Where to go to Kentucky West Racing LLC and Clarke M. Cooper Classic Road (Giant’s Causeway), racing strategy is a fairly straightforward business. For the second of many starts in sophomore year, the handsome chestnut found the front after breaking through like a shot and extended his advantage late in the game to beat the GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby and secured a stop at the starting gate in the GI Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs for a period of eight weeks.
Winning coach Brian Lynch commented: “That early speed is a great asset because you won’t have trouble being able to break through quickly and clearly. “When you have a horse that can run them early, giving them the opportunity to rest and relax and still be able to finish, that’s a great asset to a horse.”
Similar to what he did when he wired into the field in GIII Sam F. Davis S. February 5, the Classic Causeway hit the ground running below Irad Ortiz, Jr. and gallop along lines two and three.
Grantham (Declaration of War), the fourth in what is becoming an effective GIII Withers S. renewal on the same afternoon, was given a more active ride this time from gate one and arguments from rails, while Giant game (Giant’s Causeway) and Brand (Start up) is also part of the original mix. Davis finished second Ship (Shipman) stabilized in the mid-range while stuck out very wide from a high draw.
The first quarter is chronologically very manageable: 23.67 and half is: 48.17 as Classic Causeway continues to show the way, content to chart a course of at least three lateral paths on a track that had a lot of rain earlier in the day and was rated ‘good’ for the Derby. Shipsational was the first to attempt a race of it as he climbed four breadths under the driving of Manny Franco in the 16s, but Ortiz, Jr saved the Classic Causeway to get to the finish line a little and back clear, though drifting off a touch in the upper part. Firmly ahead as they reached the final match, the held-odds pop wobbled and literally vanished at the wire, with the final result a modest sixteen miles: 6.50. Grantham took second on what might not have been the best part of the track, only holding out a Shipsational game in third. Golden roller coaster (Ghostzapper) shows some late interest to return further antiquity in fourth place.
“He gave me the same performance again [as in the Davis],” Ortiz, Jr. news. “He broke well. He gave me a good spot and I just went from there. He traveled perfectly to the pole 3/8 miles. When I asked him, he was there. Approaching the wire, he was looking around a bit, but I felt like I had more horses. He acts like he can do more of his speed. These last few races he’s been acting behind the scenes as if he still has more to offer. I don’t want to interfere with it, but I think there’s something more to it. “
One of the more impressive underage winners at Saratoga last summer, the Classic Causeway had to be used from hole 13 in GI Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity and set a clear pace before when a late retreat to complete a third may be allowed. Defeated in the square by ‘Rising star TDN’ Happy smile (Runhappy) in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill in late November, he put on a more pressured pace than in David, but had plenty of late left and went on to Shipsational best with 3 3/4 length.
Genealogical notes:
As has been widely reported, the Classic Causeway is one of the three members from the last crop of the sire-All ponies. Giant Game finished eighth in Saturday’s race, while the final member of the season, Shadwell’s Monaadah, was the winner of an impressive 1400-yard debut on his career debut at Meydan on March 3rd.
Classic Causeway is the third Tampa Bay Derby winner for the ‘Iron Horse’, alongside Carpe Diem and Destin, the latter being the last to complete the Davis/Derby double.
Classic Causeway has a lot of Classic influences in his pedigree. Dam sire Thunder Gulch posted a 24-1 defeat in 1995’s Run for the Roses, while Temperence Hill, the sire of the colt’s third dam, won the Belmont S. 1980 for Loblolly Stable with a strong 53- first.
One of five winners from eight to race out of Private Worlds for the big stakes, Classic Causeway has a 2-year-old half-sister by Look at luck and an older half-brother with Evenly. Private World is by the winner of Triple Crown in 2022.
Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs
LAMBHOLM MEN TAMPA FLIGHT DERBY-HOLD$350,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 3-12, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:44.90, gd.
first-CLASSIC CAUSEWAY, 118, c, 3, by Giant’s Causeway
Dam One: Private World (MSW, $166,058), by Thunder Gulch
2nd dam: Rita Rucker, by Dmitri
3rd Dam: Darlease, on Temperence Hill
O/B-Kentucky West Racing LLC & Clarke M Cooper; T-Brian
A Lynch; J-Irad Ortiz Jr. 210,000 USD. Lifetime record: GISP,
5-3-1-1, $511,100. Nick Werk Rating: A. Click to
eNicks report & pedigree of 5 children.
2-Grantham118, c, 3, Declaration of War – Darby Blush, by
Roof. TYPE 1 BLACK, TYPE OF BLACK LEVEL 1. ($100,000)
Ylg ’20 FTKOCT; $280,000 2 years 21 OBSAPR). O-Three Diamonds
Farm; B-Winter Creek Farm (KY); T-Michael J Maker. 70,000 dollars.
3–Ship118, c, 3, Shipman–The Law Approach, by
Thunder Gulch. ($27,000 Wlg ’19 KEENOV; $210,000 2 years ’21
OBSMAR). O-Iris Smith Stable LLC; B-Bertram R Firestone
(NY); T-Edward R Barker. $35,000.
Margin: 2HF, NK, NK. Odds: 0.80, 37.90, 4.60.
Also Ran: Golden Glider, Trademark, Spin Wheel, Belgrade, Giant Game, Happy Boy Rocket, Major General. Scratches: Money Supply, Hard hit. Click to view Equibase.com chartthe PP of TJCIS.com or Free Equineline.com catalog style genealogy. VIDEO sponsored by TVG.
