Classic Causeway

Classic Causeway made his career debut at Saratoga on Sept. 4, 2021, in a seven-furlong maiden special weight. He did not go in to the race with high expectations, as he went off at 13.60-1. However, he won very impressively, as he set the early pace and drew off in the stretch for a commanding 6 1/2-length victory.

Off that performance, Classic Causeway was the 19-10 favorite in the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland on Oct. 9. He set the early pace, then tired late and finished third, beaten 4 3/4 lengths. In the final start of his 2-year-old season, Classic Causeway finished second in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs on Nov. 27. He earned four points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve with that effort. 

Classic Causeway made his 3-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 12, 2022. Sent off as the 8-5 favorite, he was pressed on the lead while setting fast fractions, including an opening quarter of 22.66 seconds and an opening half-mile of 46.67 seconds. Despite the fast pace, he never wilted and drew off in the end to win by 3 3/4 lengths. He earned ten more Derby qualifying points with that effort. 

Classic Causeway was the odds-on favorite in the Grade 2 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby on Mar. 12. Once again, he went to the early lead and received pace pressure, although he got away with slower fractions than last time. He crossed the wire 2 ½ lengths in front and earned 50 Derby qualifying points to cement his place in the gate on the first Saturday in May. 

Trainer Brian Lynch decided to keep Classic Causeway in Florida for his final Kentucky Derby prep and entered him in a competitive edition of the Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa April 2 at Gulfstream Park. The colt shot out to the lead and set the pace through the backstretch, but stopped before entering the far turn and was eased by jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., finishing last of 11.

After that puzzling effort, it was somewhat of a surprise that Classic Causeway started in the Kentucky Derby, and he ran 11^th of 20 as the third longest shot in the race. He showed encouraging improvement in his next start, and his first for new trainer Ken McPeek, contesting the pace and dueling into deep stretch before settling for third behind Tawny Port and White Abarrio in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby June 25 at Thistledown.

Off of that Ohio Derby bounce-back race, McPeek sent Classic Causeway to New York for a start in the $1 million, Grade 1 Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes on turf – a highly ambitious move, to say the least, considering Classic Causeway had not made a start on grass through his first eight starts. Some thought Classic Causeway might have been entered as a “rabbit,” i.e., a horse put into the race to set a fast pace for a stablemate, in this case McPeek’s turf Grade 1 winner Tiz the Bomb. But Classic Causeway proved his mettle over the new surface with style, taking the lead under Julien Leparoux, shaking off some early pressure, and then holding on stoutly in the stretch as European shippers and favorites Nations Pride and Stone Age bore down on him, winning the prestigious race by three quarters of a length at odds of 26.75-1.

Classic Causeway is a homebred for his owners, Kentucky West Racing LLC and Clarke M. Cooper. His dam [mother], Private World, was a two-time stakes winner as a 2-year-old.