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. Comments are closed.
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