The final crop of Ashford Stud's outstanding but now deceased stallion Scat Daddy (by Johannesburg) yielded two juvenile pattern winners last weekend, both of them over six furlongs at the Curragh and both trained by Aidan O'Brien for Coolmore partners.
The filly So Perfect landed the Group 3 Grangecon Stud Stakes on Sunday, and the previous afternoon it was the turn of Van Beethoven, who beat Marie's Diamond by half a length in the Group 2 GAIN Railway Stakes. The mid-February-born colt was bred in Ontario, in Canada, by the Ballycroy Training Centre, and this was his second win from five starts. His maiden success came on his second outing, he then chased home Fairyland in the Listed Marble Hill Stakes at the Curragh before finishing fourth to Soldier's Call in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes over five furlongs at Royal Ascot.
Van Beethoven is the second foal out of eight-and-a-half-furlong dirt winner My Sister Sandy (by Montbrook), a half-sister to US stakes winner See Tobe (by Concerto), who stays 12 furlongs, and full-sister to Exotic Bloom, a Grade 3-placed mile listed winner who hit the Grade 1 target at stud with her first foal. That star is Stopchargingmaria (by Tale Of The Cat), a $47,000 Keeneland September Sale yearling who made $220,000 at the OBS March Select breeze-up sale, joined the Todd Pletcher stable, and notched up a seven-figure earnings total. Her eight graded wins feature a neck defeat of Stellar Wind in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland, a three-quarter-length score in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga, and a five-length drubbing of Unbridled Forever in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at that same venue. The first and last-named of those events are over nine furlongs, with the Alabama being over 10, the farthest she was asked to try. She was a dual Grade 1-placed, nine-furlong Grade 2 scorer as a juvenile and only finished out of the first three four times in an 18-race career. Melegant (by Kris S), the grandam of Van Beethoven, won once from a dozen starts and she is a half-sister to listed scorer Lady Tabitha (by Lyphard), the grandam of a Grade 1-placed, Grade 3-winning sprinter in Brazil. Her dam, Abidjan (by Sir Ivor), a listed-winning daughter of stakes-winning miler Flag Waver (by Hoist The Flag), was a half-sister to the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes third Bunting (by Private Account), the mare who gave us Grade 2 Illinois Derby winner and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes runner-up Vision And Verse (by Storm Cat). Van Beethoven's pattern success did not give the feel of being potentially top-class form, Timeform raised him to 102 for this performance, and improvement is required if he is to win the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes and/or Group 1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes, both of which appear in his list of entries. But this is an Aidan O'Brien-trained colt who is bred to be a miler next year, so progress is not only possible but likely and it could be that what he has achieved so far is a bonus. Time will tell.
With all that he has achieved, it is almost hard to believe that Ashford Stud's outstanding stallion Scat Daddy (by Johannesburg) was only 11 when he died. His penultimate crop features US Triple Crown hero Justify and the Irish-trained Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and Group 2 UAE Derby winner Mendelssohn, among others of note, and already two of his final crop have a first pattern success to their names.
Both are Aidan O'Brien-trained juveniles, both achieved the feat at the Curragh last weekend, and one of them is Group 3 Grangecon Stud Stakes winner So Perfect. This half-length defeat Skitter Scatter – who is also by Scat Daddy – came 11 days after her barely three-quarter-length fourth to Signora Cabello in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot. Remarkably, two others from that race have also performed with note in pattern company already as Little Kim, who was beaten a total of two lengths into eighth in that blanket finish, defeated Chelsea Cloisters by a length in Tuesday's Group 3 Prix du Bois at Deauville. The margin between that pair at Ascot had been three-parts of a length. So Perfect and Skitter Scatter also met at Naas in May, the pair going past the post together in the listed race won by Servalan. The margin between them was a short-head, with the Paddy Prendergast-trained filly coming out on top that day, taking third. A short-head was also the margin when So Perfect made a winning debut at Navan a month before, that time pipping the Jim Bolger-trained Mater Matuta. The other juvenile pattern success for Scat Daddy came in Saturday's Group 2 GAIN Railway Stakes, which Van Beethoven won by half a length.
