Heavenly Cause (USA)
May 22, 1978 – c. 1997
Grey Dawn II (FR) x Lady Dulcinea (USA), by Nantallah (USA)
Family 21-a
May 22, 1978 – c. 1997
Grey Dawn II (FR) x Lady Dulcinea (USA), by Nantallah (USA)
Family 21-a
Heavenly Cause's racing career had some parallels to that of her sire, Grey Dawn II, Like him, she matured faster than the other top youngsters of her crop and was a clear winner of the title for her age and sex—but also like him, she lost her edge over the best of her contemporaries as they matured. While she lasted into early summer at the head of her class, she was overtaken by the later-developing Wayward Lass, whom she had defeated in the spring. As a broodmare, she was likewise at her best early, producing the good regional sire Two Punch as her first foal but little of significance afterward.
Race record
21 starts, 9 wins, 4 seconds, 2 thirds, US$622,481
1980:
1981:
Honors
Assessments
Highweighted at 120 pounds among juvenile fillies on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1980, 1 pound above Rainbow Connection.
Rated at 125 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1981, tied with Truly Bound at 1 pound below champion Wayward Lass.
As an individual
A big, robust gray mare with the straight, powerful hind leg of her sire, Heavenly Cause was rough and clumsy as an early 2-year-old and did not initially impress her connections until she started winning. She was at her best when coming from off the pace. She finished unplaced in two tries on turf.
As a producer
Heavenly Cause produced 12 named foals, of which 10 started and eight won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Foaled in Maryland, Heavenly Cause was bred and owned by James and Eleanor Ryan's Ryehill Farm. Following the couple's divorce, Heavenly Cause became the property of the former Mrs. Ryan and was a broodmare at her Ross Valley Farm. She was sold for US$290,000 at the 1992 Keeneland November mixed sale, in foal to Seeking the Gold, and was sent to England by her new owner, Newgate Stud Company, which bred her remaining foals.
Pedigree notes
Heavenly Cause is inbred 4x5 to 1930 Derby Stakes winner Blenheim II and 5x5 to 1923 English champion 2-year-old filly Mumtaz Mahal through the three-quarters brother and sister Mahmoud and Mumtaz Begum. She is a full sister to stakes winner Jacques Who and a half sister to 1983 Monmouth Oaks (USA-G2) winner Quixotic Lady (by Quadratic), herself the second dam of Grade 2 winner Confide. Heavenly Cause is also a half sister to La Basque (by Jean-Pierre), dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Bounding Basque (by Grey Dawn II), Grade 2 winner El Basco (by Vigors), and English stakes winner Muhayaa (by Danzig) and third dam of Grade 3 winners Queen of Wilshire, Sunray Spirit and Ballymore Lady.
In addition, Heavenly Cause is a half sister to Glorious Quest (by Hawaii), dam of restricted stakes winner Crown Quest (by Chief's Crown; dam of multiple English stakes winner Zaajer, by Silver Hawk) and third dam of 2012 Canadian champion turf male Riding the River. Another half sister to Heavenly Cause, stakes-placed My Lady Love (by Smarten) is the dam of listed stakes winner Afleet Floozie (by Afleet), the second dam of 2006 Mexican champion imported 2-year-old male Winning Limit, and the third dam of Grade 3 winner Drum Major.
Heavenly Cause and her siblings are out of 1965 Adirondack Stakes winner Lady Dulcinea, a half sister to 1963 Spinaway Stakes winner Petite Rouge (by Ballydam). Petite Rouge, in turn, is the dam of multiple French Group 3 winner Princess Arjumand (by Prince Taj) and the second dam of Grade 2 winners Smarten Up and Purple Mountain and Grade 3 winner French Cut. Returning to Lady Dulcinea, she is also a half sister to multiple Grade 3 winner Champagne Charlie (by Northern Dancer) and to multiple Grade 3 winner Shy Dawn (by Grey Dawn II), dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Opening Verse (by The Minstrel), Grade 3 winner So She Sleeps (by Seattle Slew), and multiple stakes winner Dangerous Dawn (by Cox's Ridge); second dam of English Group 2 winner Diffident; and third dam of 2003 St. James’s Palace Stakes (ENG-G1) winner Zafeen, 2020 American Pharoah Stakes (USA-G1) winner Get Her Number, and Group 3 winners Victory Laurel and Ya Hajar.
.
Shy Dancer (by Bolero), the dam of Lady Dulcinea and her siblings, is also the dam of Prima Ballerina (by Royal Vale), dam of stakes winner Cordial Prince (by Cornish Prince). The female line traces back to 1922 Coaching Club American Oaks winner Prudish.
Books and media
Heavenly Cause is profiled in Chapter 11 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
Last updated: March 27, 2024
Race record
21 starts, 9 wins, 4 seconds, 2 thirds, US$622,481
1980:
- Won Frizette Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Selima Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Pimlico)
- Won Marlboro Nursery Stakes (USA, 7FD, Bowie)
- 2nd Matron Stakes (USA, 7FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Gardenia Stakes (USA, 8.5FD, Meadowlands)
- 3rd Schuylerville Stakes (USA-G3, 6FD, Saratoga)
1981:
- Won Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1, 9FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Acorn Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Fantasy Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Oaklawn Park)
- Won La Troienne Stakes (USA, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd Mother Goose Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Forward Gal Stakes (USA, 7FD, Gulfstream Park)
- 3rd Bonnie Miss Stakes (USA-G3, 8.5FD, Gulfstream Park)
Honors
- Maryland Thoroughbred Hall of Fame (inducted in 2020)
- Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1981)
- Eclipse Award, American champion 2-year-old filly (1980)
- Maryland-bred champion 2-year-old filly (1980)
- Maryland-bred champion 3-year-old filly (1981)
Assessments
Highweighted at 120 pounds among juvenile fillies on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1980, 1 pound above Rainbow Connection.
