(Originally from the July 20, 2013 issue of The Blood-Horse)
by Darryl Sherer
Darryl Sherer is the former editor of Pacemaker and co-founder of the ANZ Bloodstock News.
For most horses commencing a stud career, to sire a grade/group I winner early on is seen as a satisfactory start, a portent of things to come. To sire all three place-getters in a group I race is something akin to fantasy, but Scat Daddy joined elite company when Solaria led home Dalala and Lemon Pretty in the Premio Arturo Lyon Pena (Chi-I) over 1,600 meters of yielding Santiago turf for juvenile fillies June 28.
Two-year-old filly (3 in the Northern Hemisphere) Solaria (out of So Linda, by Seeker's Reward) defeated Dalala (Daja, by Seeker's Reward) by 41⁄2 lengths with Lemon Pretty (Lemon Classic, by Lemon Drop Kid ) a farther six lengths off in third in the 11-horse field, with the winner and runner-up owned by Stud Vendaval and bred by Haras Paso Nevado, the Chilean farm to which Scat Daddy was shuttled from 2009 through 2011. The son of Johannesburg stands in the Northern Hemisphere at Ashford Stud near Versailles, Ky.
Indeed, Solaria, who has won five of her six starts to date, won this with some authority, and the style of her win suggests she is a more than likely candidate for championship honors at season’s end.
What makes the result of the Arturo Lyon Pena more significant is that it is not the first time Scat Daddy has sired all three place-getters in a group race, having done it the first time when Solaria defeated Dalala and La Trasnochada with Lemon Pretty fourth in the Premio Cotejo de Potrancas (Chi-III) over 1,300 meters April 26. All three of these runners are bred by Haras Paso Nevado.
It is not stretching the realm of hyperbole to say Scat Daddy has made a bright start.
A winner of five of his nine races, headed by the Champagne Stakes (gr. I) at 2 and the Florida Derby (gr. I) at 3, Scat Daddy was the leading freshman sire of 2011 when his first crop included American Oaks Stakes (gr. IT) winner Lady of Shamrock, UAE Derby Sponsored by The Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group (UAE-II) winner Daddy Long Legs, and Pennsylvania Derby (gr. II) scorer Handsome Mike . Unsurprisingly, that success saw his stud fee nearly double in 2012 from $17,500 to $30,000, and the success of his first South American-conceived crop is only enhancing what is already an impressive set of figures.
From three crops of racing age he has 16 stakes winners from 183 runners, highlighted by three grade/group I winners. That is approaching the accepted 10% stakes winners to runners ratio benchmark for superior stallions, and what is shaping most promisingly for Scat Daddy is that he is accomplishing this with both male and female runners, turf and dirt, and across different countries.
Solaria’s dam is a winning daughter of Seeker’s Reward, a son of Gone West. Johannesburg—the 2001 juvenile champion in the U.S. and Europe—was a grade/group I winner in four countries and by Hennessy, out of a mare by Mr. Prospector. Relevantly, Scat Daddy is showing an affinity with mares carrying another strain of Mr. Prospector.
All three of the Premio Arturo Lyon Pena place-getters are bred this way, and El Bromista, winner of the Premio Alberto Vial Infante (Chi-I) is bred on the same cross as Solaria and Dalala, being out of a mare by Seeker’s Reward.
From 11 named foals out of mares by Seeker’s Reward, Scat Daddy has group I winners El Bromista and Solaria and the group-placed Ostentador, La Trasnochada, and Dalala.
Scat Daddy himself is inbred 4x2 to Mr. Prospector and half of his 16 stakes winners to date carry an additional strain of Mr. Prospector, including the Royal Ascot Norfolk Stakes (Eng-II) winner No Nay Never, whose dam is by Elusive Quality , like Seeker’s Reward, a son of Gone West; and the Aristides Stakes (gr. III) winner Scatman, whose dam is by another son of Gone West in Grand Slam.
Seeker’s Reward has Hawaii (by Utrillo II) as a maternal grandsire and the South African champion is the broodmare sire of Scat Daddy’s grandsire Hennessy.
Now at stud in Japan, Johannesburg is beginning to make a name for himself as a sire of sires. Besides Scat Daddy, Johannesburg’s successful sons include Teuflesberg , who sired 2012 Xpressbet Breeders’ Cup Sprint (gr. I) winner and champion sprinter Trinniberg ; the French champion Sageburg who has started off well with the likes of group II winner Peace Burg in France; and, the dual group I winner Turffontein will have his first runners in Australia later this year.
Coolmore, whose American division is Ashford Stud, has a fine record of standing stallions that have sired the first three in group I races. Danehill Dancer did the job when Alfred Nobel led home Air Chief Marshal and Walk On Bye in the 2009 Camas Park & Ashtown House Studs Phoenix Stakes (Ire-I) and then Shoot Out beat Descarado and Monaco Consul in the David Jones AJC Australian Derby (Aus-I) for High Chaparral.