As well as Classic Causeway was training leading up to the Grade III, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, trainer Brian Lynch still had cause for concern after his colt was pressed through an opening quarter-mile of 22.66 seconds by longshot Little Vic.
“The fractions (including a half-mile of 46.67 seconds) had me a little bit worried,” Lynch said after Classic Causeway rolled to a 3 ¾-length victory from the late-running Shipsational, with Volcanic third and Strike Hard fourth in the 12-horse field.
“But his body language, the way his ears were twitching down the backside, gave me the feeling (jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr.) had plenty of horse,” Lynch said.
Did he ever. Classic Causeway finished the 42nd edition of the mile-and-a-sixteenth “Road to the Kentucky Derby” contest with strong energy, competing the mile-and-a-sixteenth in 1:42.80 on the fast track, .36 seconds off Flameaway’s 2018 stakes record.
Classic Causeway paid $5.20 to win as the heavy betting favorite.
Ontario bred God of Love, a Queen’s Plate contender, broke a bit slowly, trailed down the backstretch and had a mild run six wide off the turn to be sixth, half a length behind stable Golden Glider, a Kentucky bred owned by Ontarians Manfred and Penny Conrad. God of Love was making his first start on the dirt.
An on-track crowd of 4,443 contributed to a total all-sources handle figure of $12,129,778.12.
The 29-year-old Ortiz, regarded by many racing authorities as one of the world’s top-five jockeys, if not No. 1, won three of the four stakes races on the card and five races overall. Despite being pressured by Little Vic, Ortiz said Classic Causeway felt comfortable throughout.
“I was getting pushed by the speed horse, but my horse is fast, too,” Ortiz said. “He was traveling perfect and I didn’t want to take too much out of him and take him back too much.
“He broke good, so I just let him be free out there. I knew I had horse under me the whole time. Brian did a great job bringing him up to the race.”
Little Vic tired late, finishing seventh. Shipsational (Midshipman)– who has been training at Tampa Bay Downs since December – ran on well to grab the runner-up spot.
Today’s victory was the second in four starts for Classic Causeway, who finished third in the Grade I Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity and second in the Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club last fall. The Sam F. Davis was his first race in 11 weeks.
Owned by Patrick O’Keefe’s Kentucky West Racing and Clarke M. Cooper, Classic Causeway earned 10 points for the Sam F. Davis triumph, giving him 16 points toward qualifying for the May 7 Kentucky Derby. He earned $120,000 for the victory, raising his career bankroll to $301,100.
Lynch, who previously trained out of Woodbine racetrack, was noncommittal about Classic Causeway’s next start, but suggested the four weeks between the Sam F. Davis and the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby is manageable.
“He showed up today. We always thought he has obvious quality, and he took the step he needed to keep the dream alive,” Lynch said. “The way he won today, I don’t think he was taxed. He was geared down late, and I think he’ll really move forward off this race.”
Classic Causeway is from the last crop of Giant’s Causeway out of the Thunder Gulch mare Private World.
Private World raced for Kentucky West and won three of six races including the Anoakia and Moccasin Stakes.
Classic Causeway is her eighth named foal and fifth winner and first stakes winner. Second dam Rita Rucker, by Dmitri, was a four-time stakes winner who raced in Ohio.
~ with files from CT
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