Giant's Causeway

1ST-Meydan, AED82,500, Cond., 3-3, NH/SH 3yo, 1400mT, 1:24.35, gd. MONAADAH (c, 3, Giant's Causeway--Almusafa, by Haafhd {GB}), one of three horses--and now three winners--in the final crop of the legendary 'Iron Horse' Giant's Causeway, made his debut a winning one at Meydan on Thursday. Joining GIII Sam F. Davis S. hero and GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity third Classic Causeway and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile third Giant Game, the colt punched the breeze from the bell while out widest of all. Near the vanguard despite his isolation, he sidled over to...

The first thing that will strike most people about the emergence of Epicenter on the Derby trail is the way only his second crop of sophomores is putting up in neon lights the name of Not This Time. The GII Risen Star S. winner is lighting a path for several other sons of the Taylor Made stallion, notably fast-closing GIII Holy Bull runner-up Simplification and Saturday's GII Rebel S. fancy Chasing Time. Two others, Howling Time and In Due Time, are learning their scripts in readiness for forthcoming rehearsals in...

Kentucky West Racing and Clarke Cooper's Classic Causeway stamped himself as a major GI Kentucky Derby contender Saturday when convincingly taking the GIII Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa Bay Downs for trainer Brian Lynch, and Tuesday, Lynch joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland. Sitting down with Joe Bianca and Bill Finley as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Lynch talked about his colt--one of the final horses by late superstar sire Giant's Causeway--provided updates on other top horses in his barn, reminisced about his time spent...

The Week in Review by T.D. Thornton Five months ago, when Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) caught bettors napping on the final Saturday of the Saratoga season by unleashing a 6 1/2-length, front-running smackdown at 13-1 odds in his first career start, trainer Bryan Lynch told TDN he knew he had a "collector's item" on his hands. Although a shimmering debut didn't hurt, the significance of Lynch's appraisal was pegged to the colt being one of only three named foals from the abbreviated final crop of prolific sire Giant's Causeway. Now,...

Classic Causeway (c, 3, Giant's Causeway--Private World, by Thunder Gulch), a good second when last seen in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Nov. 27, ran to the money as the 8-5 favorite in Saturday's GIII Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa. He shot out to the front from his inside draw and was hounded on the lead through fractions of :22.66 and :46.67. Still traveling nicely despite continued pressure rounding the far turn, he began to shake clear as they spun for home and took care of business from...

As one of few institutions of American sport to rival its fastest two minutes, the Super Bowl will reopen some painful old wounds among our community. For while many in the Bluegrass presumably feel some allegiance to their nearest NFL team, they owe a deeper loyalty to the very acres on which the game will be contested--to the memories interred below. Nostalgia for Hollywood Park will be especially piquant now that Arlington Park is in the sickening throes of a similar demise. It's no longer just John Henry, winner of...

Joseph Allen homebred Doswell (Giant's Causeway) hadn't seen the inside of a winner's circle since October 2020, however, marked his return with aplomb, scoring by a front-running, 1 1/2-length margin over longshot Atone (Into Mischief) in Saturday's GII Ft. Lauderdale S. at Gulfstream. Sent to the front by Junior Alvarado straight away, the 9-2 shot showed the way as the stalking duo of GSW Analyze It (Point of Entry) and English Bee (English Channel) kept him in their sights. Still in front and moving well with a half mile left...

Second Crop sire Protonico (Giant's Causeway-Alpha Spirit, by A.P. Indy), standing at Castleton Lyons, will stand for $10,000 LFSN in 2022, up from $5,000 this season. From his initial crop, the dark bay is responsible for GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, who is also among the leading candidates for Champion 3-year-old colt honors this season. Campaigned by Zedan Racing Stables, the Florida bred won this year's GI Awesome Again S., GIII Robert B. Lewis S. and Shared Belief S. Additionally, he finished runner up in GI Breeders' Cup Classic,...

It's as though we have walked out to the very last among the thousands of volcanic rock columns that comprise the Giant's Causeway, and the sea is now lapping round our ankles. But though we probably shouldn't place undue pressure on the stone beneath our feet, it might just support a final expansion of perspective on a horse that truly measured up to his naming for a geological phenomenon. For the scintillating debut of Classic Causeway on the main track at Saratoga a couple of weeks ago permits us to...

No matter how ugly racing can get over here on our dirt tracks, most recently highlighted by the Gl Kentucky Derby betamethasone positive of the Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit (Protonico), North American pedigrees have to be reckoned with wherever racing is conducted at the highest levels, and that includes on turf in Japan (Sunday Silence) and Australasia (Danehill) in addition to Europe (Sadler's Wells). No one knows this better than the Coolmore partners, headed by maestro John Magnier, who learned this lesson decades ago on American buying sprees as the...

For all the round-the-clock pedigree scrutiny and conformation analysis that goes into finding a stallion that will produce a winner on the first Saturday in May, it took a horse standing for $5,000 and lacking that coveted Grade I win on their race record to get the job done. Of the 26 fifth-year stallions standing in Kentucky today, Protonico was one of five to breed less than 20 mares last year. And yet, here he is now sitting atop the Leading Second-Crop Sires list after his son Medina Spirit charged...

Grade I producer Danceforthecause (Giant's Causeway) was the second mare of the day to reach $925,000 when selling to Gainesway Farm as Hip 587 from the Sam-Son Farm broodmare dispersal. MGSW Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom) (Hip 403) brought the same price at the start of the session as part of the dispersal of the Estate of Paul Pompa, Jr. The unraced Danceforthecause's first foal was GI Northern Dancer Turf S. winner Say the Word (More Than Ready) and her next foal was GII Canadian S. victor Rideforthecause (Candy Ride {Arg})....