Tags
biomechanical analysis, giant's causeway, international stallions, leading sires, physical type, sid fernando, sire analysis, sire line supremacy, storm cat
Leading sire Giant’s Causeway is one horse away from fully becoming “his sire’s successor” as the most powerful international commercial stallion. Since Storm Cat was pensioned, the mantle of leading proven commercial sire has rested on his best son, as well as AP Indy and Distorted Humor. The latter two, however, are far from as popular abroad as they are here in America.
And it appears that Giant’s Causeway is ready to soldier on as the international star on all surfaces and conditions. Already the sire of multiple classic winners in Europe, Giant’s Causeway is poised to challenge for the classics here in the States with Eskendereya, who has been immensely impressive in winning both the Fountain of Youth and the Wood Memorial.
The potential successes for this colt and his sire have been pointed out by Sid Fernando multiple times here and also by me earlier this spring here and here.
We are watching history being made, and the degree of the stallion’s success will determine both his attractiveness to breeders and some of his opportunity to influence the breed in his own — rather different — direction from that of his famous sire.
In terms of type, the Giant’s Causeway stock are generally lighter than that by Storm Cat. One of the keys to the success of Storm Cat was that he would put a powerhouse body on the foal, but it could also be a problem if the foal had some of the less stable knees from the tribe. The consideration of weight and related soundness does not seem so much a problem with Giant’s Causeway.
And in terms of mechanics, Giant’s Causeway has better finishing speed. It was one of the strengths of his own racing career, combined with bulldog determination to win. This has generally pushed the Giant’s Causeway stock to be turf horses or synthetic horses, as fewer of them really have gate speed … unlike quite a lot of the “standard” Storm Cats. In this regard, Giant’s Causeway is breeding on some of the best traits of broodmare sire Rahy and his sire, Blushing Groom.