So Perfect was bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall and she cost the Coolmore partners $400,000 from Book 2 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She is a full-sister to a stakes-placed winner and she is the third foal out of Hopeoverexperience (by Songandaprayer), a winning half-sister to Grade 2 Illinois Derby and Grade 3 Gotham Stakes scorer Cowtown Cat (by Distorted Humor). Their dam, Tom's Cat, won once as a four-year-old and, as she is a daughter of Storm Cat (by Storm Bird), that makes the Ballydoyle juvenile inbred 4x3 to that hugely influential stallion. She is also inbred 5x5 to Northern Dancer (by Nearctic) and, like all offspring of Scat Daddy, 5x3 to Mr Prospector (by Raise a Native). We cannot know if any of this has any bearing on her talent or potential. Third dam Shouldnt Say Never (by Meadowlake) won five times from 21 starts, she got both her listed success and Grade 3 placing as a four-year-old, she is a half-sister to three listed race winners, and her grandsons include blacktype scorer Smart Promotion (by Smart Strike) and triple listed sprint winner Stormation (by Stormy Atlantic). If you go back another step then you will find that Keys Special (by Chieftain), the fourth dam of So Perfect, was a winning half-sister to dual graded scorer Dewan Keys (by Dewan), to Grade 3 Pucker Up Stakes winner Eleven Pleasures (by What A Pleasure), and to dual listed winner Over Arranged (by Staunchness), who equalled a seven-furlong track record, and that they are all out of Spinster Stakes runner-up Eleven Keys (by Royal Union). This is a family that is no stranger to blacktype success, which augurs well for So Perfect's eventual future as a broodmare. Before then, of course, there is potentially plenty more for her to achieve on the track, and it catches the eye that her entries include both the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes and Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes. The latter is, of course, over seven furlongs these days and should she run there then it may give us an idea as to her potential to stay a mile next year, something that her relationship to Cowtown Cat suggests may be possible.
Late Ashford Stud stallion Scat Daddy (by Johannesburg) has been all the rage with European buyers these past few years and the Coolmore team have bought several of his high-priced yearlings.
These include Seahenge, an Aidan O'Brien-trained juvenile currently rated 112 and who could develop into a classic prospect in 2018. The bay was bred by K & G Stables in Kentucky and he is a $750,000 graduate of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He made a narrow winning debut over six furlongs at Naas in early July and was then pitched straight into pattern company. His first attempt was disappointing – he was beaten by a total of eight lengths when finishing fifth behind the exciting Expert Eye in the Group 2 Qatar Vintage Stakes over seven at Goodwood – but then put up two better performances. He came from last to first to wear down Hey Gaman in the Group 2 Howcroft Industrial Supplies Champagne Stakes over the same trip at Doncaster, getting to the front near the line to score by a neck. Then he finished a five-length third to his stable companions U S Navy Flag and Mendelssohn in yesterday afternoon's Group 1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket.
The best-known of Scat Daddy's offspring in this part of the world include the sprint stars Acapulco, Caravaggio, Lady Aurelia and No Nay Never, and his current two-year-old crop features Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes scorer Sioux Nation and the aforementioned Mendelssohn.
Their records may lead some to presume that Seahenge might also be a sprinter in the making, but across the Atlantic the late stallion is most usually associated with those who excel in the seven to 10-furlong range in the USA and with classic horses in South America. We already know that the colt stays seven furlongs and, given that his dam Fools In Love (by Not For Love) – who was a listed scorer over that trip – won at up to eight and a half furlongs, suggests that he will stay the Guineas distance. Whether or not he will be good enough to make the frame in a Group 1 classic, of course, is another matter, but it would be no surprise to see him make the necessary improvement. His dam has made a promising start to her stud career as each of her first three foals is a blacktype horse, with the elder pair – Urban Bourbon (by City Zip) and Frank's Folly (by Mineshaft) – both placed at that level. Her fourth foal is an Exchange Rate (by Danzig) colt who made $150,000 in Keeneland last month. The mare is among six winners out of triple scorer Parlez (by French Deputy), which makes her a full-sister to a high-earning listed race winner and half-sister to Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes winner International Star (by Fusaichi Pegasus), and she is out of Speak Halory (by Verbatim), a stakes-placed half-sister to several horses of note. Halory Hunter (by Jade Hunter) won the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes, finished third in the Grade 1 Florida Derby and fourth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, while $6.4 million yearling and former Ballydoyle trainee Van Nistelrooy (by Storm Cat) took the Group 2 Futurity Stakes, was runner-up in the Group 1 National Stakes and third in the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes. Their siblings Brushed Halory, Key Lory and Prory all won at Grade 3 level, and their one-time successful half-sister Miss Halory did her part for the family by coming up with the ill-fated eight and a half-furlong Grade 3 scorer Stormalory (by Storm Cat). As a Group 1-placed Group 2 winner from his first four starts, Seahenge has shown ability and potential. He is inbred 5x3x3 to Mr Prospector (by Raise a Native) and bred to be a high-class miler so it will be interesting to see how he gets on next year.
