,450.
Storm Leopard is the best of five winners from six to the race out of the Street Cry mare Brilliance from a family that just keeps giving.
Unraced, Brilliance is a three-quarter-sister to recent Gr1 Futurity Stakes winner Pericles, as well as being a half-sister to Gr1 winners Epaulette, Helmet and also the Gr2 winner Pearls and Gr3 winner Bullbars.
Brilliance was sold at the 2022 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale by Godolphin, carrying Storm Leopard for $260,000 to Avenue Bloodstock.
Bred by NSW’s Premier Bloodstock, Storm Leopard was bought for $125,000 at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale by Team Hayes’s Lindsay Park, who will have placed great stock in his second dam.
He’s the seventh foal of the unraced Brilliance (Street Cry), but it's his unraced second dam Accessories (Singspiel) deserves "blue hen" ranking, being the dam of no fewer than five (5) Group winners.
They include three (3) Group 1 victors in subsequent sires Helmet (Exceed And Excel), who won three, Epaulette (Commands), who won two, as well as current runner Pericles (Street Boss) – winner of February’s Futurity Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m). Pericles is a three-quarter brother to Brilliance.
Accessories also produced Group 2 and Group 3 winner Pearls (Exceed And Excel), and stakes winner Bullbars (Elusive Quality), who won a Gr3 but is the sire of Lindsay Park’s stable star Mr Brightside, his outlier star performer.
Brilliance’s colt by St Mark’s Basilica (Siyouni) sold at the 2026 Gold Coast in January from Coolmore Stud’s draft. She now has a colt foal at foot by the same stallion but missed to Home Affairs in December.
The depth of black type in the family is undeniable, with multiple Group 1 winners alongside other stakes performers that underline the consistency of the line.
However, what adds an extra layer of excitement and significance to this story is what happened in January at the Magic Millions.
St Mark’s Basilica (FR) out of Brilliance
At that sale, Dynamic Syndications in conjunction with Dean Watt Bloodstock identified and secured a yearling colt by Coolmore Stud’s outstanding young sire St Mark’s Basilica (FR) out of Brilliance for $140,000 + GST.
At the time of purchase, Storm Leopard had only just broken his maiden 3 weeks earlier.
He was a developing horse with promise, but not yet the Group 2 winner and emerging Derby contender we see today.
Whilst another half sister Faerie has also broken its maiden. So where the pedigree page read 5 to race three winners, it now reads: 6 to race, 5 winners.
How the pedigree page looked in the catalogue:
and how it reads for our COLT today 30-3-26:
That is the essence of elite bloodstock selection.
You are not buying and paying a premium for what is. You are buying what can be.
The decision to invest in the St Mark’s Basilica colt was based on pedigree strength, physical assessment, and the deep understanding of the family’s ability to produce high class racehorses. What has transpired since has only strengthened that decision.
Our colt has broken-in very well
In the space of a few months, the page has transformed. Storm Leopard has elevated the family profile dramatically, adding Group 2 status and placing himself on a potential Group 1 trajectory.
As a result, the residual value and racing appeal of his half-brother has surged.
This is exactly the scenario that astute buyers aim to create.
The colt purchased by Dynamic Syndications and Dean Watt Bloodstock now carries the distinction of being the half-brother to a Group 2 winner who is knocking on the door of Group 1 competition.
He is by St Mark’s Basilica, a European Horse of the Year and multiple Group 1 winner, whose early progeny have been eagerly anticipated worldwide. When you combine that sire power with a proven and elite female family, you are looking at a colt with genuine commercial and racing upside.
Equally important is the timing. When the hammer fell in January, the opportunity existed to secure this colt before the full emergence of Storm Leopard.
That window has now closed. The market has been updated. The family has been upgraded.
It reinforces a key principle in bloodstock. The best opportunities are often identified before the results are visible to all.
For Dynamic Syndications, this is a textbook example of our selection philosophy in action.
Detailed pedigree analysis, strict veterinary protocols, physical inspection standards and a commitment to sourcing value, converge to deliver opportunities that can evolve rapidly into something far more significant.
Storm Leopard’s rise over the past three months has been the catalyst, but the foundation was already in place.
Now, as Storm Leopard sets his sights on a possible tilt at the ATC Derby, the story continues to build.
His Tulloch Stakes victory has not only confirmed his own talent but has shone a spotlight on the strength of his family and the foresight of those who moved early to secure a share in that genetic pipeline.
There is still much to be written. Storm Leopard is a progressive stayer with upside, and he has already demonstrated the capacity to improve with racing and distance. If he continues this trajectory, the Group 1 stage awaits.
For Dynamic Syndications owners, the excitement is twofold. They can watch the unfolding career of Storm Leopard with interest, knowing they are directly connected through his half-brother, a colt with the pedigree, physique and now the updated page to suggest he too can develop into a racehorse of significance.
This is what the thoroughbred game is all about. Identifying opportunity, acting with conviction, and then watching as potential turns into performance.
Storm Leopard has now placed a bold marker as a Group 2 winner and an emerging Derby contender. His story is one of rapid progression, elite pedigree, and untapped potential.
And importantly, it is a story that Dynamic Syndications is now eagerly watching to develop further.