Scat Daddy versatility driving European success

It isn’t just in the legal world where precedent is all important. Breeders also tend to faithfully follow precedent in the belief that what worked in the past will also influence the future. One  association which certainly worked in the past was Galileo’s partnership with daughters of Danehill. As many as 334 of Galileo’s foals – more than 10 per cent of his output – were produced by Danehill broodmares, the justification being that no fewer than 60 of them – a massive 18 per cent – became black-type winners.

It is hardly surprising, then, that breeders have been eager to entrust their broodmare daughters of Galileo to sons of Danehill, with 56 sons siring 553 foals from Galileo mares. This reverse cross  has worked pretty well, thanks largely to Fastnet Rock, whose tally of 29 blacktype winners from 210 foals equates to an impressive 14 per cent, with Via Sistina, Qualify, Zhukova, Intricately and Pizza Bianca among the ten top-level winners.

Invincible Spirit, also a member of the Danzig male line, is another whose percentage of black-type winners out of Galileo mares stands in double figures, the most notable of them being his 2,000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia and his 2023 Al Quoz Sprint winner Danyah. So, again, it’s hardly surprising that sons of Invincible Spirit – 19 in all – have been a very popular option for Galileo’s daughters. Their collective total stands at 254 foals, with this year’s sensational three-year-old sprinter Shaquille being by Charm Spirit, while last year’s unbeaten Fillies’ Mile winner  Commissioning heads a team of 89 foals of racing age by Kingman.

Galileo didn’t have many opportunities to sire foals from daughters of the American-based Scat Daddy

On the other hand, Galileo didn’t have many opportunities to sire foals from daughters of the American-based Scat Daddy, who died at the age of 11. The bare facts are that seven of Scat Daddy’s daughters produced a total of 13 foals to the stallion, of which only six have raced so far and only one has managed to win. That winner – Savethelastdance – didn’t shine until this year, finishing second in the Oaks before winning the Irish equivalent.

However, this comparative lack of precedent hasn’t stopped breeders, especially Coolmore and associates, from trusting many of their highly valuable Galileo broodmares to sons of Scat Daddy. Numerically, this cross already ranks equal-third behind the tallies by sons of Danehill and Invincible Spirit, with nine sons of Scat Daddy being responsible for 194 foals, the equal of sons of Green Desert.

I touched on this topic in my piece on No Nay Never in the June issue, but enough has happened since then to justify an update. In the June article, I pointed out that No Nay Never already had 72 foals of racing age out of Galileo’s daughters. Since then two of the 72 have enjoyed black-type success, with one of them, Midnight Mile, adding a ten-furlong Listed success to her seven-furlong  Group 3 victory at two.

In the circumstances it is going to be interesting to see how far the two-year-old Henry Adams is going to stay. His two wins from two starts, including the Tyros Stakes, have come over seven furlongs.  His dam Jigsaw didn’t show enough ability to establish an optimum distance, but she raced at up to a mile and a half. Similarly, Midnight Mile’s dam Ruby Tuesday showed only modest ability, racing at up to two miles.

They are No Nay Never’s third and fourth black-type winners out of Galileo mares, their predecessors being Tango and the American-raced Amanzi Yimpilo, these two fillies winning Listed races over six furlongs and an extended five furlongs at two. It is worth pointing out that Tango’s dam, Idle Chatter, was rated around 79 at her best in France, which saw her win two small races at around a mile and a half. As to Amanzi Yimpilo’s dam Honourably, she beat only one home in an 11-runner race on her only start.

In other words, No Nay Never owes his four black-type winners with dams by Galileo to mares who fell well short of stakes class. The same could be said of Bright Sapphire, dam of the 98-rated  filly Nope, and Surprisingly, dam of the Group 2-placed filly Queen Olly. We can surely expect to see No Nay Never’s results with Galileo mares improve further, bearing in mind that his 2023 two-year-olds, like Henry Adams, were sired at €175,000, and his next three crops were sired at €125,000, €125,000 and €175,000. Surely, by now he will have been entrusted with some of Galileo’s higher achievers on the racecourse.

Caravaggio owed some of his better winners to Galileo mares

Back in June, I also pointed out that Caravaggio, another of Scat Daddy’s fastest sons, owed some of his better winners to Galileo mares, including Galleria Borghese, a Listed winner over a mile and a quarter, and The Grey Wizard, a Grade 2-placed winner at up to a mile and a half in the US. Caravaggio’s 44 foals out of Galileo mares also includes his ex-English son Maltese Falcon, winner of the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap over 8 1⁄2 furlongs on turf at Del Mar in August.

I mentioned, too, that the first French crop by Seabhac, another of Scat Daddy’s Group-winning two-year-olds, had sired a promising filly in Rue Boissonade. She has since fulfilled her promise by landing the Prix de Malleret over a mile and a half. Rue Boissonade is another with a dam by Galileo.

In trying to assess the achievements of Scat Daddy’s European-based sons with daughters of Galileo, it mustn’t be forgotten that many of Galileo’s most talented racemares were sent to the US or Japan in search of workable outcrosses. This policy arguably started with War Front, who, like Danehill, was a son of Danzig.

The Claiborne Farm resident was entrusted with the likes of Classic winners Misty For Me, Was and Marvellous, their fellow Group 1 winners Ballydoyle, Curvy, Scat Daddy versatility driving European success Bloodstock world views Found, Maybe, Photo Call, Tapestry, Together and Together Forever, the Group 2 winners Elizabeth Browning, Secret Gesture, Up and Wedding Vow, as well as Group 3 winners Aloof, Coolmore, Faufiler, Magical Dream, Pretty Perfect, Say and Starstruck. They amounted to a truly formidable team. With quite a few of these mares paying repeat visits, the venture produced 119 foals, of which 11 – nine per cent – became black-type winners. As they included the Group 1 winners Roly Poly, U S Navy Flag and Fog of War, plus Group 2 scorers Battleground and Masteroffoxhounds, the partnership had its moments but ultimately failed to maintain its momentum.

Justify is a remarkably versatile stallion who has left an indelible mark on European racing

When the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah retired to Ashford Stud, the Coolmore team viewed him potentially as another successful outcross. Quite a few of the mares which had visited War Front moved on to American Pharoah, who justified the opportunity by siring the Group 1-winning Above The Curve, Group 2 winner Pista and the Graded-placed Listed winner Hudson Ridge. His three black-type winners represent nine per cent of his 34 foals and there should be more to come following the promising start made by American Pharoah in 2019 and 2020.

I have always had the impression that the Coolmore team hold the 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify in higher regard and many of those highly-qualified Galileo mares have now moved on to him. No doubt this is partly because Justify is a son of Scat Daddy, a remarkably versatile stallion who left an indelible mark on European racing via the likes of No Nay Never, Caravaggio, Lady Aurelia, Skitter Scatter and Sioux Nation.

European sceptics questioning Justify’s credentials could point to the fact that he never raced on turf, but then neither did Scat Daddy. And what about the fact that Justify never raced at two? Such a concern was surely lessened by the fact that Justify’s male line featured an unbroken chain of Grade 1-winning two-year-olds in the form of Scat Daddy, Johannesburg, Hennessy, Storm Cat and Storm Bird.

The mere mention of Storm Cat also boosted the hope that the imposing Justify would prove a highly suitable mate for mares by the more refined Galileo. A select band of Storm Cat’s daughters had worked terrifically well with Galileo, with 28 of them producing 72 foals. As many as 16 of the 72 became black-type winners (22 per cent), and these statistics were made all the more impressive by the fact that the 16 featured the Classic winners Gleneagles, Churchill, Misty For Me, Marvellous and Joan Of Arc. Four of these Classic winners are out of You’resothrilling, a smart sister to champion American stallion Giant’s Causeway. And Giant’s Causeway, of course, was the grandsire of Lope De Vega, who has been one of the most popular matches for Galileo mares in Europe. From 102 foals, Lope De Vega has sired nine black-type winners from Galileo’s daughters.

But how well is the huge commitment to Justify working out?

There is absolutely no doubt that the Triple Crown winner has made an impressive start as a stallion, even allowing for the fact that the American Jockey Club credited him with 180 live foals in his first crop and another 174 in his second. There’s also an Australian first crop of around 60 foals.

In a highly competitive 2022 contest for first-crop sire honours in the US, Justify ranked a close third behind Bolt d’Oro and Good Magic. All three sired six black-type winners and both Justify and Good Magic were responsible for four Graded stakes winners.

By mid-August this year, Justify also ranked third among the second-crop sires by earnings, but he decisively topped the table in order of Graded/Group winners, with a total of five. His tally of seven black-type winners was also the highest and he shared top place with Bolt d’Oro with a total of 16 black-type horses. For good measure, Justify also ended the 2022/2023 Australian season as an easy winner of the first-crop sires’ title, with three black-type winners among his 21 runners, including Group 2 winner Learning To Fly and Group 3 winner Air Assault.

Justify confirmed his ability to follow in Scat Daddy’s footsteps by siring leading European two-year-olds

Thanks to the victories of Arabian Lion in the Woody Stephens Stakes and of Aspen Grove in the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes, Justify has now sired Group/Grade 1 winners on dirt and turf. Just as importantly, he confirmed his ability to follow in Scat Daddy’s footsteps by siring leading European two-year-olds, thanks to a notable double one weekend in mid-July. Firstly, City Of Troy maintained his unbeaten record when he took the Superlative Stakes by more than six lengths from the subsequent Vintage Stakes winner Haatem. Then the French filly Ramatuelle followed up her victory in the Prix du Bois with another highly impressive display, winning easing up by four lengths in the Prix Robert Papin.

Justify therefore has a worldwide total of ten individual Group/Graded winners, including his two Australian juveniles. Interestingly, these ten all have a different broodmare sire, in much the same way that Scat Daddy enjoyed success with a wide variety of broodmare sires.

Sure enough, Galileo ranks alongside Raven’s Pass and Pivotal as one of three European-raced stallions on the list, as his daughter Together Forever is the dam of City Of Troy. Together Forever  herself won the Fillies’ Mile in 2014, whereas her sister Forever Together won the Oaks in 2018. This pair also had a Group 1-winning half-brother in Lord Shanakill, so there’s every reason to hope that City Of Troy will also graduate to Group 1 company.

Even so, the Coolmore team must be  wishing that Galileo’s daughters featured more prominently on the list of Justify’s first 24 stakes performers. Two others make the list, with Misty For Me’s sister Ballydoyle – winner of the Prix Marcel Boussac – dam of the Group 3-placed Red Riding Hood, while Churchill’s sister Clemmie – winner of the Cheveley Park Stakes – is dam of Unless, winner of a Listed race at the Curragh on her tenth appearance. I should add that City Of Troy’s older brother Bertinelli has yet to earn black-type but he is undoubtedly very useful, as he showed in winning the London Gold Cup Heritage Handicap.

Justify’s statistics with Galileo mares stand at 60 foals of racing age. Of these 60, 20 had raced at the time of writing and seven had won. Of course, there is every reason to expect these statistics to improve when the pairing has more runners, including several which will have raced by the time this appears in print.

What worries me somewhat, though, is that those unraced animals include quite a few three-year-olds, including those out of Bye Bye Baby (a Group 3 winner who sold for $3.1 million in 2021),  Flattering (a Group 3-winning sister to Classic winner Love) and Together (a Group 1 winner).

In the long run, though, it will matter little how many duds there are from this cross, provided there are more like City Of Troy. And there could well be more like him among Aidan O’Brien’s Justify two-year-olds, which also include youngsters out of the multiple Group 1 winners Alice Springs and Winter.