Mares who had early racing success could jump-start Justify's first crop

Triple Crown winner Justify was, famously, unraced as a juvenile, becoming the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby without racing in his 2-year-old season since Apollo in 1882. After debuting on Feb. 18 as a 3-year-old in 2018, Justify swept all six of his starts, including the Triple Crown.

Precocity and speed are valued in the American marketplace – but an early start has not been the be-all, end-all for successful stallions recently.

The 2021 general sires list showed varying levels of early success. Into Mischief, the nation’s leading sire for three consecutive years, was a Grade 1 winner as a juvenile, and Uncle Mo, who checked in eighth on the list, was an Eclipse Award champion 2-year-old. However, perennial classic sire Curlin, who finished third on the list, was unraced at 2; he nearly broke the “Apollo curse” by finishing third in the Kentucky Derby before winning the Preakness and running second in the Belmont.

Paynter, sire of Horse of the Year Knicks Go and sixth on the sire list, also was unraced at 2 and was second in the Belmont. Justify’s own broodmare sire, Ghostzapper, did not make his winning debut until November of his 2-year-old year. He went on to be an outstanding older horse and was second on the sire list last year.

Furthermore, a stallion’s own race record is only part of the equation – and Justify, from a precocious sireline, attracted a high-quality first book full of mares who succeeded as juveniles themselves, or who have produced top-flight young runners.

Justify retired to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky for the 2019 season, following in the footsteps of his late sire, Scat Daddy. Scat Daddy, by champion juvenile Johannesburg, was a Grade 1-winning 2-year-old and made a swift start as the leading freshman sire with precocious runners. His standouts in that division through the years included Cartier Award European champion 2-year-old Lady Aurelia, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Mendelssohn, and Royal Ascot juvenile winners such as Acapulco, Caravaggio, and Sioux Nation.

Justify, who debuted for an advertised stud fee of $150,000, covered 252 mares in his first season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred, tying him with Mendelssohn as the busiest stallion that season.

“We are incredibly grateful to all of the breeders who have supported Justify in his first few years at stud,” said Charlie O’Connor, Ashford’s director of sales. “He was heavily supported by the Coolmore partners who have bred over 50 mares to him in each of his three years at stud, and also by many big international breeders, especially in Japan.”

Looking through Justify’s first book of mares with a focus on juvenile success, it included the likes of:

• Eclipse Award champion 2-year-old fillies Caledonia Road and Take Charge Brandi, both winners of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Justify also had another Juvenile Fillies heroine in his first book in Champagne Room.
• D’Wildcat Speed, dam of Scat Daddy’s Cartier Award champion Lady Aurelia.
• Sambuca Classica, dam of Eclipse Award champion juvenile and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Classic Empire. Classic Empire went on to be a classic-placed Grade 1 winner as a 3-year-old.
• Kosmo’s Buddy, dam of 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go. Knicks Go scored his first Grade 1 win in the Breeders’ Futurity before going on to finish second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
• Appealing Zophie, winner of the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes at 2. She is the dam of Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit.
• Graded stakes-winning turf sprinter Lady Shipman, whose first foal is Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and BC Turf Sprint winner Golden Pal.
• Mining My Own, whose son Mine That Bird is best known for winning the 2009 Kentucky Derby – a year after he was a champion juvenile in Canada. Mining My Own’s son Dullahan won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at 2 before going on to multiple Grade 1 victories later in his career.
• Rare Event, dam of Improbable. Improbable scored his first Grade 1 win in the CashCall Futurity before earning an Eclipse championship as an older horse.
• Found and Misty For Me, both Group 1 winners as juveniles before producing precocious offspring. The first foal out of Found, who went on to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Breeders’ Cup Turf, is Battleground, a Group 2-winning 2-year-old who was second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Misty For Me is the dam of juvenile Group 1 winner U S Navy Flag and group winner Roly Poly.
• Juvenile Grade/Group 1 winners A Z Warrior, Ballydoyle, Brave Anna, Clemmie, Grace Hall, Moonshine Memories, Noted and Quoted, and Tubulent Descent.
• The dams of juvenile Grade/Group 1 winners By the Moon, R Heat Lightning, Tenebrism, and Union Strike.
• American Cleopatra, a full sister to American Pharoah, the Eclipse champion juvenile before taking the 2015 Triple Crown. American Cleopatra was Grade 1-placed at 2.

Justify’s first crop has been well received commercially. His nine first-crop weanlings sold in 2020 averaged $421,738, while his 81 yearlings sold at public auction in 2021 averaged $370,329.

Moving on to this 2-year-old sales season, Justify has five lots cataloged for the season premiere, the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s March sale of 2-year-olds in training, including a colt out of juvenile graded stakes winner Dancinginherdreams.

The Triple Crown winner has four lots selected to the catalog for the boutique Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale, including additional offspring bred for juvenile success. Appealing Zophie’s colt, who was a $290,000 buyback at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale, is part of this group.

The quartet also includes a colt whose dam is a half-sister to Pioneerof the Nile, a Grade 1 winner at both 2 and 3 before going on to a career as a classic sire. Another colt’s dam is a full sister to Carpe Diem, a seven-figure juvenile purchase who was a Grade 1 winner at 2 and 3; another sibling, J. B.’s Thunder, also was a Grade 1-winning juvenile.