The premature loss of Ashford Stud stallion and outstanding sire Scat Daddy (by Johannesburg) has been a considerable one and it is to be hoped that some of his sons and daughters carry on his name with distinction at stud.
He has got his top-level winners at pretty much every distance from five furlongs to a mile and a half, something that may surprise European fans who associate him only with sprint stars like Acapulco, Caravaggio, Lady Aurelia, and No Nay Never. His most recent major home win came with Dacita in the Beverly D Stakes over nine and a half furlongs at Arlington Park last night, a fifth Grade 1 score for the Chilean-born six-year-old. The stallion’s growing number of notable European winners includes Sioux Nation, the Aidan O’Brien-trained and Fethard Bloodstock-bred juvenile who won the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes over five furlongs at Royal Ascot in June and then followed up with victory in this afternoon’s Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes over a furlong farther at the Curragh, chased home by Beckford and Actress.
He made his debut over the minimum trip at Naas in early April, finishing third, then chased home Brother Bear over a few yards short of six and a half furlongs at Leopardstown before winning his maiden, by three and three-quarter lengths, over six at the Curragh.
He was then well-beaten behind Brother Bear in the Listed Marble HIll Stakes over the same course and distance, so has won three of his six starts, showing his best form on good and fast ground and beaten when it was on the easy side. Sioux Nation is the second foal out of a one-time scorer named Dream The Blues and, like this year’s other juvenile pattern winners Barraquero and Zonza, he is out of a daughter of Banstead Manor Stud stallion Oasis Dream (by Green Desert). His dam won over six furlongs at Redcar in mid-October of her three-year-old season – her only start – and she is among seven winners out of the talented sprinter Catch The Blues (by Bluebird), the Group 3 Ballyogan Stakes heroine who was placed in the Group 1 Sprint Cup, the Group 3 Flying Five, and in two editions of both the Group 3 Greenlands Stakes and Group 3 Cork and Orrery Stakes.
That mare’s offspring include the dual listed-placed filly Colour Blue (by Holy Roman Emperor), she is the grandam of the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg winner My Catch (by Camacho) and of Group 1-placed juvenile listed race scorer Vladimir (by Kheleyf), and her siblings include the Group 3 Ballyogan Stakes third Sharp Catch (by Common Grounds).
These are the highlights of the first three generations of Sioux Nation’s pedigree. If you go back another couple of generations, however, then you find that his fifth dam is Betty Lorraine (by Prince John), and that half-sister to Kentucky Derby hero Majestic Prince (by Raise a Native) was the dam of Group 1 Prix du Jockey-Club star Caracolero (by Graustark) and grandam of Secreto (by Northern Dancer) – who won the Group 1 Derby at Epsom in 1984 – and his multiple Grade 1 Champion Hurdle-winning three-parts brother Istabraq (by Sadler’s Wells). Those stars are remotely connected to Sioux Nation, a promising colt whose early form suggests that sprinting is more likely to be his game than running a mile.
The analyst in me tempers snap judgements on horses, preferring to wait until additional data are in before deciding that yes, this was a performance about which we can get excited.
