Coolmore Stud is staking its claim for future success via sons of Scat Daddy, a stallion who developed into a leading US sire before his premature death in 2015 at age 11.
This year the Jerrys Plains property has made available three of his sons, the new Justify and Mendelssohn, and the proven returner No Nay Never.
Having previously spent three southern shuttle seasons at Coolmore, No Nay Never has been headlining in England via his northern hemisphere bred first crop three-year-old Ten Sovereigns, who now stakes his claim as the best European sprinter this year after winning its prestigious July Cup-G1 at Newmarket.
This was followed by No Nay Never's second crop two-year-old, Mystery Power winning the Superlative Stakes-G2 on the same program.
Last year's US Horse Of The Year, Justify swept all before him when winning his six career starts culminating in the celebrated US Triple Crown-G1 series.
Mendelssohn won two juvenile races including North America's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf-G1.
As a three-year-old, Mendelssohn won two stakes including a Group 2 race in United Arab Emirates, and was second in New York State's time-honoured Travers Stakes-G1 at Saratoga.
A complete outcross to Danehill and Danzig, Mendelssohn is a half-brother to a leading US sire Into Mischief.
Interestingly, while Scat Daddy was listed for one season in 2008 at Coolmore's Hunter Valley operation, he is a son of Johannesburg, who is by Hennessy (by Storm Bird's Storm Cat), with both stallions serving five southern hemisphere shuttle seasons, which resulted in each siring Australian bred stakes winners.
One of these by Johannesburg is Turffontein who stands at Blue Gum Farm in Victoria.
Ad Valorem at Cangon
While great global breeding influence Danzig appears in 115 stallions' pedigrees of the 170 stallions documented in the renowned and trusty annual publication Stallions 2019, few active sire sons are still available to broodmare owners.
Both successful sires, two of these are 22-year-old War Chant in Western Australia, while the other is former Darley owned 16-year-old Ad Valorem who stands at Jock Mackay's Cangon Stud Farm at Dungog.
Value for the owner/breeder with a $4400 fee, Ad Valorem is represented with 300 winners from his 485 runners, which relates to 61 per cent of these runners having won a race - a statistic few stallions can boast.
In Australia only, 65 per cent of Ad Valorem's runners are winners, including stakes winners who have won up to Group 1 level, with his most recent noted Australian galloper being the tough Morton's Fork, a winner of six races and $661,000.
With total progeny earnings now topping $21 million, Ad Valorem can also boast that more than 30 of his winners have won three or more races.
New Zealand, can also boast an Ad Valorem stakes winner, Kaharau (won Otago's Dunedin Gold Cup-LR and is Group placed), and who has won 11 races.
Tragedy in Japan
Japanese star Deep Impact, a stallion which followed his US bred sire Sunday Silence into stud fame in his home country, has reportedly died after he was unable to stand due to a cervical fracture found by X-ray late last month.
Standing his stud life at Shadai Stallion Station in Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, Deep Impact won 12 of his 14 starts (including the Japan Cup-G1), was twice Japan Horse Of The Year before being inducted into Japan's Racing Association Hall Of Fame in 2008.
Deep Impact was an even better sire, securing champion Japanese sire for seven consecutive years from 2012 to 2018, siring 42 Group 1 winners to date around the world.
Arrowfield Stud has led the way with Deep Impact stud sons. Real Impact spent three stud seasons, followed by champion Japanese sprinter Mikki Isle who is about to stand his third successive season this year. With Real Impact's absence this year, Arrowfield has replaced him with Deep Impact Group 1 winning son, Real Steel.
Coolmore Stud has a Group 1 winning Deep Impact representative, Saxon Warrior, while another is Australian Group 1 winning son Tosen Stardom, standing at Woodside Park, Victoria.
