If one were to design the ideal horse, the result might very well be Giant’s Causeway, whose death at 21 on April 16, 2018 marks a great loss for the thoroughbred horse industry. Without question Storm Cat’s best son at stud, his sons and daughters have thrived on the race track and in the breeding shed themselves; a Giant’s Causeway mare is the dam of the great Gun Runner.

European Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old Colt, he was also a three-time champion sire, equaling Danzig’s record. He never finished worse than second, running 13 times with nine wins and four seconds. One of those second-place finishes is forever engraved in memory: the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic that he lost to Tiznow in a furious battle down the stretch. Who knows what the outcome might have been had Mick Kinane, Giant’s Causeway’s jockey, not dropped a rein, leaving the horse obviously puzzled, awaiting a cue from his rider that did not come. Giant’s Causeway fought Tiznow on his own courage and grit, and came close to besting him.

Named for a rock formation off the northern coast of Ireland, and out of the Rahy mare Mariah’s Storm, the aptly nicknamed Iron Horse stood his first season at Coolmore Ireland, before coming to America to stand the rest of his long career at Ashford Stud. When representatives of his first crop went through the sales ring at Keeneland, there was a bit of disappointment: they seemed to be light boned and “pretty” rather than stout, but as soon as they started running, all doubts were quelled. He had three graded/group stakes winners from his first crop, and eight from his second, including four Group/Grade 1 winners. His career has been marked by 178 black type winners, of which 104 were graded or group winners.

He received his nickname, The Iron Horse, when, under the tutelage of Aidan O’Brien, he won five consecutive Group 1 races in England and Ireland in 11 weeks at three years of age. He was also undefeated in his first four starts at two years of age, including a Group 1 win.

A beautiful, elegant chestnut who bore no signs of advancing age, Giant’s Causeway posed for visitors at Ashford with aplomb, as a king should. His passing marks a milestone in thoroughbred breeding, as he has left behind an amazing record of success in every aspect of this business.

 

Watch Giant's Causeway run in the 2000 Breeders Cup Classic Here

The Might of Giant's Causeway Here

 

-- Roberta Smoodin