Brian Lynch

The Week in Review by T.D. Thornton Five months ago, when Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) caught bettors napping on the final Saturday of the Saratoga season by unleashing a 6 1/2-length, front-running smackdown at 13-1 odds in his first career start, trainer Bryan Lynch told TDN he knew he had a "collector's item" on his hands. Although a shimmering debut didn't hurt, the significance of Lynch's appraisal was pegged to the colt being one of only three named foals from the abbreviated final crop of prolific sire Giant's Causeway. Now,...

Classic Causeway (c, 3, Giant's Causeway--Private World, by Thunder Gulch), a good second when last seen in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Nov. 27, ran to the money as the 8-5 favorite in Saturday's GIII Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa. He shot out to the front from his inside draw and was hounded on the lead through fractions of :22.66 and :46.67. Still traveling nicely despite continued pressure rounding the far turn, he began to shake clear as they spun for home and took care of business from...

A promising group looking to punch their tickets to this season's Triple Crown in Saturday's 1 1/16-mile GIII Sam F. Davis S., awarding 'Road to the Kentucky Derby' points to the first four finishers (10-14-2-1). Looking to return to the winner's circle is Kentucky West Racing and Clarke M. Cooper's Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway), trained by Brian Lynch. An impressive 6 1/2-length winner ahead of next-out scorer Trafalgar (Lord Nelson) in his career debut going seven furlongs at Saratoga Sept. 4, the chestnut came home third in Keeneland's GI Claiborne...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 7th-GP, $60K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 3:37 p.m. ET Glen Hill Farm's Customer Driven (Quality Road) is one of a number of well-related firsters signed on here. She is out of MGSW and GISP House Rules (Distorted Humor), who was second by a neck in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks here in 2014. House Rules was carrying Customer Driven when she brought $750,000 from WinStar Farm at the 2019 Keeneland January sale as part of the dispersal of JV Shields, Jr. Glen Hill subsequently picked...

Kentucky West Racing and Clark Cooper's Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) is on target for the Nov. 27 GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill Downs following a five-furlong work in :59.40 (2/59) in Louisville Saturday. The chestnut colt, an eye-catching 6 1/2-length debut winner at Saratoga in September, set the pace before finishing third as the favorite in the Oct. 9 GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland last time out. "He's always been a horse that breaks sharp from the gate," trainer Brian Lynch said. "We knew that going into...

Oscar Performance (Kitten's Joy), a four-time Grade I winner, including the 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, will stand the 2022 season at Mill Ridge Farm for $12,500 LFSN for first-time breeders, and $10,000 for repeat breeders or multiple mares. Bred and raced by Jerry and John Amerman and trained by Brian Lynch, Oscar Performance won Grade I stakes at two, three, and four, and broke a 20-year course record at Belmont Park, covering a mile in 1:31.23, all with no Lasix. Oscar Performance has proven outstanding fertility with 90%...

It's as though we have walked out to the very last among the thousands of volcanic rock columns that comprise the Giant's Causeway, and the sea is now lapping round our ankles. But though we probably shouldn't place undue pressure on the stone beneath our feet, it might just support a final expansion of perspective on a horse that truly measured up to his naming for a geological phenomenon. For the scintillating debut of Classic Causeway on the main track at Saratoga a couple of weeks ago permits us to...

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Tobys Heart (Jack Milton) is aiming for a return to action in either the GIII Herecomesthebride S. at Gulfstream Park Feb. 27 or the GIII Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs Mar. 6. Both races are contested on grass at 1 1/16 miles. Co-owned by Terry Hamilton and trainer Brian Lynch, the 3-year-old filly was impressive in a pair of efforts sprinting on the lawn last term. After kicking off her career with a 'Rising Star' performance beneath the Twin Spires June 4--following a slow start,...

Amerman Racing LLC's Admission Office (Point of Entry) will return from a six-month layoff in Saturday's GIII Tropical Turf S. at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Brian Lynch, the 6-year-old finished in the top three on four occasions in 2019, including in the GII Fort Lauderdale S. at Gulfstream in December. Eighth in the Pegasus Turf, he rebounded to finish second in the 11-furlong GII Mac Diarmida S. at the Hallandale oval last February before coming home fourth in the 8 1/2-furlong Sunshine Forever S. in May. Most recently, he came from...

Tobys Heart justified the 'TDN Rising Star' moniker she earned in her debut with a victory in Saratoga's Bolton Landing S., becoming the first black-type winner for her second-crop sire (by War Front). Overcoming a troubled trip to graduate by 6 3/4 lengths in her Churchill Downs unveiling June 4, she was heavily favored at 1-2 for this step up in class. Running off the fence, the bay bided her time back in sixth as Joy's Rocket zipped through a :22.21 zipped through an opening quarter. Swinging out four wide...

Bloodstock agent Alistair Roden has already found Canadian owner Terry Hamilton a pair of future graded stakes winners at bargain prices and he may have hit the trifecta following the smashing debut victory by Tobys Heart (Jack Milton) Thursday at Churchill Downs. Roden signed the ticket on future Grade I winner Heart to Heart (English Channel) for $25,348 at the 2012 Canadian Yearling Sale and Spooky Channel (English Channel), winner of the GIII W.L. McKnight S. in January, was a $10,000 purchase at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton October sale. The agent...

Tobys Heart (Jack Milton), broke last, made a sustained move from the rear of the field, steadied on the turn and ran greenly in the stretch, yet still romped by a distance to become the latest 'TDN Rising Star' Thursday at Churchill. Showing an upbeat worktab for trainer Brian Lynch highlighted by a half-mile breeze over the local main track in :47 1/5 (5/84) May 23, the $45,000 OBS March buy was supported at the windows throughout and ended up as a close 17-5 third choice behind firsters from the...