By: Alan Porter
A brilliant winner sprinting on his debut at two, Protonico is a four-time graded stakes winner on dirt, who defeated many of the best of his time. A son of Storm Cat’s three-time Leading Sire son, Giant’s Causeway, Protonico is out of a daughter of A.P. Indy and grade one winning champion, Wild Spirit.
Protonico has just one cross of Mr. Prospector, which will be in the fifth generation of his foals, and the cross of Giant’s Causeway and sons with Mr. Prospector line mares has been a tremendously successful one. Among branches of Mr. Prospector have enjoyed success under Giant’s Causeway and his sons, Carson City has been good with Storm Cat in general and is sire of City Zip, Boone’s Mill, Cuvee, Five Star Day, Good And Tough, Pollard’s Vision and Lord Carson. Giant’s Causeway has sired two grade one winners out of mares by Distorted Humor, a son of Forty Niner, who has also worked under Giant’s Causeway through Ecton Park , Gold Fever and Trippi, and can also be brought in through Any Given Saturday (a reverse Mr. Prospector/Seattle Slew cross to the dam of Protonico), Gold Case, Editor’s Note, Coronado’s Quest, Bankers Gold, Roar, Jules, Luhuk and Twining.
There are four grade one winners by Giant’s Causeway out of mares by Seeking the Gold, and he can be introduced through Mutakddim, Petionville and Cape Town (a reverse Mr. Prospector/A.P. Indy cross to the dam of Protonico). The cross with mares by Gulch and his son, Thunder Gulch, has been a graded stakes winner producing one. There are Giant’s Causeway line stakes winners out of mares by Gone West, from mares by his sons Elusive Quality, Grand Slam and Mr Greeley, which would also suggest daughters of Speightstown (giving inbreeding to Storm Cat) and Proud Citizen.
Giant’s Causeway has demonstrated an affinity for the Fappiano branch of Mr. Prospector, with grade one winners out of mares by Cryptoclearance (sire of Victory Gallop; grandsire of Candy Ride), Unbridled’s Song (by Unbridled) and Defensive Play, and stakes winners from mares by Quiet American (grandsire of Midnight Lute, who gives inbreeding to the Northern Dancer/Secretariat cross), Rubiano and Roy. Unbridled and Unbridled’s Song could also be introduced through Broken Vow, Grindstone, Birdstone (giving inbreeding to Storm Bird), Empire Maker, Rockport Harbor, Old Fashioned, Half Ours (giving inbreeding to Storm Cat), Even The Score, Songandaprayer, and First Defence and Midshipman (both reverse Mr. Prospector/Seattle Slew crosses to the dam of Protonico) and Dunkirk (a reverse Mr. Prospector/A.P. Indy cross to the dam of Protonico).
Giant’s Causeway’s outstanding son, Shamardal, is out of a mare by Machiavellian, and there is also a grade one winner by son of Giant’s Causeway out of a mare by Machiavellian son, Vettori, which also suggests mares by Street Cry and Street Sense. We can also note three grade one winners by Giant’s Causeway line stallions out of mares by Kingmambo, and another out of a mare by his son Lemon Drop Kid (by a son of Mr. Prospector out of a three- quarters sister to A.P. Indy, the reverse of the dam of Protonico), which also suggests mares by Northern Afleet (sire of Afleet Alex), who is bred on a similar cross to Kingmambo. There is also a Giant’s Causeway line grade one winner out of a mare by Miswaki (sire of Black Tie Affair and grandsire of Formal Gold), and also graded winners out of mares by Smart Strike, Woodman and his son, Hansel; and Crafty Prospector (sire of Crafty Friend, Prospectors Gamble, Prospect Bay and Robyn Dancer); and a stakes winners out of mares by Distant View, Jade Hunter and Fusaichi Pegasus and his son, Roman Ruler.
Giant’s Causeway is a Northern Dancer line stallion, but he and his sons have done well with mares from some other branches of that line. There are nearly 50 stakes winners by Giant’s Causeway and sons out of mares from the Danzig branch, with grade one producing crossing including those with mares by Danehill, Anabaa, Polish Express and Bertolini (a three- quarters brother to Green Desert). In North America, crosses that have worked include with Belong To Me, Polish Numbers and Langfuhr, and it could be worth exploring the Northern Dancer/Secretariat cross – a parallel to Giant’s Causeway’s sire Storm Cat – found via Lost Soldier, Honor Code and Chief’s Crown (a parallel Northern Dancer/Secretariat cross to Storm Cat, and sire of Concerto and grandsire of Bellamy Road).
There are more than 30 stakes winners by Giant’s Causeway and sons out of Sadler’s Wells line mares, and in the U.S. options include El Prado, Medaglia d’Oro, Kitten’s Joy (sire of a grade one winner out of Giant’s Causeway mare), Artie Schiller, Perfect Soul (a Northern Dancer/Secretariat cross, like Storm Cat) and Sligo Bay (giving inbreeding to Champion Glorious Song and a sister). From mares descending from Nureyev – a three-quarters brother to Sadler’s Wells - there are stakes winners by Giant’s Causeway and sons out of mares by Stravinsky, Theatrical, Peintre Celebre and Pivotal, with Atticus (bred on the same cross as Storm Cat) and Spinning World also being possible sources.
Out of mares from the Deputy Minister branch of Northern Dancer, Giant’s Causeway and sons have enjoyed success with Dehere (a Northern Dancer/Secretariat cross, and sire of Graeme Hall), Awesome Again (sire of Ghostzapper), Silver Deputy (sire of Posse, Badge of Silver and Spring at Last) and French Deputy.
Protonico is out of a mare by A.P. Indy, but it could well be worth trying him over mares by grandsons of A.P. Indy, such as Tapit, Sky Mesa (giving a double of Storm Cat), Corinthian, Essence of Dubai and Purge. It might also be interesting to experiment with daughters of Jump Start, a reverse A.P. Indy/Storm Cat cross to Protonico.
Out of mares from the Halo line, Giant’s Causeway and sons have three stakes winners, one grade one from daughters of More Than Ready. Giant’s Causeway also carries Halo’s Champion daughter, Glorious Song, a sister to Devil’s Bag (sire of Devil His Due and Diablo) and Saint Ballado (sire of Saint Liam, Yankee Victor, Captain Bodgit and Sweetsouthernsaint). It would also be interesting to introduce Cure the Blues, a relative to Halo, the most likely source being American Chance.
Giant’s Causeway has two classic performers out of a mare by Siberian Summer, a son of Siberian Express, also sire of In Excess and grandsire of Indian Charlie, and from the Caro male line of Cozzene, sire of Alphabet Soup and Running Stag (broodmare sire of a Giant’s Causeway line stakes winner).
Maria’s Mon is out of a Caro mare, and he has worked under Giant’s Causeway. His son, Monarchos, is also broodmare sire of a Giant’s Causeway line stakes winner and might be interesting here, while mares by Super Saver (out of a mare by A.P. Indy) also appeal. The Giant’s Causeway line has also done well with a number of Relaunch line broodmare sires, including Honour and Glory (sire of Put It Back), Cee’s Tizzy, Tiznow, Slew Gin Fizz and Bertrando (sire of Officer)