LEXINGTON, Ky. - The series of basaltic columns in Northern Ireland that make up the rock formation the Giant's Causeway stand immovable against the worst that weather and time inflict. That ability to stand firm under pressure also proved the hallmark of the racehorse named Giant's Causeway.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Two-time sprint champion Housebuster has died in Virginia. The 18-year-old Housebuster was standing at stud at O'Sullivan Farms in Charles Town, W. Va., but was shipped to a Virginia veterinary clinic on Sunday, when he died, according to Donna Hayes, manager of the syndicate that owned Housebuster.

Housebuster's cause of death was unknown as of Wednesday morning, Hayes said, adding that the syndicate would ask for a necropsy.

"All I know is that he's not here anymore, and it breaks my heart," Hayes said. "It was very, very quick."

The Barretts May juvenile sale got under way Tuesday in California with an $85,000 Lake Austin filly the session-leader early in the auction's single session.

The filly, offered as Hip No. 79 by the Sunrise Stable South agency, had the co-fastest quarter-mile work during the weekend's preview, covering the distance in 21 seconds. Stanley Ryan purchased the filly, a daughter of the unraced Red Ransom mare Red Royalty.

LAS VEGAS - The winners of the Kentucky Derby the last three years - War Emblem, Funny Cide, and Smarty Jones - went on to win the Preakness, but with the unlikely Giacomo shocking the racing world two weeks ago, it may be time to look at those well-regarded colts who flopped in the Derby but who have every right to revert to their previous good form on Saturday.

My Turbulent Miss, the dam of the 1989 Breeders' Cup Turf winner, Prized, and Grade 2 winner Exploit, died in Kentucky on Friday. The 29-year-old mare appeared to have died in her sleep, according to Jeanne Mirabito, owner of the Our Mims Retirement Haven for former broodmares in Paris, Ky.

My Turbulent Miss came to the retirement farm last November after a successful career in the breeding shed. Her best foals were the Kris S. colt Prized, a dual Grade 1 winner and millionaire, and Storm Cat's son Exploit, a multiple graded winner.

A pair of 2-year-olds by Salt Lake and Illinois Storm were the Barretts May sale's fastest workers over an eighth of a mile last weekend, breezing the distance in 10 seconds.

The preview days on Saturday and Sunday were held in advance of the Barretts May auction, which was scheduled for Tuesday at Fairplex Park in Pomona, Calif.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Jerry and Ann Moss's connection to their Kentucky Derby winner, Giacomo, goes back to 1992, more than a decade before the gray colt was born.

That was the year they paid $45,000 to buy a juvenile Stop the Music filly, later named Set Them Free, at Fasig-Tipton's Calder sale. Thirteen years later, her son gave the Mosses an unexpected place in sporting history with his 50-1 victory in the Derby.

The advantage, or potential risk, of selling an active racehorse in Tuesday's Barretts May sale of 2-year-olds in training will be on display when Acceleration and Swiss Lady start in Sunday's $75,000 Nursery Stakes at Hollywood Park.

Swiss Lady won a two-furlong race at Santa Anita on April 14 and is Hip No. 337 in Tuesday's marathon sale in Pomona. Acceleration won a $40,000 claiming race for maidens at 4 1/2 furlongs at Hollywood Park on April 28.

A win or placing in the Nursery would enhance the value of either filly. A bad loss could lead to diminished interest.

Successful Appeal, last season's leading freshman stallion and the sire of 2005 Kentucky Derby runner-up Closing Argument, will miss the remainder of the breeding season.

The 9-year-old Valid Appeal horse is recovering from an April 26 colic surgery to correct a rare condition in which part of his small intestine was trapped in an abdominal ligament. Successful Appeal is at Walmac Farm in Lexington, Ky., after having undergone the procedure at the nearby Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - If you're ever at a Kentucky Derby party and get to playing pedigree trivia, there's a new answer to the question: "What is the oldest Kentucky Derby winner's male line that has produced a modern winner of the race?"

Thanks to Holy Bull's son Giacomo, the answer is the male line of Plaudit, winner of the 1898 Kentucky Derby and the 10th generation sire in the male line of all Holy Bull's offspring.