Giant's Causeway Stakes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lexington, Kentucky, United States
| Class | Grade II |
|---|---|
| Location | Keeneland Race Course Lexington, Kentucky, United States |
| Inaugurated | 1998 (as the Spinning World Stakes) |
| Race type | Thoroughbred – Flat racing |
| Website | Keeneland |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 5+1⁄2 furlongs |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | left-handed |
| Qualification | Fillies & mares, three years old & older |
| Weight | Base weights with allowances: 4-year-olds and up: 126 lbs. 3-year-olds: 120 lbs. |
| Purse | US$350,000 (since 2025) |
The Giant's Causeway Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, age three and older, over a distance of 5+1⁄2 furlongs held annually in April at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. The event currently offers a purse of $350,000.
In the inaugural running of the event was as the Spinning World Stakes on April 19, 1998, and the winner was the Irish-bred three-year-old filly Golden Mirage who was ridden by jockey Willie Martinez and won by three-quarters of a length in a time of 1:03.81.[1]
Spinning World was a Three-Year-Old Champion in Ireland in 1996 and Champion Older Horse in France in 1997. In 1997 Spinning World won the Breeders' Cup Mile at Hollywood Park.[2]
The second running of event was run in two divisions.[3]
For the third running of the event, the race was renamed to the Stravinsky Stakes.[4] Stravinsky was an American-bred, Irish-trained horse who won two Group 1 sprint races in England, the July Cup and the Nunthorpe Stakes.
In 2000 the winner Steal A Heart set a new track record for the 5+1⁄2 furlongs distance of 1:02.47[5] and the following year Confessional won in the same time equaling the track record.[6]
The event was renamed to the current name Giant's Causeway Stakes in 2006.[4] The event was named after Giant's Causeway, an American-bred, Irish-trained racehorse who won five Group One races in Britain and Ireland as a three-year-old in 2000. Upon retirement Giant's Causeway stood one season at Coolmore Stud in Ireland before relocating to Coolmore's United States branch Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky. Giant's Causeway was a Leading sire in North America in 2009, 2010 and 2012 and a Leading broodmare sire in North America in 2018.
The running of the event in 2011 was moved off the turf.[7] In 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Keeneland did not schedule the event in their updated and shortened summer meeting.[8]
In 2024 the event was upgraded by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to a Grade III.[9] The event would be upgraded again to Grade II in 2026. [10]
Records
Speed record
- 5+1⁄2 furlongs: 1:01.74 – Twilight Gleaming (IRE) (2023)
Margins
- 4+3⁄4 lengths – West Ocean (2010)
Most wins by a jockey
- 4 – Irad Ortiz Jr. (2017, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Most wins by a trainer
- 4 – Wesley A. Ward (2011, 2017, 2022, 2023)
Most wins by an owner
- 3 – Stonestreet Stables (2017, 2022, 2023)