THE homebred Classic Causeway, one of a trio of foals in the final crop sired by the great Giant’s Causeway (Storm Cat), denied a pair of raiders, both Irish-bred, to land a controversial victory in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby. Godolphin’s Nations Pride (Teofilo) was second and Stone Age (Galileo) was a head further in arrears, in third place.

This was a turf debut for the winner who earlier this year landed the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby and a Grade 3 contest. Classic Causeway almost doubled his winnings to $1.1 million with this success, his fourth in all. He is one of five winners for his dam Private World (Thunder Gulch), and two of her three wins, in just six outings, were in stakes races.

There is no further stakes performer, let alone winner, until you get to the fourth dam, Miss Danalee (Gun Shot). She won 13 races in the late 1960s and bred a stakes-placed winner among four successful offspring. Classic Causeway is a rarity on the dam’s side, a Grade 1 winner, but he is one of 36 such winners for his sire. You hardly need reminding that Giant’s Causeway won nine races, six Group/Grade 1s, and was second in another four.

Superlatives

Another week, another top-level winner for Frankel (Galileo). At this point one starts to run out of superlatives, or need to have some new angle on this success story – and then there is one. McKulick, bred in England by Essafinaat UK Ltd, led home a Frankel 1-2 in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks, and give the sire his first American success at this level.

Now, Frankel is the sire of 2021 Grade 1 juvenile winner Wild Beauty, but she won the Natalma Stakes at Woodbine, in Canada. Frankel is already sire of winners at the highest level in Ireland, England, France, Germany, the UAE and Japan, and McKulick is his 24th Group/Grade 1 winner.

Irishman Mike Ryan, one of the most successful and respected bloodstock agents in the USA, paid 180,000gns for McKulick as a yearling in Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. She is the third foal, third runner and third stakes winner for her dam Astrelle (Makfi). Raced by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum and trained by Marco Botti, Astrelle was a €30,000 yearling buy in Italy by McKeever Bloodstock.

A group-placed winner of a couple of races at two, Astrelle’s first foal was the Group 2 Mehl-Muelhes-Rennen (German 2000 Guineas) winner Fearless King (Kingman), while her second is Group 3 Sceptre Stakes heroine Just Beautiful (Pride Of Dubai). Following on from these, Astrelle has a two-year-old Lieber Power (Cracksman), a 200,000gns yearling, and a filly by Calyx (Kingman).

Italian family

Not many Italian families do as well as they might outside their native land, and most successful female lines are retained. Astrelle is pushing new boundaries for her family. She is a half-sister to two stakes winner in Italy, notably the Group 2 winner Porsenna (Dylan Thomas). They are among eight winners for the unraced Miss Mariduff (Hussonet).

She is, in turn, a daughter of Sopran Mariduff (Persian Bold), one of the best fillies of her generation in Italy where she was a listed winner and third in the Group 1 Oaks d’Italia. She was sent to the USA and won the Grade 2 Black Helen Handicap, and she is a stakes producer in America.