Hunt for heirs to the transatlantic Daddy dominates first week of sale
Everyone wants a stake in final crop of late Ashford sire
Even though he has been dead for nearly two years, Scat Daddy has loomed as a mighty presence at the Keeneland September Sale, with some of the world's most potent buyers paying scrambling to purchase yearlings from his final crop.
Through the first four sessions, making up Books 1 and 2, more yearlings by Scat Daddy – 42 – had been sold than by any other stallion, at an average price of $366,071 and a gross of $15,375,000.
Requiem
That turnover ranked below only top American sire Tapit, whose 16 yearlings to sell grossed $15.85 million. And the average was more than ten times the $35,000 fee Scat Daddy commanded in 2015 when Tapit standing at $300,000.
That turned out to be the highest price for one of the stallion's yearlings, but Magnier added four more to the Coolmore fold at total expenditure of $2.775 million.
Amplified
Perhaps even more instructive of the way the late sire's reputation has been amplified by the likes of Caravaggio and Lady Aurelia was to see the name of Godolphin among buyers.
Sheikh Mohammed's organisation, which brought an unequivocal end to its "boycott" on Tuesday when buying four yearlings by active Coolmore stallions, also paid a total of $2 million for two Scat Daddy colts and one filly.
And when Hip 449 entered the ring, auctioneer Cris Caldwell urged buyers to sit up and pay attention to the colt. "When the sale is over, you're going to be sorry [if] you didn't buy a Scat Daddy," he exhorted – before Magnier duly prevailed for that colt at $275,000.
Crusade
Kerri Radcliffe of Phoenix Thoroughbreds, who has been on a transatlantic crusade seeking top young horses for the fledgling operation, described herself as having a "love affair with Scat Daddy."
Sensation
By the end of Book 2, Keeneland Director of Sale Operations Geoffrey Russell declared that "Scat Daddy rules the roost: he is the man."
No Nay Never, winner of the Prix Morny, is now representing his sire at Coolmore in Ireland, where Ryan expects Caravaggio also will eventually retire – although Magnier said a decision on that colt's future will not be made until the end of this year.
Ryan anticipates that any new Scat Daddy star to emerge for Coolmore among his final colts would probably stand in America to continue his legacy there, Ryan said. One potential candidate could be two-year-old Curragh maiden winner Mendelssohn, who topped last year's Keeneland September sale at $3 million and is a half-brother to champion Beholder and successful young sire Into Mischief.
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Race against time for Coolmore to establish a Scat Daddy sire-line
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