MATING SUGGESTIONS: During his career at Ashford Stud, Giant’s Causeway topped the Blood-Horse’s General Sires list three times in the space of four years and rarely finished outside the top four. Many of his sons have gone on to sire G1SWs, 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. None of Not This Time’s first six crops of racing age was sired at a fee higher than $45,000, with the first four being off fees of $15,000 or less. Consequently, he has done extremely well to be topping the 2025 Sires of 2YOs table, in addition to ranking second only to Into Mischief on the General Sires’ List at the start of November. His sensational 2YO crop contains a high number of Graded stakes performers, which bodes extremely well for his next few crops, all sired at six-figure fees. Not This Time is already responsible for the highly impressive total of 31 GSWs, including ten winners at G1 level. He has been North America’s leading second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-crop sire and is again dominating his year group in 2025, even though his opposition includes the very effective Nyquist. His ten G1SWs divide fairly evenly between dirt and turf, and his turf performers also include a G2 2YO winner at Royal Ascot in 2024. 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 3YO male with his victories in the G2 Risen Star S., G2 Louisiana Derby, G2 Jim Dandy S. and G1 Travers S. He was also a fine second in the G1 Kentucky Derby and G1 Preakness S. Predictably, Epicenter’s first crop yearlings were well received in 2025, with several selling for more than $500,000. Epicenter is by Not This Time out of a Candy Ride mare and so is Simplification, winner of the G2 Fountain of Youth S. and fourth in the G1 Kentucky Derby. They are among Not This Time’s seven winners from his first nine runners out of daughters of Candy Ride. This is significant, because the sensational young stallion Gun Runner is bred to the reverse pattern, by Candy Ride out of a Giant’s Causeway mare. Not This Time already has BTWs out of daughters of A.P. INDY, PULPIT (the G1SW Sibelius), BERNARDINI, MINESHAFT, JUMP START, FRIENDS LAKE and TAPIT. The G2SW Arzak, G3SW Final Gambit and SW Tony Eclipse represent 21% of Not This Time’s 14 foals out of TAPIT mares, while G2SW Magnitude and G2SW Final Score represent 17% of Not This Time’s 12 foals out of BERNARDINI mares. Significantly, Gun Runner is another who is enjoying success with mares by PULPIT and TAPIT. Gun Runner’s nine BTWs out of TAPIT mares include G1SW Society and G2SWs Red Route One and Wicked Halo. Gun Runner’s G1- 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 multiple G1 winner Taiba. Gun Runner’s four GSWs out of MALIBU MOON - another stallion who combined A.P. Indy and Mr Prospector blood - mares include G1SWs Sierra Leone and Locked. Epicenter is also well worth trying with mares by MALIBU MOON , especially since he already has a $700,000 colt with a MALIBU MOON dam. Epicenter also has a $675,000 colt out of a TAPIT mare. Several of Not This Time’s GSWs have a 2nd line of STORM CAT. His record with daughters of INTO MISCHIEF stands at a very promising 25% BTWs from eight foals, including G1-winning sprinter TROUBLESHOOTING. Daughters of SCAT DADDY and JUSTIFY merit consideration. Not This Time has G1SWs out of mares by AWESOME AGAIN ’s sons GHOSTZAPPER and WILKO , as well as a multiple G2SW out of an AWESOME AGAIN mare. This suggests mares with DEPUTY MINISTER blood. Mares by SPEIGHTSTOWN and MUNNINGS should be ideal for Epicenter. Not This Time has two GSWs, including G1SW Just One Time, from 11 foals out of SPEIGHTSTOWN mares. His G1SW Rhetorical has a dam by DISTORTED HUMOR . He also has G2 or G3SWs out of mares by EMPIRE MAKER, SMART STRIKE, CAPE TOWN, UNBRIDLED’S SONG, ROCKPORT HARBOR, BUSTIN STONES and MIDNIGHT LUTE . He is also showing promise with daughters of CURLIN and CITY ZIP . SONGANDAPRAYER , BROKEN VOW and PIONEEROF THE NILE are other UNBRIDLED line stallions with talented winners by Not This Time, as do Street Cry’s sons STREET SENSE and STREET HERO . EL PRADO ’s sons MEDAGLIA D’ORO and PADDY O’PRADO rank among the dam sires of Not This Time’s BTWs. Not This Time has G2 and G3SWs with 2nd dams by SAINT BALLADO , and also has a G1SW by a son of SAINT BALLADO . He also has BTWs with dams by ARCH , RANSOM and MORE THAN READY. 23
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