{{Short description|American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse}} {{Infobox racehorse | horsename = Brody's Cause | image_name = | caption = | sire = Giant's Causeway | grandsire = Storm Cat | dam = Sweet Breanna | damsire = Sahm | sex = Colt | foaled = March 17, 2013<ref name="pedigree">{{cite web|url=https://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=ORDER_AND_CONFIRM&reference_number=9515226&registry=T&horse_name=Brody%27s%20Cause&dam_name=Sweet%20Breanna&foaling_year=2013&nicking_stats_indicator=Y|title=Brody's Cause pedigree |website=Equineline|date=2012-05-08 |accessdate=2013-05-05}}</ref> | country = United States | colour = Bay | breeder = William Arvin Jr., Gabriel Duignan & Petaluma Bloodstock | owner = Albaugh Family Stable | trainer = Dale Romans | record = 7: 3-0-1 | earnings = $1,123,138 | race = Breeders' Futurity Stakes (2015)<br>Blue Grass Stakes (2016) |awards= |honours = |updated= }}

'''Brody's Cause''' (foaled March 17, 2013) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He has won Grade I races at two and three years of age and was regarded as a contender for the 2016 Kentucky Derby. After finishing unplaced on his debut he won a maiden race and then took the Grade I Breeders' Futurity Stakes before finishing third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. In 2016 he ran poorly in the Tampa Bay Derby before taking the Blue Grass Stakes.

==Background== Brody's Cause is a bay horse with a white blaze and three white socks bred in Kentucky by William Arvin Jr., Gabriel Duignan & Petaluma Bloodstock. He was sired by Giant's Causeway, who was the European Horse of the Year in 2000 and later won three sires' championships in North America. His other good winners have included Shamardal, Footstepsinthesand, Ghanaati, Take Charge Brandi and Rite of Passage.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/profile/horse/513047/giants-causeway|title=Giant's Causeway – Stud Record|publisher=Racing Post}}</ref> Brody's Cause's dam Sweet Breanna showed good racing form in her native Canada, winning three times and being placed in the La Lorgnette Stakes and the Woodbine Oaks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=6895957&registry=T|title=Sweet Breanna – Statistics|website=Equibase}}</ref> She was a female-line descendant of Secretariat's grand-dam Imperatrice.<ref name="tbl">{{cite web |url=http://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Families/Family2s.htm |title=Orville Mare – Family 2-s |publisher=Thoroughbred Bloodlines |date= |accessdate=2014-06-12 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055349/http://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Families/Family2s.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In September 2014 the yearling was consigned to the Keeneland sale and was bought for $350,000 by Dennis and Susan Albaugh's Albaugh Family Stable.<ref>[http://www.equineline.com/Free-Auction-Results.cfm?upsellReferenceNumber=&upsellHorseName=&upsellBreedType=&upsellHorseType=&upsellYOB=&lookupAuctionResults=true&tempHorseType=&tempSale=ALL&tempYear=ALL&search_type=HORSE&reference_number=9515226&horse_name=Fateful&horse_type=ALL&year=ALL&sale=ALL&consignor_id=&consignor_name=&buyer_id=&buyer_name=&price_range_low=&price_range_high=&availableConsignors=&availableBuyers=&fromFree5CrossPedigree=Y Keeneland September yearling sale 2014]</ref> The colt was sent into training with Dale Romans.

==Racing career==

===2015: two-year-old career=== Brody's Cause began his racing career in a one-mile maiden race at Ellis Park Race Course on August 1 when he was well supported in the betting but finished eighth of the ten runners behind One Legend.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/results/638/ellis-park/2015-08-01/638350|title=Maiden Special Weight result|publisher=Racing Post|date=1 August 2015}}</ref> On September 11 the colt started favorite for another maiden over the same distance at Churchill Downs. Ridden by Emmanuel Esuivel he started steadily before making his challenge on the wide outside entering the straight. He took the lead in the last hundred yards and won by one and a quarter lengths from Conquest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.equibase.com/premium/chartEmb.cfm?track=CD&raceDate=09/11/2015&cy=USA&rn=5|title=Maiden Special Weight result|date= 11 September 2015|website=Equibase}}</ref> Three weeks after his win at Churchill Downs, Brody's Cause was stepped up sharply in class for the Grade I Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, a race which saw Corey Lanerie take over as his jockey. Saratoga Special Stakes winner Exaggerator started favorite with Brody's Cause being made the 11.8/1 sixth-choice in an eleven-runner field. Racing on a muddy track, Brody's Cause was restrained by Lanerie in the early stages before making progress on the outside in the stretch. He overhauled Exaggerator in the final strides and won by a length. Lanerie commented "I think the sky is the limit for him. Just the way he does things, he does it so easy", while Romans described the winner as "just a damn good horse".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.co.uk/horse-racing/story/_/id/13800761/brody-cause-fights-back-breeders-futurity|title=Brody's Cause fights back in Breeders' Futurity|date=4 October 2015|author=Jeremy Balan|publisher=ESPN}}</ref>

