Heavenly Cause was an American Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 Champion

Eclipse Award

The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...

 filly

Filly

A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

. Bred by Adele W. Paxson

Adele W. Paxson

Adele Warden Paxson was an American socialite, philanthropist, conservationist, and a Champion breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses....

, she was sired by Grey Dawn

Grey Dawn II

Grey Dawn was an French Thoroughbred Champion racehorse who was the only horse to ever beat the great Sea Bird. Grey Dawn was bred and raced by American Gertrude Widener, a member by marriage of the prominent racing Widener family...

, the 1964 French Champion Two-Year-Old Colt and 1990 Leading broodmare sire in North America

Leading broodmare sire in North America

The list below shows the leading Thoroughbred sire of broodmares in North America for each year since 1924. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won during the year by racehorses which were foaled by a daughter of the sire.-----References:* *...

. Her dam was Lady Dulcinea, a granddaughter of Nearco

Nearco

Nearco was an Italian bred Thoroughbred racehorse described by Thoroughbred Heritage as "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century" and "one of the most important sires of the century." He was not only unbeaten, winning 14 races at distances from 5 furlongs to 1 mile 7 furlongs ,...

 who has been described by Thoroughbred Heritage as "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century" and "one of the most important sires of the century." Heavenly Cause was purchased by Jim and Eleanor Ryan who raced her under the name of their Ryehill Farm.

Trained by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 inductee, Woody Stephens

Woody Stephens

Woody Stephens was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer.Born Woodford Cefis Stephens in Stanton, Kentucky, his younger brother William Ward Stephens also became a successful trainer. Woody Stephens first started in racing as a jockey at age 16 but within a few years switched...

, Heavenly Cause won four of nine starts at age two, including the Grades 1 Selima

Selima Stakes

The Selima Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland. Raced in late November, it is open to two-year-old fillies and is raced on turf.- History :...

 and Frizette Stakes

Frizette Stakes

The Frizette Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old fillies raced annually at Belmont Park in the late fall. It is currently a Grade I stakes race at as distance of one mile. The Frizette is the female counterpart of the Champagne Stakes.The race is currently part of the...

 and was voted the 1980 Eclipse Award

Eclipse Award

The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...

 for American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.

As a three-year-old, Heavenly Cause had five wins in twelve starts. Racing at Florida's

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 Gulfstream Park

Gulfstream Park

Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino is a racetrack and county-approved racino in Hallandale Beach, Florida, in the United States. During its annual meet, which spans December through April, it is one of the most important venues for horse racing in America....

 early in 1981, she finished second to Dame Mysterieuse in the Forward Gal Stakes

Forward Gal Stakes

The Forward Gal Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually near the end of January at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida...

 and third to her in the Bonnie Miss Stakes

Bonnie Miss Stakes

The Gulfstream Park Oaks is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. The Grade II race is open to three-year-old fillies, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt....

. Heavenly Cause then went on to win the La Troienne and Fantasy Stakes

Fantasy Stakes

The Fantasy Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. A Grade II event, it is open to three-year-old fillies willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt.-Records:Speed record:...

 before capturing the May 2, Kentucky Oaks

Kentucky Oaks

The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers 1⅛ miles at Churchill Downs; the horses carry 121 pounds . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby each year...

 at Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs, located in Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, is a Thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby annually. It officially opened in 1875, and held the first Kentucky Derby and the first Kentucky Oaks in the same year. Churchill Downs...

 in which she defeated a very strong field that included De La Rose

De La Rose

De La Rose was an American Thoroughbred filly racehorse. Regally bred in Kentucky, she was the daughter of English Triple Crown champion Nijinsky. Her grandsire was U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Northern Dancer, and her damsire was another U.S. Hall of Famer, Round Table...

, Wayward Lass

Wayward Lass

Wayward Lass was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. Bred in Florida by Hall of Fame trainer Horatio Luro, Wayward Lass was bought in 1980 by Carl Lizza, Jr. for $30,000 at the then-Florida Breeders Sales Co. She was raced under the nom de course, Flying Zee Stable, a racing partnership...

, and the betting

Parimutuel betting

Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...

 favorite, Truly Bound. Three weeks later she followed up with a win in the May 23 Acorn Stakes

Acorn Stakes

The Acorn Stakes is an American Grade I race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies. It is raced on dirt over a distance of one mile with a current purse of $250,000. It is the first leg of the US Triple Tiara and is followed by the Coaching Club American Oaks...

 at Belmont Park

Belmont Park

Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...

. In late June Heavenly Cause ran second to in the Mother Goose Stakes

Mother Goose Stakes

The Mother Goose Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Raced on dirt, the Grade I race offers a purse of $250,000. Inaugurated in 1957 at a mile and a sixteenth, it was lengthened to a mile and an eighth in 1959...

 to Wayward Lass who would dominate her age group for the remainder of the year and earn American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly honors.

As a broodmare

Retired to broodmare duty, Heavenly Cause stood in the United States until being sent to breeders in England in 1992. Between 1983 and 1997 she produced twelve foals from notable stallions such as Danzig

Danzig (horse)

Danzig was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is best known as a leading sire. He was purchased for $310,000 by Henryk de Kwiatkowski at the 1978 Saratoga Yearling Sale...

, Lyphard

Lyphard

Lyphard was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and an important sire. American bred in Pennsylvania, Lyphard was a son of Northern Dancer out of the mare Goofed. He was auctioned as a weanling at November's Keeneland Sales to Tim Rogers, a horseman from Ireland, who then put him up for sale at...

, Mr. Prospector

Mr. Prospector

Mr. Prospector was a thoroughbred racehorse foaled in Kentucky, whose descendants have been dominant in the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. He won half of his 14 career races.-Background:...

, Seattle Slew

Seattle Slew

Seattle Slew was an American Thoroughbred race horse who won the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in 1977, the tenth of eleven horses to accomplish the feat. He remains the only horse to win the Triple Crown while undefeated. In the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S...

, Secretariat

Secretariat (horse)

Secretariat was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in 25 years, setting new race records in two of the three events in the Series—the Kentucky Derby , and the Belmont Stakes —records that still stand today.Secretariat was sired by Bold...

, and Halo

Halo (horse)

Halo was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and an important Champion sire. Bred in Kentucky by John R. Gaines, founder of the Breeders Cup, Halo was out of the mare Cosmah , which made him a half-brother to the Hall of Fame filly Tosmah. His sire was Hail To Reason, the U.S...

, among others. Ten of her foals raced, of which seven were minor winners.

Heavenly Cause was elected to the Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame

Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum

The Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum was established in 1977 as a tribute to the famous flat racing and steeplechase Thoroughbred horses that trained in Aiken, South Carolina....

 on March 15, 1981.

In her honor, a seven furlong race for two-year-old fillies at Laurel Park Racecourse was named the Heavenly Cause Stakes.