On rare occasions, however, there have been winning displays that sent a chill down the spine, a visceral sense that we might just have seen something very special. This happened on the afternoon of 28th September 2010 when Frankel won the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes and it did not happen again until 15th June 2016 when Lady Aurelia ran away with the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes. That is not to say that Lady Aurelia is going to reach the dizzy heights achieved by the great Frankel. The clearly talented filly she beat by seven lengths that day has been beaten on both her starts since, and she herself was somewhat disappointing when only taking the Group 1 Darley Prix Morny by three-parts of a length at Deauville a week ago. She made all, but only held on to beat the promising Alrahma, with the seemingly well-exposed Peace Envoy running on for third, just a head behind, and Al Johrah, whom she had beaten by seven lengths at Ascot, another head back in fourth. It may seem strange to say that a Group 1-winning effort was disappointing, but when the expected result is another display of clear superiority and the actual result is more hard fought, it leaves a sense of slight dismay. Have we overestimated the ability of this star? Are there excuses?
Frankel too had a disappointing Group 1 win, the day he only beat Zoffany by only three-parts of a length in the St James's Palace Stakes at Ascot, but he overcame that to take the final seven races of his career by an aggregate of almost 40 lengths.
Again, there is no reason to suppose that thrice-raced juvenile filly Lady Aurelia is another Frankel. She is, however, clearly one with a huge amount of talent and potential, and as she reportedly had some trouble with the underfoot conditions at Deauville, there is every reason to hope that she can resume her more impressive winning ways before long. The initial impression that she created in France was that she did not stay the sixth furlong. If that is the case, it would be disappointing as it would rule her out of races such as the Commonwealth Cup, July Cup and Sprint Cup in 2017, and make her vulnerable against a good field in the Group 1 Connolly's Red Mills Cheveley Park Stakes later this year. But the way she won at Ascot in June, combined with her pedigree, make it doubtful that stamina was the issue. Yes, the late Ashford Stud stallion Scat Daddy (by Johannesburg) has got some sprinters – Acapulco, No Nay Never and current juvenile star Caravaggio will immediately come to mind for most UK and Irish race fans – but this is a stallion who has dominated the classics scene in Chile, getting multiple Derby and Oaks winners in that country, along with plenty of top-class runners over eight, nine and 10 furlongs in the USA. He was also a top-class racehorse at two and three years of age, crowning his first season with victory in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes over a mile at Belmont Park and his short second one with victories in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes and Grade 1 Florida Derby, both over nine furlongs at Gulfstream Park. So what of the distaff side of her family? This will surely be important in determining whether this young star will be purely a sprinter or a filly who could stay the mile at three. Lady Aurelia is out of D'Wildcat Speed (by Forest Wildcat), which makes her inbred 4x3 to Storm Cat (by Storm Bird), something that could make a tendency towards speed more likely in her. But, then again, it might be doing nothing at all for her racing aptitude: we can but guess. Her dam was a stakes-winning sprinter when she first arrived in the USA, but before that she was a prolific local Grade 1 star (counts only as listed as per the International Cataloguing Standards) at around nine furlongs in Puerto Rico and, at five, she won the Grade 2 Rampart Handicap over nine furlongs at Gulfstream Park, scoring by six lengths.
D'Wildcat Speed's career tally was 16 wins, but that champion was out of Velvet Panther (by Pentaquod), a 31-time times scorer and dual Puerto Rican champion who, like her brilliant daughter, was a multiple top-level (local) winner at beyond a mile.
Blue Eyed Cat (by Great Above), the nine-times winning third dam of Lady Aurelia, was out of the high-class Puerto Rican filly Another Cat (by Catullus) and she, in turn was, was a full-sister to the 27-times scorer One Cat, a multiple blacktype star who was inbred 3x3 to the Kentucky Derby runner-up and multiple blacktype US sprint winner Spy Song (by Balladier), a track record setter over four-and-a-half and six-and-a-half furlongs. Lady Aurelia was bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC, she made $350,000 when offered as Lot 1253 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, and she is trained by Wesley Ward. She is a half-sister to a six-furlong stakes-placed winner in the US (Titletown Five, by Tiznow) and to the dual sprint winner Distorsionada (by Distorted Humor), and the speed she showed at Ascot in June was remarkable for such a young an inexperienced horse. The racing records of her sire, dam and grandam give her every chance of staying a mile next year, and although it is possible that it is only the family's speed that she has inherited, rather than its nine-furlong stamina, judgement should be reserved at least until we have had the chance to see her compete again over a strongly run and contested six furlongs. The Listed Cold Move European Breeders Fund Marble Hill Stakes is no longer the first juvenile blacktype contest of the season, but it is still the first one in Ireland and the 2016 edition was won easily by the odds-on favourite Caravaggio.
