New Chapter in a 'Giant' Legacy

What's that old saying about familiarity breeding contempt? Well, contempt is much too strong a word for what I have in mind, but it is fair to say that familiarity often leads to boredom in the bloodstock world. Time and again we see elderly proven stallions coming out second best in the popularity stakes, with too much attention going to their hot young rivals, most of whom will never come close to matching the old boys' achievements.

The stallion I have in mind is the 19-year-old Giant's Causeway. Despite topping the Blood-Horse's general sires' list in 2009, 2010 and 2012, and achieving 11 straight top-seven finishes, the Ashford stalwart has been available for several years now at $85,000, having stood for as much as $300,000 as a trendy nine-year-old in 2006. He covered 103 mares in 2015.

His current fee, of course, is considerably smaller than the 300,000-dollar fee commanded by the two-time champion sire Tapit and also places him well below Ashford's Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Another Ashford resident, Uncle Mo, is already breathing down Giant's Causeway's neck, at $75,000, and looks sure to move past him very soon, thanks to siring several Kentucky Derby possibles, including Nyquist, Outwork, Mo Tom and Uncle Lino, in his first crop.

Don't forget though, that Giant's Causeway also stands to make a considerable impact on this year's Kentucky Derby. His son Brody's Cause moved up to fifth place on the points table thanks to his return to form in the GI Blue Grass S., and another son, Destin, also makes the top ten, thanks largely to his victory in the GIII Tampa Bay Derby (in which he gave weight and a beating to Saturday's Wood Memorial winner Outwork).

But that's not all. Seventh-ranked Mor Spirit is by Eskendereya, another of Giant's Causeway's sons, while top-ranked Gun Runner, winner of the Risen Star S. and Louisiana Derby, is out of Giant's Causeway's daughter Quiet Giant. For the record, last week's G3 Prix Djebel, a reliable stepping stone to classic success, was won by Cheikeljack, another with a dam by Giant's Causeway.

Much as I admire American Pharoah and Uncle Mo, they will do well to match some of Giant's Causeway's statistics. By my reckoning, Broday's Cause is one of 26 northern-hemisphere-foaled GI winners sired by the son of Storm Cat. Altogether Giant's Causeway has the grand total of 80 Group/Graded winners and more than 130 black-type winners.

Brody's Cause is his sire's second consecutive winner of the Blue Grass. His predecessor, Carpe Diem, finished only tenth behind American Pharoah at Churchill Downs, but there are reasons for hoping that Brody's Cause will put up a bolder show. He has already won over the Churchill Downs track and he had Exaggerator – impressive winner of Saturday's Santa Anita Derby – in second place when he recorded his previous GI success, in the Breeders' Futurity. Admittedly he has ground to make up on Nyquist, to whom he finished third in the Juvenile, but he will have an extra 330 yards to cover on May 7, and that can only help his late-closing style.

Brody's Cause has a dam “bred” by Shadwell, the operation whose Kentucky Derby hopes recently suffered setbacks with the defeats of Mohaymen and Shagaf. I've used quote marks around “bred” because the mare, Sweet Breanna, was in utero when Shadwell sold her dam Sweet Roberta for $55,000 at Keeneland's 2002 November Sale. Consequently, Sweet Breanna was officially bred by Spring Farm in Ontario.

Perhaps because part of my business is to arrange matings, I have always felt, in these instances, that the credit should at least be shared with the people who organised the mating rather than going wholly to the buyer of the mare. For example, the Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver was officially bred by WinStar, but the mating took place while his dam Supercharger was owned, I believe, by Phipps Stable. Unfortunately, the idea of shared credit would no doubt be a nightmare for the record keepers.

No-one could blame Shadwell for deciding to part with Sweet Roberta. Rather like Super Saver's dam, she had had a patchy breeding record. During a four-year period, this daughter of Roberto had had a dead foal by Storm Cat, an unnamed colt by Danzig and aborted to Diesis. The mare had been purchased by Shadwell for a substantial $750,000 in 1991and she had thoroughly earned the right to visit stallions of the calibre of Storm Cat and Danzig. Of the two-year-old fillies of 1989, only those multiple GI winners Go For Wand and Stella Madrid were weighted above Sweet Roberta on the Experimental Free Handicap. Her figure of 120 reflected her record of two wins and a second from three starts, one of her wins coming in the GII Selima S. on turf, with the runner's-up spot coming in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Sweet Roberta's only stakes winner was Jah, the Relaunch filly she was carrying at the time of her purchase. So, by the time Sweet Roberta was 13 in 2000, she was making her first visit to Sahm, a first-season sire standing at only $7,500 at Shadwell Farm.

As you might guess from that fee, Sahm hadn't been a major winner. He had looked a very bright prospect when he won his first two starts in England in 1996 and he then crossed the line in second place, before being demoted, in the Vintage S. However, his entry in Racehorses of 1996 ended with “sent to Dubai where reportedly had wind operation.” Unsighted as a three-year-old, Sahm re-emerged in 1998 in the USA, where he won the GII Knickerbocker H. over a mile and an eighth on turf. He then endured another blank year in 1999, before being retired,

If there were some causes for concern about Sahm's racing career, there were certainly none concerning his bloodlines. Not only was he by the all-conquering Mr Prospector, but he was the only son of Sheikh Hamdan's exceptional filly Salsabil. This daughter of Sadler's Wells had the truly special record of having won three classics – the 1,000 Guineas, Oaks and Irish Derby in 1990.

Sahm lived only long enough to sire 207 foals. He hit the jackpot when his daughter Maram landed the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (then only a Listed race) and he was also responsible for Sahpresa, a three-time winner of the G1 Sun Chariot S. over a mile. His other good winners included the Irish performers Mustameet, Red Maloney and Adaala.

Sweet Roberta's first foal by Sahm, Sweet Dream Rhody, sold for only $1,500 as a yearling but won three times. Her second – Brody's Cause's dam Sweet Breanna – did much better. Racing mainly in Canada, she won on dirt and all-weather in the process of earning more than $350,000.

Sweet Breanna is by no means the only daughter of Sweet Roberta to have done well as a broodmare. Rihan, by the very fast Dayjur, produced Duke of |Venice, winner of the G3 Queen's Vase over two miles. Then there's Tiz Maie's Day, the Tiznow mare who produced Went The Day Well, the 2012 Spiral S. winner who progressed to finish a highly respectable fourth in I'll Have Another's Kentucky Derby.

To get back to Sahm, the most important aspect of his pedigree, with regards to Giant's Causeway, is that he was a son of Mr Prospector. In addition to siring the top winners Aragorn and Ghanaati from daughters of Mr Prospector, he also has more than 20 Graded winners out of mares by sons of Mr Prospector. The latter group includes that very good stallion Shamardal and champion juvenile filly Take Charge Brandi.

Shamardal was a classic winner at around a mile and a quarter and Red Giant and Frost Giant were GI winners over the Kentucky Derby distance. Brody's Cause will also be suited by the longer route, as his second and third dams were sired by Roberto and Majestic Light, both major winners over a mile and a half.