On his final appearance as a two-year-old Brody's Cause started second favorite for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on October 31. After racing towards the rear of the fourteen runner field before making steady progress in the straight to finish third behind Nyquist and Swipe.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/results/301/keeneland/2015-10-31/637856|title=Breeders' Cup Juvenile result |publisher=Racing Post|date=31 October 2015}}</ref>

===2016: three-year-old career=== On March 12, 2016, Brody's Cause began his second season in the Tampa Bay Derby a Grade II trial race for the Kentucky Derby run over {{frac|8|1|2}} furlongs at Tampa Bay Downs. He was made the 2.3/1 favorite but after being bumped at the start he finished seventh of the nine runners behind the Todd Pletcher-trained Destin.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/209824/destin-sets-track-record-in-tampa-bay-derby|title=Destin Sets Track Record in Tampa Bay Derby|author=Frank Angst|date=12 March 2016|work=The Blood-Horse}}</ref> Luis Saez took over from Lanerie when Brody's Cause returned to Grade I class for the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 9. He started the 4.2/1 second favorite behind the Fountain of Youth Stakes runner-up Zulu, with the best of the other twelve runners appearing to be the Chad Brown-trained My Man Sam and the Romans stable's other runner Cherry Wine. Brody's Cause was held up as usual as the outsider Laoban set the early pace, before making strong progress on the outside approaching the final turn. He maintained his run into the stretch, took the lead a furlong out and won by {{frac|1|3|4}} lengths from My Man Sam, with Cherry Wine a head away in third. After the race Romans described the winner as "a prototype Derby horse".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/210718/brodys-cause-comes-home-in-blue-grass|title=Brody's Cause Comes Home in Blue Grass|author=Claire Novak|date=9 April 2016|work=The Blood-Horse}}</ref>

On May 7 Brody's Cause was one of twenty colts to contest the 2016 Kentucky Derby. Although he had been regarded as a leading contender in the build-up to the race his odds drifted badly on the day and he started a 24.9/1 outsider. He raced wide for most of the way and made some progress in the closing stages but never looked likely to challenge the leaders and finished seventh behind Nyquist.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/211473/nyquist-unrelenting-in-kentucky-derby-victory|title=Nyquist Unrelenting in Kentucky Derby Victory|author=Jeremy Balan|date=7 May 2016|work=The Blood-Horse}}</ref>

==Stud career==

Brody's Cause entered stud in 2017 at Spendthrift Farm.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-register/stallions/169494/brodys-cause |title=Stallion Register Brody's Cause |publisher=bloodhorse.com |accessdate=28 December 2021}}</ref>

===Notable progeny===

''c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding''

{| border="1" cellpadding="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size:90%" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" | width="35px" | '''Foaled''' | width="120px" | '''Name''' | width="35px" | '''Sex''' | width="510px" | '''Major Wins''' |- |2018 |Kalypso |f |La Brea Stakes |- |}

==Pedigree== {{Pedigree |name = Brody's Cause (USA), bay colt, 2013<ref name="pedigree"/> |inf = |f = Giant's Causeway (USA)<br />1997 |m = Sweet Breanna (CAN)<br />2003 |ff = Storm Cat (USA)<br />1983 |fm = Mariah's Storm (USA)<br />1991 |mf = Sahm (USA)<br />1994 |mm = Sweet Roberta (USA)<br />1987 |fff = Storm Bird |ffm = Terlingua |fmf = Rahy |fmm = Immense |mff = Mr. Prospector |mfm = Salsabil |mmf = '''Roberto''' |mmm = Candy Bowl |ffff = Northern Dancer |fffm = South Ocean |ffmf = Secretariat |ffmm = Crimson Saint |fmff = Blushing Groom |fmfm = Glorious Song |fmmf = '''Roberto''' |fmmm = Imsodear |mfff = Raise a Native |mffm = Gold Digger |mfmf = Sadler's Wells |mfmm = Flame of Tara |mmff = Hail To Reason |mmfm = Bramalea |mmmf = Majestic Light |mmmm = Quick Cure (Family: 2-s)<ref name="tbl"/> }}

* Brody's Cause is inbred 3x4 to Roberto, meaning that the stallion appears in both the third and fourth generations of his pedigree.

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:2013 racehorse births Category:Racehorses bred in Kentucky Category:Racehorses trained in the United States Category:Thoroughbred family 2-s