Classic Causeway has a bit of Arkansas in his pedigree

There are two Grade 1 prep races for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday: the Florida Derby and the Arkansas Derby. Classic Causeway is expected to start in Florida, but the colt has ties to the Arkansas-bred program close up in his pedigree.

Classic Causeway, from the final crop of Giant’s Causeway, is out of Private World, whose dam is the Arkansas-bred mare Rita Rucker.

Rita Rucker was one of 489 Thoroughbred foals born in Arkansas in 1991, representing 1.3 percent of the North American foal crop, according to statistics from The Jockey Club. She was from the first crop of the Danzig horse Dmitri, who was bred in Arkansas by Archie Lofton and finished second in his only start. A tough and consistent campaigner, Rita Rucker would become one of the most accomplished runners from the 33 career starters for her sire.

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Rita Rucker also was bred in Arkansas by Lofton, although she changed hands via the claim box several times. Over seven seasons of racing and competing in six different states, she put together a career record of 72-21-10-9 and earned $249,767. Rita Rucker, who won on both dirt and turf and at distances from five furlongs to 1 1/16 miles, enjoyed her most successful run in 1998 at Mountaineer, winning four minor handicaps – the Dominion Day, Hancock County, Ohio Valley, and Golden Sylvia.

Rita Rucker went on to produce five winners from as many starters as a broodmare. The first of those was the Thunder Gulch mare Private World, and she was the most successful on the track and is now the dam of a multiple graded stakes winner in Classic Causeway. Private World won the Anoakia Stakes and the Moccasin Stakes a juvenile in California. The following spring, she was second in the California Oaks.