THE homebred Classic Causeway, one of a trio of foals in the final crop sired by the great Giant’s Causeway (Storm Cat), denied a pair of raiders, both Irish-bred, to land a controversial victory in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby. Godolphin’s Nations Pride (Teofilo) was second and Stone Age (Galileo) was a head further in arrears, in third place.

This was a turf debut for the winner who earlier this year landed the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby and a Grade 3 contest. Classic Causeway almost doubled his winnings to $1.1 million with this success, his fourth in all. He is one of five winners for his dam Private World (Thunder Gulch), and two of her three wins, in just six outings, were in stakes races.