Grade I winner Creative Cause , one of the top performers of his generation at both 2 and 3, has been retired to stud duty at Brereton and Elizabeth Jones' Airdrie Stud near Midway, Ky. Creative Cause will stand his first season for a fee of $15,000.
A son of Giant's Causeway and grade I winner and millionaire Dream of Summer, he retires with earnings of $1,039,000. Creative Cause raced in the colors of his owner, Heinz Steinmann, and was trained by Mike Harrington throughout his career.
As a 2-year-old in 2011, Creative Cause won his five-furlong debut at Hollywood Park by 4 3/4 lengths before going on to win both the Norfolk Stakes (gr. I) at Santa Anita and the Best Pal Stakes (gr. II) at Del Mar, a race in which he defeated eventual Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner I'll Have Another . He concluded his juvenile campaign with a third-place finish in the Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I), beaten a length by subsequent champion Hansen. Creative Cause was an Eclipse Award finalist last year..
At 3, Creative Cause was widely regarded as a top Kentucky Derby prospect on the West Coast, a claim bolstered by his defeat of grade I winner Bodemeister in the San Felipe Stakes (gr. II) in March. Made the 4-5 favorite in the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I), Creative Cause was defeated by a nose by I'll Have Another.
In the Kentucky Derby, Creative Cause was beaten three lengths. He concluded his career with a third-place finish in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
"I couldn't believe more strongly that Creative Cause is as good a stallion prospect as we've put in the Airdrie stallion barn," said Brereton Jones. "He is the absolute total package. He's a grade I winning millionaire, by a grade I-winning millionaire that's a perennial leading sire, and out of a grade I-winning millionaire that beat Ashado in the Apple Blossom (gr. I). People may not realize this, but he literally beat every horse he ever ran against at least once, and he ran against every top horse in his generation including I'll Have Another, Bodemeister, Union Rags , Paynter , Hansen, Gemologist , Alpha , and Dullahan. He had that great precocious speed but also trained on to be a top-class 3-year-old, and he's a gorgeous, 16.2 (hands), correct individual that was purchased by Becky Thomas as a yearling.
"We will be supporting him with the best mares we've ever sent an Airdrie stallion including our Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) winner Proud Spell; her dam, Pacific Spell; the dam of this year's Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) winner Believe You Can; grade I winner No Such Word; and our 11-year-old mare Don't Trick Her, who has already produced two U.S. grade I winners, just to name a few. We're all in on a horse that we believe has a limitless future."
Creative Cause was bred in Kentucky by James C. Weigel and was purchased for $135,000 from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment to the 2010 Keeneland September yearling sale.