Main Menu Search
Chef-de-Race:
Giant's Causeway
ch.h., 1997 (Storm Cat-Mariah's
Storm, by Rahy)
(September 18, 2010)
Introduction: The following is another in a series of articles by Mr. Steve Miller on the selection of chefs-de-race with a major influence outside of North America. Mr. Miller is a Thoroughbred owner and correspondent from the UK and an acknowledged pedigree authority. Using racing data from around the world, including data supplied by me for North American-raced descendants of Giant's Causeway, Mr. Miller undertook a comprehensive examination of Giant's Causeway's aptitudinal influence on the modern Thoroughbred. The result of the analysis is that Giant's Causeway has been designated a Classic chef-de-race.
Classic
recognition for the Iron Horse
By
Steve Miller (September 2010)
GIANT’S CAUSEWAY – dubbed the ‘Iron Horse’ by the British press for winning five consecutive Group 1s in a season (in 2000) – was Champion three-year-old in Europe (9½-10½ furlongs). He was the first horse in Europe since Nijinsky II to win five straight Group 1 races in a season and narrowly failed to equal Mill Reef's record of six successive victories when beaten by Observatory in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
The Storm Cat colt won nine races at two and three, including six Group 1s: Juddmonte International Stakes (at York), Coral Eclipse Stakes (Sandown), Irish Champion Stakes (leopardstown), St James's Palace Stakes (Royal Ascot), Sussex Stakes (Goodwood) and Pris de la Salamandre (Longchamp). He also finished runner-up in the 2,000 Giuneas (Newmarket), Irish 2,000 Guineas (Curragh), Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Ascot) and Breeders' Cup Classic (Churchill Downs). He was rated 132 by Timeform in 2000.
Giant's Causeway led the general sire list in the U.S. in 2009, was second in 2008, fourth in 2007, third in 2006 and seventh in 2005. Through mid-September 2010 he was ranked third. He also led the U.S. juvenile sire list in 2005 and was the leading North American-based sire by worldwide earnings in 2009 (more than $14.3 million and 11 Group/Graded winners). He stands at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in kentucky for a 2010 fee of $100,000 ($300,000 in 2007, $125,000 in 2009).
As a stallion he is the sire of over 70 stakes winners and some 40 Group/Grade winners. His Group/Grade 1 winners comprise:
Shamardal, Aragorn, First Samurai, Ghanaati, Carriage Trail, Eskendereya, Footstepsinthesand, Frost Giant, Heatseeker, Intense Focus, Internallyflawless, Maids Causeway, My Typhoon, Red Giant, Rite Of Passage, Swift Temper, Our Giant
and Juste Momente.
His Group/Grade 2 winners include: Naissance Royale, Oonagh Maccool, Await The Dawn, Diamond Omi, Eishin Apollon, Fairbanks, Hold Me Back, Neko Bay, Suzuka Causeway
and Santagostino.
The following sample of 130 winners (three-year-olds and above in Great Britain & Ireland) are distributed across the following distance range:
AWD
5f
6f
7f
8f
9f
10f
11f
12f
13f
14f+
9.3f
2
3
16
36
15
27
8
18
0
5
Source: The Statistical Record 2009 (Weatherbys)
From this sample, Giant’s Causeway has an average winning distance (AWD) for his progeny of 9.3 furlongs [against an AWD of 8.87 furlongs supplied by Steve Roman for the stallion’s Stakes winning progeny in the US]. From the above sample of 130 winners, 57 (or 43.8%) have won at distances up to and including a mile. Fifty (38.5%) have won distances greater than 8 furlongs and less than 12 furlongs and 23 (17.7%) have won at 12 furlongs or more. The greatest concentration of winners 60% (78) are grouped between 8 furlongs and 10 furlong inclusive.
Group/Grade 1 winners by Giant’s Causeway (ranked in order of DI)
Winner
Dam sire
Profile DI CD
Footstepsinthesand
(Rainbow Quest)
6-1-13-6-0 = 26
1.08
0.27
Rite Of Passage
(Kris S)
3-2-17-1-1 = 24 1.29
0.21
Juste Momente
(Danehill)
3-3-12-0-0 = 18 2.00
0.50
Maids Causeway (Kingmambo)
7-1-14-0-0 = 22 2.14
0.68
Intense Focus (Danehill)
3-3-10-0-0 = 16 2.20
0.56
Our Giant
(Mr McGinty)
2-1- 5-0-0 = 8 2.20
0.63
Eskendereya
(Seattle Slew)
9-1-14-0-0 = 24 2.43
0.79
Ghanaati
(Mr Prospector)
10-3-11-2-0 = 26 2.47
0.81
My Typhoon
(Miswaki)
6-1- 9-0-0 = 16 2.56
0.81
Heatseeker
(Defensive Play)
5-3-10-0-0 = 18 2.60
0.72
Swift Temper
(Seeking The Gold)
8-1-11-0-0 = 20 2.64
0.85
First Samurai
(Dixieland Band)
6-3-11-0-0 = 20 2.64
0.75
Red Giant
(Kingmambo)
8-2-12-0-0 = 22 2.67
0.82
Internallyflawless (Seeking
The Gold) 7-5-12-0-0
= 24 3.00
0.79
Shamardal
(Machiavellian)
7-2- 9-0-0 = 18 3.00
0.89
Carriage Trail (Seeking
The Gold) 7-2-
9-0-0 = 18 3.00
0.89
Frost Giant
(Gone West)
9-2-11-0-0 = 22 3.00
0.91
Aragorn
(Mr Prospector)
12-3-13-0-0 = 28 3.31
0.96
The
table above shows Giant’s Causeway’s Group/Grade 1 winners. These mirror
that seen in the general sample of his winners (three-year-olds plus)
SHAMARDAL
was champion two-year-old in Europe and excelled at 8-10 furlongs as a
three-year-old winning the Poule d'Essai
des Poulains and Prix du Jockey
Club in France as well as the St James’s Palace Stakes, the year Royal Ascot
transferred to York, at Group 1 level.
FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND
won the 2,000
Guineas (Newmarket) and GHANAATI
won the 1,000 Guineas (Newmarket) and
Coronation Stakes (Royal Ascot), at a
mile at Group 1 level and was placed in the Sun Chariot Stakes
(Newmarket) and Sussex Stakes
(Goodwood). MAIDS
CAUSEWAY
also won the Coronation
Stakes, in 2005 when it was run at York.
ARAGORN
won
Grade 1 events at 8-9 furlongs in the US. FIRST SAMURAI was also a Grade
1 winner at a mile in the US.
CARRIAGE
TRAIL
won at Grade 1 level at distances just beyond a mile. MY TYPHOON won the
Grade 1, Diana Stakes (Saratoga) at 9
furlongs, as well as other Grade races at 8 and 9 furlongs.
ESKENDEREYA
won the Grade 1 Wood
Memorial Stakes (Aqueduct) at 9 furlongs and INTERNALLYFLAWLESS
won the Del Mar Oaks at 9 furlongs.
FROST
GIANT
won at Grade 1 level at 10
furlongs and HEATSEEKER excelled
at Group level at up to 10 furlongs.
INTENSE
FOCUS
won the Group 1 Dewhurst
Stakes at 7f as a two-year-old, but was unsuccessful in either of his two
outings as a three-year-old.
RED
GIANT
was a 10 furlong winner at Grade 1 level, winning the Clement
L Hirsch Memorial Turf Championship (Oak Tree) and was also the winner of the
Grade 2 Virginia Derby at 10 furlongs. SWIFT TEMPER
also won at distances up to 10 furlongs, in the US.
The
gelding RITE OF PASSAGE, out of Dahlia’s
Krissy by Kris S, stands
out as an atypical son of Giant’s Causeway, winning the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup
at 20 furlongs, in 2010, by a neck in a
thrilling finish with Age Of Aquarius (by Galileo).
Rite
Of Passage aside, this group is characterised by performing at the highest level
at distances of a mile to 10 furlongs, whereas the previous
table (with the exception of the top two) set out the type of profiles expected
from sprinters and those able to perform at up to a mile.
As we have seen, Giant's Causeway is certainly exerting a prepotent influence and this influence seems best described by a Classic designation. With this factored in, the figures and order by DI described in the previous table adjust to:
Group/Grade
1 winners by Giant’s Causeway (with Classic designation factored in)
Winner
Dam sire
Profile
DI CD
Footstepsinthesand (Rainbow Quest)
6-1-29-6-0 = 42 1.04
0.16
Our Giant
(Mr McGinty)
2-1-21-0-0
= 24 1.28
0.20
Juste Momente (Danehill)
3-3-28-0-0
= 34 1.42
0.26
Intense Focus
(Danehill)
3-3-26-0-0 = 32 1.46
0.28
Maids Causeway (Kingmambo)
7-1-30-0-0
= 38 1.53
0.39
My Typhoon
(Miswaki)
6-1-25-0-0
= 32 1.56
0.40
Heatseeker
(Defensive Play)
5-3-26-0-0 = 34 1.61
0.38
First Samurai
(Dixieland Band)
6-3-27-0-0 = 36 1.66
0.41
Eskendereya
(Seattle Slew)
9-1-30-0-0 = 40 1.66
0.47
Swift Temper
(Seeking The Gold)
8-1-27-0-0 = 36 1.66
0.47
Ghanaati
(Mr Prospector)
10-3-27-2-0 = 42 1.70
0.50
Red Giant (Kingmambo)
8-2-28-0-0 = 38 1.71
0.47
Shamardal
(Machiavellian)
7-2-25-0-0 = 34 1.72
0.47
Carriage Trail
(Seeking The Gold)
7-2-25-0-0
= 34 1.72
0.47
Frost Giant
(Gone West)
9-2-27-0-0 = 38 1.81
0.52
Internallyflawless (Seeking The
Gold) 7-5-28-0-0 = 40 1.85
0.47
Aragorn
(Mr Prospector)
12-3-29-0-0 = 44 2.03
0.61
Note: Steve Roman's data from North America confirm the requirement of added stamina from Giant's Causeway. First, the current average CD of his North American stakes-winning descendants is 0.75 which corresponds to an average winning distance (AWD) of 7.8 to 7.9 furlongs. His actual AWD in North America is 8.9 furlongs. Second, the distance distribution of his North American stakes winners is highly skewed toward stamina. Third, there is a dramatic reversal in the contribution of aptitudinal type between Giant's Causeway and his sire, Storm Cat, whose AWD is just 7.8 furlongs. These effects are vividly displayed in the following graphics. Clearly, the failure to acknowledge Giant's Causeway as a prepotent source of Classic stamina results in a gross misinterpretation of his descendants' aptitudinal type.
The revised profiles are much more in keeping with those able to compete at distances of a mile to 10 furlongs. In terms of prepotent influence the same story is being told in both Europe and North America. A Class ic designation thus helps to improve the Dosage figures and offer a better description of reality. In collaboration with Dr. Roman I have no hesitation in designating Giant's Causeway as a Classic chef-de-race, the 216th.
