Classic Causeway

NEWMARKET, UK-- They've arrived. The young, the fast, the young and fast. From America, Australia, and Sweden, members of the international contingent for this year's Royal Ascot are now safely ensconced in temporary lodgings, their presence in the UK adding an extra sparkle to what is always one of the most special weeks of the sporting year.  Cannonball (Aus) (Capitalist {Aus}) and Artorius (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) have separate sprint engagements, in the G1 King's Stand S. and G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee S. respectively, and with no fear of...

Dual Australian Group 1 winner Coolangatta (Aus) (Written Tycoon {Aus}) is one of the leading runners signed on from foreign climbs for the upcoming Royal Ascot meeting in June. Trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, the G1 Lightning S. heroine is targeting the G1 King's Stand S. David Eustace said, "Coolangatta galloped yesterday and will have her first proper workout next week. She has improved again physically from the Lightning S. and we feel we are ahead of the game in terms of her preparation. "We are stepping into...

When it comes to ageing, as the wiseguys remind us, it's when you're over the hill that you begin to pick up speed. And it's true: the magnolia trees where I live are coming into blossom, and I swear that each passing year compresses both the duration of those brief candles and, above all, the intervals in between. The inference is a dismal one: time flies when you've had your fun. So on a weekend when we temporarily suspend our search for the adolescent Thoroughbred maturing sufficiently to beat his...

In the weeks leading up to the Breeders' Cup, most of the news is focused on when the stars are shipping and breezing. But, with one week left to go before World Championship Saturday, there is plenty of racing action with seven graded events from coast-to-coast. Sophomore colts take center stage at Keeneland in the newly upgraded GIII Bryant Station S. GI Belmont Derby hero Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) looks to make amends after an unplaced effort in the course-and-distance GI Shadwell Turf Mile Oct. 8. His best efforts have...

Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), the beaten favorite with a wide trip four weeks ago in the GI Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational S., worked out a much cozier voyage Saturday under William Buick to annex the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational S. Graduating by 4 3/4 lengths at second asking over the Lingfield all-weather last October, the Godolphin homebred reeled off three more open-lengths tallies culminating with a seven-length rout in the Newmarket S. Apr. 29. Disappointing some when finishing a distant eighth in the G1 Cazoo Derby June 4 at...

Hall of Famer Todd A. Pletcher, currently sitting in second place in the Saratoga trainer standings, will be locked and loaded in a pair of Grade I events at the Spa Saturday, led by the 'Win and You're In' GI Whitney S. With the unbeaten sensation and 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) awaiting the GI TVG Pacific Classic at Del Mar Sept. 3, a pair of New York-based heavyweights in the handicap division will throw down in the 12-race card's feature. The uber-talented 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into...

He's a rebel with a Causeway. But he is a rebel, all the same; or a maverick, at least; an outlier. Certainly we can't expect everyone to train horses like Kenny McPeek, nor indeed to buy them the same way. Apart from anything else, most people simply wouldn't be good enough.

He's a rebel with a Causeway. But he is a rebel, all the same; or a maverick, at least; an outlier. Certainly we can't expect everyone to train horses like Kenny McPeek, nor indeed to buy them the same way. Apart from anything else, most people simply wouldn't be good enough. McPeek's 10 millionaires to date have been sired by the likes of Cuvee, Louis Quatorze, Daredevil, Hit It a Bomb and Tejano--and he signed for most of them himself. As one who marches to his own drum, his style...

The book on training the modern racehorse goes something this: Give them at least six weeks off between races, start them no more than five times a year and never take a chance. It's a book that, apparently, Ken McPeek has never read. Among top-tier trainers, there is no one like him. He'll run fillies against the boys, run back in a week and he's not afraid to throw a 50-1 bomb into a race or, in the case of 2022 GI Belmont S. winner Sarava (Wild Again), a 70-1...

A season that has had more ups and downs than the Cyclone at nearby Coney Island reached new heights for Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway), as the blaze-faced chestnut--making his first start on the grass--forgot to stop en route to a 3/4-length defeat of Godolphin's favored Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) in Saturday's $1-million GI Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational on Long Island. Peter Brant's Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), heretofore never worse than midfield in the early stages of any of his previous eight trips to the races, made steady progress...

by Stefanie Grimm & Patrycja Szpyra With the Fourth of July holiday weekend in the rear-view mirror, the summer turf season kicks into high gear starting with a pair of Grade I's at Belmont Park Saturday. The home team takes on a new wave of European challengers in the 1 1/4-mile GI Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational S., the first leg of the Caesars Turf Triple Series. Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb), last seen finishing ninth behind longshot GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice), finally gets back...

If this is seeing the future, then maybe it really will work. Among all these tiny, straggling groups negotiating the arid wastes of the dirt stakes program, we finally reach a true oasis in the GI Caesars Belmont Derby Inv.