Giant Game

Giant Game was one of the top 2-year-olds in the United States in 2021, rolling to a three-length runaway in his second start at Keeneland in October 2021 and then finishing third in the $2 million 2021 TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

Giant Game did not replicate that form in 2022 after he displaced his soft palace during the Holy Bull Stakes in his 3-year-old debut Feb. 5. A procedure to correct a breathing issue subsequently was taken but the problem arose again when Giant Game was unplaced March 12 in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby.

After that race in March, Giant Game did not return to the track until January 2023. He finished fourth in his 4-year-old bow at Gulfstream Park but then ran second in two consecutive races in winter and spring.

The Giant’s Causeway colt then shipped to Dale Romans’ home base of Churchill Downs and showed he was on the way to realizing those high expectations from 2021 with a sharp win in a 1 3/16-mile allowance optional claiming race. Romans then moved Giant Game back into stakes company and shipped him to Prairie Meadows for the Grade 3 Cornhusker Handicap on July 8. Martin Garcia fashioned a textbook pace-controlling ride and Giant Game held off graded stakes winner Skippylongstocking to prevail by three-quarters of a length.