September Sale Offers Last Giant's Causeway Fillies

The era of champion sire Giant's Causeway begins to wind down this year with his last substantial crop of yearlings being offered at the ongoing Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Six progeny among the 15 in the penultimate crop by the late son of Storm Cat are entered in the sale. They include four final daughters of Giant's Causeway because four colts make up the sire's last crop of 2019. The Ashford Stud sire died in April 2018 at the age of 21.

Damian and Braxton Lynch's Royal Oak Farm is the consignor of two Giant's Causeway September yearlings—Hip 981, a colt that sells early during the second session of Book 2, Sept. 14; and Hip 2597, a filly that sells during the Sept. 18 session of Book 4. Both yearlings were foaled and raised at Royal Oak Farm.

Braxton Lynch said she doesn't expect her two yearlings to attract attention just because they are among the last of Giant's Causeway's foals. She said they're attractive because Giant's Causeway is fourth on the general leading sires list right now and is the sire of four-time grade 1 turf star Bricks and Mortar. The sire also was last year's leading broodmare sire and this year is the third-leading broodmare sire, through Sept. 12, thanks to the multiple graded stakes performances of Tax.

"I don't know if having the last of any crop is helpful or hurtful. To me, current racetrack performance makes the difference," Lynch said. "Since we have a colt and a filly, it is good he's having a good year as a sire and as a broodmare sire."

Royal Oak's colt is the second foal out of grade 1-placed stakes winner Sea Queen, a daughter of Lemon Drop Kid . The mare has a 2-year-old by American Pharoah  named Express Pharoah, who has made one start. The mare produced a Quality Road  filly this year.

"He is a good combination of Giant's Causeway and Lemon Drop Kid," Lynch said. "He has got some length and scope, but he is also muscular like the Giant's Causeways tend to be, and he is a good mover and more of the two-turn type."

The Giant's Causeway filly is out of the winning Irish-bred Oasis Dream mare Principle Equation, who is a half sister to British stakes-placed winner Star of Rory. The filly's third dam is Canadian Horse of the Year and multiple champion Alywow.

"She is very athletic," Lynch said. "She is from a European family and probably more suited to the grass, but she looks precocious. Again, she has that Giant's Causeway musculature."

Taylor Made Sales Agency is also offering a Giant's Causeway colt during the Sept. 14 session. Cataloged as Hip 1010, the colt is out of the grade 1-placed Broken Vow  mare Sweet Shirley Mae, who has already produced stakes winner Mae Never No (by No Nay Never).

Mark Taylor, with Taylor Made, said having the last foals of even a top sire doesn't produce the same buzz it used to because of the larger crops that have become the norm among the market's most sought-after sires. 

"It has changed in the era we are in now. Back when there were smaller stud books, the yearlings were a scarcer commodity. People maybe couldn't get one or had one and wanted another," Taylor said. "Now with the big stud books and the longevity, they have thousands of foals out there. Also, when a horse is in the twilight of his career, the impact is not as much.

"He is a great stallion, no question," he added. "He is a good broodmare sire, so fillies probably have a little more appeal. The real bottom line is, if it is a very good individual, then everyone is going to want it, and being one of the last will help. If it is a mediocre individual, then it will make no difference."

Another market effect related to the larger crops, Taylor said, is that buyers stop supporting sires quicker than they used to. Prior to the era of crops exceeding 100 foals, Taylor noted a sire might be represented by 20-25 sale yearlings. Of those foals, 10% (if they are by an elite sire) would go on to become stakes winners. The rest may have met their buyers' expectations, but those buyers might come back over the next few years and try again with other offspring by a given sire. After 10 years, 200 sale yearlings would have been sold in the market and solidified their reputations as potential runners. 

In today's commercial breeding market, a stallion could be represented by 200 sale yearlings in only two years.

"Now, in a much shorter period of time, you have many more buyers whose foals didn't quite pan out," Taylor said. "Even if it is a good stallion, these big books wear the market out on these stallions quicker than it used to."

The other Giant's Causeway yearlings in the September sale are as follows:

• Hip 1548, a filly consigned by Eaton Sales that was bred and raised by Stonestreet. She is out of the Curlin  stakes winner Countess Curlin, who is a half sister to grade 1-placed grade 3 winner Final Round (Storm Cat).
• Hip 1587, a filly consigned by Denali Stud that is out of the Irish group 3 winner Experience (Excellent Art). The mare is a half sister to Italian stakes winner Tellovoi (Indian Haven) and out of the family of group 1 winner and Irish mare of the year Kooyonga.
• Hip 2267, a filly consigned by Dromoland Farm that is out of the Theatrical mare Tu Tu Larue, whose second dam is grade 1 winner Lady Shirl, who produced grade 1 winners Shakespeare and Perfect Shirl, graded stakes winner Lady Shakespeare, and graded-placed stakes winner Fantastic Shirl.