Mendelssohn, $3M sales colt, wins first race in Ireland

Mendelssohn, who led the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale at $3 million, won his maiden Sunday at The Curragh in Ireland for the Coolmore team and trainer Aidan O’Brien.

It was the second outing for the son of the late Scat Daddy. Mendelssohn was eighth on debut going seven furlongs last month. He stretched out to a mile for his breakout performance. The colt is out of Broodmare of the Year Leslie’s Lady, making him a half-brother to four-time Eclipse Award champion Beholder and Grade 1 winner and prominent sire Into Mischief.

Coolmore stood Scat Daddy from his retirement for the 2008 breeding season until his sudden death from a suspected cardiac event in December 2015 as his star was still on the rise. He is posthumously recording another stellar racing season, represented only this past weekend by Grade 1/Group 1 winners Dacita and Sioux Nation. Sioux Nation was among four winners for Scat Daddy at the renowned Royal Ascot meeting in June, along with European champion Lady Aurelia.