The Aidan O'Brien-trained colt, who was bred by the partnership of Windmill Manor Farms Inc and Petaluma Bloodstock, was an even shorter price when beating Lundy on their debut over five furlongs at Dundalk last month. His two and a quarter length defeat of Mister Trader at the Curragh impressed Timeform and his figure of 112p puts him clear at the top of their rankings for his age group. Caravaggio is a son of the late Ashford Stud stallion Scat Daddy. Winner of the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes over a mile as a juvenile and of the Grade 1 Florida Derby over a furlong farther at three, the son of two-year-old champion Johannesburg (by Hennessy) has sired 70 individual stakes winners, 16 of whom have won at least once at the highest level, and his sudden death came shortly after his fee for 2016 had been raised to $100,000. He was only 11 years old. His high total of Grade 1 winners may surprise some, but he was a shuttler to Chile and 13 of his progeny have achieved the feat in South America. Nine of the 13 are classic stars, several others have been classic-placed, and the roll of honour includes the Chilean Derby winners Solaria (2014; filly) and Il Campione (2015). Scat Daddy is also responsible for Lady Of Shamrock, whose wins include the Grade 1 American Oaks Stakes and the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, for the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes scorer Nickname, and for a trio that are well-known to European race fans: No Nay Never, Daddy Long Legs, and Acapulco. No Nay Never was trained in the USA by Wesley Ward but he made two trips to Europe, winning the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot and then the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville. His overall career record was four wins and two seconds from six starts, and his final appearance was when a half-length runner-up to Bobby's Kitten in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. He is now a member of the Coolmore Stud stallion team and some of his first foals will be in the auction ring later in the year. Ward is also the trainer of last year's Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes winner and Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes runner-up Acapulco. She is one of the ante-post market leaders for both the Group 1 King's Stand Stakes and the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and she has been an easy winner of both her starts in the USA this year. Daddy Long Legs began his career with Aidan O'Brien, he won the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes, which was run at Newmarket that year, and also the Group 2 UAE Derby at Meydan, and the best of his subsequent performances was when fourth behind Power in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas, just a neck away from earning the accolade classic-placed. He is now at stud in Florida. None of these horses is related to Caravaggio, but he does come from a blacktype family whose members include a Grade 1 scorer. He is the sixth foal out of the juvenile sprint listed winner Mekko Hokte (by Holy Bull) and his successful siblings include My Jen (by Fusaichi Pegasus). Her four wins, from nine starts, were headed by the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom Handicap over six and a half furlongs at Belmont Park, and she was also a six-furlong listed scorer as a two-year-old. Stakes winner Silver In Flight (by Silver Series), whose placed efforts featured the runners-up spot in the Grade 2 Black Helen Handicap over nine furlongs on turf at Hialeah, is the third dam and so Caravaggio's winning grandam Aerosilver (by Relaunch) is a half-sister to Theatre Flight, a mare who won in Ireland. She was trained by Dermot Weld and, as one might expect of a daughter of Group 1 Irish Derby runner-up and multiple Grade 1-winning US turf champion Theatrical (by Nureyev), she stayed a bit farther than might be expected of her young relation. She won an 11-furlong maiden at Killarney and a 10-furlong handicap at Listowel, her ill-fated son Sharp Performance (by Kris S) won the Grade 3 Lawrence Realization Stakes over 12 furlongs and he finished third in the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes over a mile and a quarter at Arlington. Middle-distance stamina is also evident in the fourth generation of the pedigree as Stark Winter (by Graustark), a stakes-winning half-sister to Silver In Flight, was the dam of Bien Bien (by Manila). He won the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup and the Grade 1 San Luis Rey Stakes over 12 furlongs and also the Grade 1 San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap over a quarter-mile farther. Caravaggio, however, is bred for speed, and given the talents of his dam and half-sister, and his sire's northern hemisphere record, it is likely that he will be a sprinter or maybe even a colt who will eventually stay a mile. He would be a leading contender for whatever Royal Ascot event he might try, and his big race entries for later in the season include the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes and the Group 1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes. |
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