Epicenter
During his career at Ashford Stud, Giant’s Causeway topped the Blood-Horse’s General Sires list three times and rarely finished outside the top four. In the process he was represented by more than 30 northern hemisphere Gr.1 winners and roughly 100 Graded/Group winners. Many of his sons have gone on to sire Gr.1 winners, with Shamardal founding a flourishing dynasty in Europe. Now Giant’s Causeway has another son – the top-class 2yo Not This Time – who promises to do the same in North America. Although all of his first four crops of racing age were sired at only $15,000 or $12,500, Not This Time is already responsible for the highly impressive total of 30 SWs, including five winners at Gr.1 level. He has been North America’s leading second-crop and third-crop sire and is heading for the fourth-crop sire title in 2023. At the early age of eight, he became a top-ten sire in 2022 and he is again a top-ten sire in 2023.
Not This Time’s rise to the top has been spearheaded by his top-class son Epicenter. Injured in the last of his 11 starts, this very consistent colt had previously built a record of six wins and three seconds, his only unplaced effort coming on his debut. An impressive winner of the Gun Runner Stakes at two, Epicenter earned the Eclipse Award for Champion 3-Year-Old male with his victories in the Gr.2 Risen Star S., Gr.2 Louisiana Derby, Gr.2 Jim Dandy S. and Gr.1 Travers S. He was also a fine second in the Gr.1 Kentucky Derby and Gr.1 Preakness S.
Epicenter is by Not This Time out of a Candy Ride mare as is Simplification, winner of the Gr.2 Fountain of Youth S. and fourth in the Gr.1 Kentucky Derby. They are among Not This Time’s six winners from seven runners out of daughters of Candy Ride. This is significant, because the sensational young stallion Gun Runner is very similarly bred, being by Candy Ride and out of a Giant’s Causeway mare.
Not This Time already has Stakes winners out of daughters of A.P. INDY, PULPIT (the Gr.1 winner Sibelius), MINESHAFT, FRIENDS LAKE and TAPIT. The Gr.3 winner Arzak is one of Not This Time’s six runners out of TAPIT mares.
Significantly, Gun Runner is another who is enjoying success with mares by PULPIT and TAPIT. Gun Runner’s six Stakes winners out of TAPIT mares include Gr.1 winner Society, Gr.2 winner Wicked Halo and Gr.3 winners Disarm, Il Miracolo and Red Route One. Gun Runner’s Gr.1-winning son Gunite has a 2nd dam by PULPIT.
Gun Runner’s first starter out of a mare by A.P. INDY’s son FLATTER is the triple Gr.1 winner Taiba. Epicenter is also well worth trying with mares by MALIBU MOON, another stallion who combined A.P. Indy and Mr Prospector blood.
Not This Time has Gr.1 winners out of mares by AWESOME AGAIN’s sons GHOSTZAPPER and WILKO, as well as a Gr.2 winner out of an AWESOME AGAIN mare. This suggests mares with DEPUTY MINISTER blood.
Mares by SPEIGHTSTOWN and MUNNINGS should be ideal for Epicenter, as Not This Time’s Gr.1 winner Just One Time has a dam by SPEIGHTSTOWN. He also has a Gr.3 winner out of a SMART STRIKE mare and is showing promise with daughters of CURLIN. EMPIRE MAKER and his son PIONEEROF THE NILE figure among the broodmare sires of Not This Time’s Stakes winners, as do Street Cry’s sons STREET SENSE and STREET HERO.
EL PRADO’s sons MEDAGLIA D’ORO and PADDY O’PRADO also rank among the broodmare sires of Not This Time’s Stakes winners.
Not This Time has Gr.2 and Gr.3 winners with 2nd dams by SAINT BALLADO, and also has a Gr.3 winner by a son of SAINT BALLADO.