Giants Causeway (Grade 3)- $300.000 Purse
KEE- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
Five and a Half Furlongs on the Turf
April 13, 2024

It’s time to take a look at the 19th running of the Giants Causeway from KEE, a race that should be memorable as it will provide the largest purse that it ever has in its history. It’s an increase of $50.000 from 2023, and that was also an increase of $50.000 from the $200.000 purse that was seen in 2022. Seven fillies and mares will take part in this turf sprint, and there is an eight-pound weight allowance for the three-year-olds in the race. Despite that, the Giants Causeway has been won by older horses over the last three years. Seven-year-old Ewa Beach was one of them, winning last year’s race for The American. She would race until the end of the year in a productive manner but has since found the breeding shed. In all, she won 14 times and 42 starts, while earning over $2,600.000. This was her last victory, but truly she had a great career. Perhaps we have another one like her in this field. Let’s take a look!

1- Kuul Off (Asgar, ridden by P Lopez)- The breakdown of three-year-olds and four-year-olds in this field is as even as you can get with seven runners, with three threes and four four and ups. Kuul Off is one of the fillies enjoying the seven-pound weight allowance and she comes here with two wins in six starts. Her most recent win was two back in an allowance at FG and enters this race after running third in an optional claimer. Her story is clearly just getting started.

2- Sand Authority (Smokey Stover, ridden by L Dettori)- The next four horses in the gate are the older horses. Sand Authority is about as consistent as you can be, as she has been a part of the exacta in every race she has been in since November 2022, with six wins mixed in. For her entire career, she has hit the board in 20 of 21 starts, but I am a little surprised she has not really been tested at the stake level yet given she is successful, and she is in a barn who’s not shy to enter big races. Her only stake starts have been her last two races, and she was victorious in the $100.000 Lightning City at TAM in February.

3- She Is Quick (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by F T Alvarado)- Her last race is certainly not a career highlight, as she found herself at the back early on in the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie and never made any kind of charge. That represented a tactical change for her, as she had typically been one to run up front. Doesn’t have a lot of turf experience, as just two of her eleven starts are on the grass, but Maxmillion Farm has her well prepared to do so for the first time since last November based on her works.

4- Great Beneficiary (Smokey Stover, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- Unlike her stablemate, Great Beneficiary has gotten plenty of opportunities to run at the stake level with most of her career being ungraded stakes. She’s won a total of six of them, highlighted by the $300.000 Sidney last year, where she beat the 2023 Giants Causeway winner, Ewa Beach. Her best finish in a graded event is second, and she has won over $1,000.000 over her career. Despite that, I like Sand Authority better here amongst the trainer’s horses, though Great Beneficiary is working better.

5- A Lot To Say (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Lightly raced for a four-year-old filly, but she has gotten the job done by winning half of her eight career starts. If you take away her first two races, she looks a lot more impressive as well, with four wins in six starts and hitting the board in all of them. Won the $100.000 Mardi Gras Stakes at FG two back and will be appearing in a graded race for the first time. She has certainly earned the opportunity to do so, but how much will the weight disadvantage impact her?

6- Little Stinker (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by F Geroux)- The final two horses in the gate are both three-year-olds, and Little Stinker is coming here off of breaking her maiden. That happened last month at GP in what was her fourth career start, and it was at a mile and a sixteenth. Her prior race was a turf sprint, but she had a midpack run from start to finish in that. About to face a pretty stiff challenge here.

7- Swife Pinnacle Party (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- Of the three-year-olds in the field, this is probably the best bet. In six starts, she has two wins and has hit the board four times, and Maxmillion Farm has always been high on her. You can tell that when she was entered in the Grade 3 Surfer Girl Stakes before breaking her maiden. Didn’t run badly there, then broke her maiden conventionally afterwards. She’s been strong since then and comes here off a win in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride Stakes at GP. I like her here with the weight allowance.

Prediction 7-2-4-5

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES