Scat Daddy (May 11, 2004 – December 14, 2015) was an American
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. Thoroughbreds are c ...
racehorse
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...
who won four stakes races including the
Champagne Stakes and
Florida Derby
The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Since 2005, it has been run five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, which is held on the first Saturd ...
. Retired after being injured in the
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
, he went on to become a prominent sire.
Background
Scat Daddy was sired by
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
, who was a champion in both the United States and Europe as a two-year-old. Scat Daddy's dam was Love Style, a daughter of
Mr. Prospector
Mr. Prospector (January 28, 1970 – June 1, 1999) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who became an outstanding breeding stallion and notable sire of sires. A sprinter whose career was cut short by repeated injuries, he won seven of his 14 starts, i ...
. Scat Daddy was bred in Kentucky by Swiss book publisher and racing enthusiast Axel Wend. He was foaled at Hunter Valley Farm near Lexington, whose owners privately purchased the foal and his dam in 2004. He was then sold for $250,000 at the 2005
Keeneland yearling sale to leading trainer
Todd Pletcher
Todd Pletcher (born June 26, 1967 in Dallas, Texas) is an American thoroughbred horse trainer. He won the Eclipse Award seven times as Trainer of the Year, four of these in consecutive years. His horses Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (20 ...
for
Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
investment banker James T. Scatuorchio, a former executive with
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) was a U.S. investment bank founded by William H. Donaldson, Richard Jenrette, and Dan Lufkin in 1959. Its businesses included securities underwriting; sales and trading; investment and merchant banking; fina ...
. Scat Daddy was named for Scatuorchio, whose nickname is "Scat".
After his first two races, United Kingdom racing magnate
Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith purchased an interest in the colt.
Scat Daddy was a dark bay horse, standing . He had a good shoulder and exceptionally powerful hindquarters. Pletcher recalls being impressed by the colt's athleticism, saying his only fault was a somewhat plain head.
Racing career
In 2006 at age two, Scat Daddy won his first race in June 2006 at
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905.
It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...
, then followed up with a win in the
Sanford Stakes
The Sanford Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the third week of July at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. A six furlong sprint race, the Grade III event is open to two-year-old horses.
Inaug ...
at Saratoga. He then finished second to
Circular Quay in the
Hopeful Stakes
The Hopeful Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to two-year-old horses, the Hopeful is the first Grade I stakes for two-year-olds each season and historically has ...
, before returning to Belmont to win the
Champagne Stakes, defeating Nobiz Like Showbiz. In his final race of 2006, he was fourth in the 2006
Breeders' Cup Juvenile, well back of winner
Street Sense.
He was rated at 123 pounds on the
Experimental Free Handicap
The Jockey Club is the breed registry for Thoroughbred horses in the United States and Canada. It is dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing and fulfills that mandate by serving many segments of the industry through its s ...
, 4 pounds below champion Street Sense and second overall.
Scat Daddy started his three-year-old campaign with a third-place finish in the 2007
Holy Bull Stakes
The Holy Bull Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three year old horses run over the distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt, held annually in January at Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach, Florida. The event cu ...
behind Stormello and winner Nobiz Like Shobiz. He came back in the
Fountain of Youth Stakes with a late run to overcome a wide trip, winning over Stormello by a nose. In the
Florida Derby
The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Since 2005, it has been run five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, which is held on the first Saturd ...
, Stormello set a fast pace with Scat Daddy tracking in third. Entering the stretch, Scat Daddy moved past Stormello, then held off a late run by Notional to win by lengths.
The colt was the third betting choice in the
2007 Kentucky Derby but finished 18th after being bumped and shuffled back. He emerged with a tendon injury on his right foreleg, which led to his retirement in June.
Stud career
Scat Daddy entered
stud in 2008 at
Ashford Stud
Coolmore Stud, in Fethard, County Tipperary, Ireland, is headquarters of the world's largest breeding operation of thoroughbred racehorses. Through its racing arm, Ballydoyle, Coolmore also has raced many classic winners and champions. The operat ...
(Coolmore America) in
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...
. He also shuttled to Coolmore Australia in 2008 and to Haras Paso Nevado in Chile in 2009–2011 for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season. He was the leading Chile juvenile sire three times (2009–2011).
In America, he initially commanded a $30,000 stud fee for a live foal, but this was decreased to $10,000 for 2011, then increased to $17,500 for 2012 and to $30,000 for 2013.
He was the leading North American freshman sire of 2011, and remained a success for his entire stud career. At the time of his death, Scat Daddy was responsible for 69 stakes winners and was having his best year yet, ranking #9 on the 2015 North American General Sire List. He had 36 stakes winners in 2015 including Acapulco, a group II winner at Royal Ascot, North America stakes winners El Kabeir, Pretty N Cool, Dacita, Nickname, Azar, and Almasty, and Southern Hemisphere grade/group I winners The Dream, Flyer, and Kitcat.
He broke the North American record for the number of juvenile stakes winners in a season with nine. The previous record of eight had been set by his great-grandsire Storm Cat in 2002.
At the 2016
Royal Ascot
Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...
meeting, Scat Daddy had two winners from two runners,
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...
in the
Coventry Stakes
The Coventry Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each ...
and
Lady Aurelia
Lady Aurelia (foaled 27 January 2014) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. After winning a race on dirt in the United States, she was sent to race on turf in Europe and proved herself as the one of the leading two-year-old fillies of her gener ...
in the
Queen Mary Stakes
The Queen Mary Stakes is a Group races, Group 2 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old Filly, fillies. It is run at Ascot Racecourse, Ascot over a distance o ...
. The following year at the 2017 Royal Ascot meeting, Lady Aurelia and Caravaggio again won their respective races, the
King's Stand Stakes and the
Commonwealth Cup
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
. Scat Daddy had a third winner at the 2017 meeting, Sioux Nation, who took the
Norfolk Stakes. Later in the year in America, his son
Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...
won the
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old horses, run on a grass course at a distance of one mile. It is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year-end championship for North ...
and daughter Daddys Lil Darling won the
American Oaks
The American Oaks is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies over a distance of one and one-quarter miles on the turf held annually in late December Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, USA. The event currently of ...
.
In 2018, Scat Daddy had a record-tying four horses in the starting field for the Kentucky Derby, including the winner,
Justify
Justify may refer to:
* Justify (horse), winner of the 2018 U.S. Thoroughbred Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes)
* Justify (ANSI), an ANSI escape sequence
* "Justify" (ATB song)
* "Justify" (The Rasmus song)
* "J ...
. Justify went on to win the 2018
American Triple Crown and was named Horse of the Year.
On December 14, 2015, Scat Daddy was being led from his paddock when he suffered an apparent heart attack at age 11. His stud fee would have been increased to $100,000 for 2016 had it not been for his untimely death.
Scat Daddy's final crop reached racing age in 2018. Speaking of his premature death, Fergus Galvin of Hunter Valley Farm where Scat Daddy was raised, summed up the regret felt by many breeders. "It was just such a shame", he said. "You hate any stallion to pass away, but when he died, he was just on the crest of a wave. To think what he could have accomplished with proper Grade 1 mares, which he would have been getting, it could be staggering. It's staggering already – the fact that he had such international appeal, the fact that his offspring could literally run on any surface and at any distance."
Notable progeny
Scat Daddy's major stakes winners include:
''c =
colt
Colt(s) or COLT may refer to:
*Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age
People
* Colt (given name)
*Colt (surname)
Places
*Colt, Arkansas, United States
*Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...
, f =
filly
A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use:
*In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old.
*In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...
, g =
gelding
A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...
''
Pedigree
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scat Daddy
2004 racehorse births
2015 racehorse deaths
Racehorses bred in Kentucky
Racehorses trained in the United States
Thoroughbred family 1-w