Rated at 125 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1981, tied with Truly Bound at 1 pound below champion Wayward Lass.
As an individual
A big, robust gray mare with the straight, powerful hind leg of her sire, Heavenly Cause was rough and clumsy as an early 2-year-old and did not initially impress her connections until she started winning. She was at her best when coming from off the pace. She finished unplaced in two tries on turf.
As a producer
Heavenly Cause produced 12 named foals, of which 10 started and eight won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Two Punch (1983, by Mr. Prospector) was a listed stakes winner on the track and a three-time champion sire in Maryland.
- Snowing (1986, by Icecapade) was stakes-placed as a racer and is the third dam of Grade 3 winner I'm So Fancy.
Connections
Foaled in Maryland, Heavenly Cause was bred and owned by James and Eleanor Ryan's Ryehill Farm. Following the couple's divorce, Heavenly Cause became the property of the former Mrs. Ryan and was a broodmare at her Ross Valley Farm. She was sold for US$290,000 at the 1992 Keeneland November mixed sale, in foal to Seeking the Gold, and was sent to England by her new owner, Newgate Stud Company, which bred her remaining foals.
Pedigree notes
Heavenly Cause is inbred 4x5 to 1930 Derby Stakes winner Blenheim II and 5x5 to 1923 English champion 2-year-old filly Mumtaz Mahal through the three-quarters brother and sister Mahmoud and Mumtaz Begum. She is a full sister to stakes winner Jacques Who and a half sister to 1983 Monmouth Oaks (USA-G2) winner Quixotic Lady (by Quadratic), herself the second dam of Grade 2 winner Confide. Heavenly Cause is also a half sister to La Basque (by Jean-Pierre), dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Bounding Basque (by Grey Dawn II), Grade 2 winner El Basco (by Vigors), and English stakes winner Muhayaa (by Danzig) and third dam of Grade 3 winners Queen of Wilshire, Sunray Spirit and Ballymore Lady.
In addition, Heavenly Cause is a half sister to Glorious Quest (by Hawaii), dam of restricted stakes winner Crown Quest (by Chief's Crown; dam of multiple English stakes winner Zaajer, by Silver Hawk) and third dam of 2012 Canadian champion turf male Riding the River. Another half sister to Heavenly Cause, stakes-placed My Lady Love (by Smarten) is the dam of listed stakes winner Afleet Floozie (by Afleet), the second dam of 2006 Mexican champion imported 2-year-old male Winning Limit, and the third dam of Grade 3 winner Drum Major.
Heavenly Cause and her siblings are out of 1965 Adirondack Stakes winner Lady Dulcinea, a half sister to 1963 Spinaway Stakes winner Petite Rouge (by Ballydam). Petite Rouge, in turn, is the dam of multiple French Group 3 winner Princess Arjumand (by Prince Taj) and the second dam of Grade 2 winners Smarten Up and Purple Mountain and Grade 3 winner French Cut. Returning to Lady Dulcinea, she is also a half sister to multiple Grade 3 winner Champagne Charlie (by Northern Dancer) and to multiple Grade 3 winner Shy Dawn (by Grey Dawn II), dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Opening Verse (by The Minstrel), Grade 3 winner So She Sleeps (by Seattle Slew), and multiple stakes winner Dangerous Dawn (by Cox's Ridge); second dam of English Group 2 winner Diffident; and third dam of 2003 St. James’s Palace Stakes (ENG-G1) winner Zafeen, 2020 American Pharoah Stakes (USA-G1) winner Get Her Number, and Group 3 winners Victory Laurel and Ya Hajar.
.
Shy Dancer (by Bolero), the dam of Lady Dulcinea and her siblings, is also the dam of Prima Ballerina (by Royal Vale), dam of stakes winner Cordial Prince (by Cornish Prince). The female line traces back to 1922 Coaching Club American Oaks winner Prudish.
Books and media
Heavenly Cause is profiled in Chapter 11 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- Heavenly Cause was nominated to the Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) but did not run because of the large field. (21 horses ran in that year's Derby, won by Pleasant Colony.) She faced only five rivals in the Oaks and barely held off the closing rush of De La Rose, suggesting that the decision was the correct one. A tentative plan to run Heavenly Cause in the Preakness Stakes (USA-G1) was also aborted.
- Heavenly Cause was the last of a record five Kentucky Oaks winners for National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame trainer Woody Stephens. The others were Hidden Talent (1959), Make Sail (1960), Sally Ship (1963 and White Star Line (1978).
- All of Heavenly Cause's foals were gray (though some were registered as roan), including 11 by non-gray sires, suggesting that she was homozygous for the dominant gene that causes graying in horses. Had she been heterozygous for the gray gene, the odds of her producing 11 gray foals by non-gray sires would be 2,048 to 1.
- Heavenly Cause had races named in her honor at Laurel and at Churchill Downs.
Last updated: March 27, 2024