Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Justify

Justify

Scat Daddy –Stage Magic, by Ghostzapper

Bred in Kentucky by John D. Gunther ($500,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by China Horse Club and Maverick Racing)

Scat Daddy, who died in 2015 at the young age of 11, has had success worldwide, but has yet to sire a winner in the American Triple Crown series. Brilliant debut winner Justify joins the list of hot prospects for the late sire this spring, along with Sam F. Davis winner Flameaway, Southwest runner-up Combatant, and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Mendelssohn, who may take an overseas route to the classics.

Scat Daddy, a Grade 1-winning juvenile, won the Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby, but ran 18th in the Kentucky Derby in his final start. His sire, Johannesburg, was a champion on two continents in 2001, when he was a Group 1 winner in Ireland, England, and France before coming to the United States to take the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on dirt. Scat Daddy tapped into that versatility to become an internationally prominent sire. His star runners in Europe have included champion Lady Aurelia, twice a winner at the renowned Royal Ascot meeting, and fellow Group 1-winning sprinters Caravaggio and No Nay Never. His other Grade 1 winners on turf, most at route distances, include Celestine, Daddys Lil Darling, Harmonize, and Lady of Shamrock. Scat Daddy also was several times a leading sire in Chile, thanks to his years of shuttling, with champions including Horse of the Year honorees Il Campione and Solaria, and Dacita, a Grade 1 winner in the United States.

Scat Daddy’s best dirt runners have been Grade 1-winning juvenile Nickname, Pennsylvania Derby winner Handsome Mike, Sunland Derby winner Daddy Nose Best, and multiple graded stakes winner El Kabeir. Daddys Lil Darling finished second in last year’s Kentucky Oaks.

Stage Magic posted all her wins going one mile or beyond. She finished third to champion Groupie Doll in the Grade 3 Gardenia Stakes at the mile at Ellis Park and was second in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes at 1 1/16 miles. All three of her starters are winners, with Justify, whose debut came at seven furlongs, joining The Lieutenant, a winner at 1 1/16 miles, and Holiday Magic, a winner at a mile.

Justify’s second dam, Magical Illusion, won at up to 1 1/16 miles and was a distant third to champion Ashado in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at the classic distance of 1 1/4 miles. Third dam, Voodoo Lily, did not win beyond seven furlongs, but was a consistent Grade 3 winner, winning or placing in eight stakes.