Giants Causeway – GII
$400.00 – For Fillies And Mares Three Years Old And Upward
5 1/2  Furlongs – Turf
Keeneland – April 12, 2026

Sunday will be the first time that the G2 Giants Causeway has offered a $400.000 purse in its twenty-one-year history. The increased purse has drawn a field of six fillies and mares going five and a half furlongs on the Keeneland grass including defending champ Stellar Strength. The forecast appears to contain very little chance of rain so expect the track to be firm.

1. Antares (Alydar Stables/A. Fresu) Seven-year-old mare has apparently not lost a step and is possibly better than ever having posted two triple digit SRF speed figures in her two races this year. She won the G3 La Cienega sprinting downhill at Santa Anita and followed that up with a neck loss in the G2 Buena Vista also at The Great Race Place. She comes east for this one and her sharp Keeneland works should concern her rivals. 

2. Frozen Mist (Maxmillion Farm/S.X. Bridgmohan) She has been a model of consistency since being purchased privately for $100.000 last May following an allowance win on the dirt at Keeneland. The new connections immediately moved her to the grass and into stakes company where she has been right there and competitive in eight races including her win in the $2,000.000 G2 KD Ladies Sprint. She won the Captiva Island in her last start and moves back into graded company here and is another whose recent works say she is ready. Note that behind her in second and third in that Captiva win were today’s foes Shine To Class and Stellar Strength. 

3. Charlenes Way (Maxmillion Farm/Mar. Garcia) Draws directly outside of stablemate Frozen Mist (amazing how often that happens!) and appears on the surface to be the lesser of the two entries but she is lightly raced, younger and is sprinting for the first time so she is a bit of an enigma and given the barn think twice before writing her off. She is not a stakes winner but has multiple graded stakes placings and has shown speed going long. Her works are fast. It will be interesting to see what she does in her first pure sprint attempt. 

4. Shine To Class (Our Athletes/J.R. Velasquez) Homebred four-year-old filly has won seven of her eleven races and been in the money nine times. The only two times she finished outside of the top three were when she finished fourth and still picked up checks. Incredibly consistent and a fierce competitor every time she steps on the track. She battled for the lead every step of the way in the Captiva Island a month ago and just missed by a neck when Frozen Mist got up for the win. That is a key race as the top three return to battle again here. Shine To Class could easily turn the tables today. She likes to win. 

5. Code Red And Ready (Ajm Stables/E. Jaramillo) Five-year-old mare has been a resident of some of the top barns in the game and was purchased for $34.010 at auction last December. She has raced three times for Ajm Stables since all in State Bred competition. Her last start in the Irish Stakes was her best yet running a close second in the Irish Stakes at Santa Anita three weeks ago. She is taking a big step up today and gets a class test, but this race has a lot of speed, and her closing style might set her up well to take advantage of that. 

6. Stellar Strength (Mb Stables/L. Dettori) Six-year-old mare won this race a year ago and a repeat, or even a good finish, will push her career earnings over the $2,000.000 mark. There have been several meetings with Frozen Mist and Shine To Class and those three fillies are so closely matched that they finish at each other’s throats each time. She missed by a neck when dead-heating with Shine To Class behind Frozen Mist in the Captiva when all three battled from start to finish. An encore win in this race is not out of the question.

A repeat of the Captiva catfight is a lot to ask for but that is exactly what this writer is hoping for exactly but there is a newcomer to the party with Antares joining the fray. Antares is sharp and seems poised to run another big one so I will make her my top pick with the other three behind her in the following order: Frozen Mist, Shine To Class and Stellar Strength. This is a small but elite field and shapes up to offer us quite an entertaining battle. Can’t wait. 

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES