Adrian Wallace | Horse Racing Free Tips

Mendelssohn’s Popularity Passes On to First Yearlings

When regally-bred Grade I winner Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy-Leslie's Lady, by Tricky Creek) joined the stallion roster at Ashford Stud in 2019, his half-brother Into Mischief had just received a bump in stud fee from $100,000 to $150,000 at nearby Spendthrift Farm. The next year, as Mendelssohn's first foals were hitting the ground, Into Mischief was represented by GI Kentucky Derby hero and eventual Horse of the Year Authentic. Today, as Into Mischief is now widely regarded as the leading stallion in the world, Mendelssohn awaits the day when his first crop reaches the starting gate to find out if he can replicate the same extraordinary success as his older brother.

“I think there's no doubt that Into Mischief is the best stallion in the world now that Galileo (Ire) has unfortunately passed away,” Coolmore's Adrian Wallace said. “Every single Saturday he's represented across the country and around the world by graded stakes horses. It will be very fitting if his half-brother by the late, great Scat Daddy could be somewhat as good.”

The breeders strongly agreed with this hypothesis, sending close to 500 mares to the Grade I winner in his first two years at stud off a $35,000 stud fee.

“We're lucky at Ashford to have stood some very popular stallions, but none have ever been as popular as Mendelssohn,” Wallace explained. “He really captured the imagination. It was no surprise that everyone was after him given the fact that he's a brother to Beholder (Henny Hughes) and Into Mischief, given his physique and that he was able to transform that on the racetrack. He became a really, really hot commodity. If he were able to cover 400 mares a year, the demand would have been there.”

A $3 million yearling purchase, Mendelssohn had all the physical appeal to attract the Coolmore buying group at the Keeneland September Sale in 2016 as well as potential breeders a few years later.

“He's an absolute picture,” Wallace said. “He's one of the best-looking horses we've ever had and we've had the privilege to have had some beautiful horses here. But he also has great balance and a wonderful temperament. He was able to get on a plane seven different times to come to the U.S. and run with credit each time.”

Trained in Europe by Aidan O'Brien, Mendelssohn was runner-up to U.S. Navy Flag (War Front) in the G1 Darley Dewhurst S. before taking the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. He returned as a sophomore with a win in the Patton S. at Dundalk in March followed by a track record-breaking score in the G2 UAE Derby. Raced exclusively over the main track from then on, the bay placed third in the GIII Dwyer S., second to Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) in the GI Runhappy Travers S. and third in the GI Jockey Gold Cup S. before retiring with earnings of over $2.5 million.

“It's been a long time since we've had a Grade I winner on dirt in this country that was trained in Europe,” Wallace said. “I think Johannesburg was the last to do it in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Mendelssohn mixed with the best 3-year-olds of his generation, both in Europe and here. His most emblematic victory was in the UAE Derby when he won by 18 ½ lengths. He broke very, very well, went to the lead and pretty much galloped out in front of the TV.”

Wallace explained the trends he has seen in Mendelssohn's first few crops.

“They're very athletic, well-conformed horses,” he said. “They've got immense quality and they're very good movers. If you watch him walk, he moves like a cat. He's got a long, fluid walk and I think he's passing that on. They're generally very well-built, well put-together horses.”

The first crop from the son of Scat Daddy made a splash in the sales ring last year as weanlings, with 28 of 36 sold to average $82,589 and name their sire as one of the top three first-crop weanling sires.

Mendelssohn colt out of Tessie Flip sells as Hip 6 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale.

Two colts brought $300,000 as weanlings. A son of MSW American Sugar (Harlan's Holiday) sold to Amerman Racing LLC at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale and a colt out of Abuntia (Olmodavor) went to Oxo Equine LLC at Keeneland November.

At the first major yearling sale this summer, the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, two Mendelssohn yearlings brought $185,000 and a third sold for $85,000.

“It's very early days, but the fact that two of his yearlings have gone through the sales ring already and sold for $185,000 a piece is a very good start,” Wallace said. “But there's a lot of very nice ones to come, both in Saratoga and at Keeneland September.”

Mendelssohn will be represented by seven yearlings at the fast-approaching Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale, with an additional nine hips cataloged for the New York-bred sale the following week.

A colt out of the winning Grand Slam mare Tessie Flip will sell as Hip 6 at the select sale with the Paramount Sales consignment. The April-foaled bay is a closely-related brother to stakes winner and GIIISP Jo Jo Air (Scat Daddy) and his dam is a half-sister to two-time Grade I winner Switch (Quiet American).

“This colt has great balance, is very athletic and has a great walk,” Paramount's Gabriel Duignan said. “I think he's an extremely nice colt. What makes him stand apart from his older siblings is that they were also very good looking and very fast, but he's got more size, strength and scope I think. So he's a bigger model than they were, but has all the good qualitites that they do. He's an extremely fast-looking horse with a huge hip on him.”

Another Mendelssohn youngster heading to Saratoga is a filly out of SP Simply Confection (Candy Ride {Arg}). Selling as Hip 195, the Indian Creek-consigned yearling is from the family of GIIISP Inflexibility (Scat Daddy), champion Ashado (Saint Ballado) and GISW Sunriver (Saint Ballado).

Hip 195, a filly out of stakes-placed mare Simply Confection, sells with the Indian Creek consignment.

“We've had the filly here on the farm and are very excited to take her up to the sale,” said Indian Creek's Sarah Sutherland. “She's a very elegant, strong, confident and intelligent filly and a beautiful mover. She's very efficient and covers the ground with no wasted action. She has handled the prep and everything coming in just as well as we could have hoped.”

Both Duignan and Sutherland spoke highly of the Mendelssohn progeny they have worked with already.

“I'm a huge fan of Mendelssohn and have been into him all along,” Duignan said. “I'm seeing the trend that a lot of the Mendelssohns I have [look like] the best the mare has thrown. He was an extremely good racehorse and we all know about his pedigree, which couldn't be better. So I think he's got a huge shot.”

“We had a couple clients breed to him last year and have several very nice weanlings on the ground,” Sutherland said. “They're predominantly out of turf mares and we're very excited about them. They have great size, natural scope and substance, and are all very correct, nice-moving horses.”

Of the five other Mendelssohn yearlings cataloged for the upcoming Saratoga Sale, the list includes a filly out of SP Auction (Ire) (Mr. Greeley), a son of GIIISW Dogwood Trail (Awesome of Course), a colt out of SP Ghost Flower (Ghostzapper), a filly hailing from the extended family of Grade/Group I winner and producer Chimes of Freedom (Private Account) and a filly out of SW Singing Kitty (Ministers Wild Cat). View the full pedigrees here.

“I think [the fact that] there are seven nominated to Fasig-Tipton's sale in Saratoga is indicative of the quality of mares he bred and the look they have,” Wallace said. “He covered a stellar book of mares in the last three years. A horse with his pedigree, look and race record deserves that support, so now the rest is up to them.”

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Juvenile Sales Put Fourth-Book Sires Back on the Map

By the time a stallion's fourth book opens, the team behind him is usually pulling out all their stops to fill those pages. But perhaps no marketing technique in their repertoire can have quite the same effect as just one big price tag when the stallion's first crop of juveniles go to market.

At last week's OBS March Sale, three first-crop juvenile sires were represented by youngsters that surpassed the $500,000 mark in the sales ring, and representatives from each of their respective farms said the phone has been ringing off the hook for breeding contracts since.

The first young sire to score a half-million-dollar sale was Lane's End's 'TDN Rising Star' Unified, when Hip 163, a Wavertree-consigned colt out of Promise Me a Cat (D'wildcat), hammered home for $530,000. The $190,000 KEESEP graduate had clocked the fastest quarter mile of Thursday's breeze show, going in :20 2/5.

Lane's End's Bill Farish said that since the colt's headline-worthy sale, Unified's book has received a major bump in numbers.

“We've gotten over 30 new contracts and they're still coming in,” Farish said. “So he's going to end up with a really nice book of mares. He's getting very close to full.”

While Unified was busy in his first two years at stud with a combined 254 mares bred, he only managed a 68-mare book in 2020, a number sure to be surpassed this year after his first crop's splash at OBS.

Six of his juveniles went through the sales ring in Ocala, including two additional six-figure colts. A $19,000 FTOCT graduate, Hip 110 returned to the auction ring to sell to Spendthrift Farm for $400,000. Later that day, Hip 159 went for $120,000.

While Unified's $43,390 average at the yearling sales last year kept him just short of the top 10 first-crop yearling sires, a $231,000 average coming out of the OBS sale has him in the early running for the leading 2-year-old sales average within his class.

“They certainly looked, as yearlings, like they would be good 2-year-olds,” Farish said. “But once you get a saddle under them and they get into training, you can tell a lot more about if that's a genuine thing or not. It certainly looks like Unified is answering the questions the right way.”

A second first-crop juvenile sire garnered attention before the sale began when Hip 531, a son of Spendthrift's Gormley, fired a :9 4/5 bullet at the breeze show. On the second day of the sale, the $160,000 Fasig-Tipton Select yearling pinhook for Eddie Woods's Quarter Pole Enterprises went for $550,000 to Breeze Easy LLC.

“I got calls from several people about that horse,” Spendthrift's Mark Toothaker said of the youngster. “I had heard Eddie reviewing his group before the sale and he talked highly of him before he ever breezed, so that lets you know you're seeing some nice things moving towards the sale.”

Toothaker said that he, too, has been busy taking calls from breeders interested in sending mares to Gormley.

“I think we've done about a dozen seasons off of the sale,” Toothaker said. “We're hoping that he can follow it up with another strong sale in Miami [at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale, Mar. 31] to really get us some momentum, but we definitely picked up some business. It isn't to the point yet where we're full and trying to turn people away, but it certainly has helped.”

Toothaker added that Gormley's success at OBS is also reflected in the attention he's received from Share the Upside investors.

“One of the things we've seen is that some of the people who had not named a mare on their free spot now have called and have named a mare,” he said. “So we have picked up some business with the sale, but it has also stimulated our breeding right holders to go ahead and breed a mare to him this year. We've been reaching out to folks to make the pitch that, 'Hey, this horse is right there for leading freshman sire. Wouldn't you want one in foal to him?'”

Eddie Woods-consigned colt out of Green Eyed Cat (Tale of the Cat) one of three juveniles to reach six figures for Spendthrift's Gormley. | Photos by Z

Gormley was represented by eight juveniles at the OBS Sale. Of the seven sold, three reached the six-figure mark. Another Eddie Woods trainee, Hip 371, brought $250,000 while Hip 234 went to Patrick Biancone for $130,000. Gormley's $153,857 average from the sale increased off his $37,544 yearling average last year.

“When you sell them as yearlings, there's a missing piece in the equation,” Toothaker replied when asked on what changed as Gormley's first crop matured from yearlings to juveniles. “They can look fast as yearlings, but when you go through the ring as 2-year-olds they have to be fast. I think Gormley just separated himself out. [Last year], everyone looked at him as a horse with a modest stud fee and he probably sold his yearlings where they should have sold. Then when they had a chance to perform on the track, that changed the metrics and he increased his average dramatically.”

Breeding a combined 307 mares in his first two years, Gormley bred 72 mares last year off a $7,500 stud fee.

Both Toothaker and Farish spoke about the major impact a strong showing at the early juvenile sales can have on a stallion's book in his fourth year at stud.

“The 2-year-old sales are big help,” Toothaker said. “They get your name out there and it makes people take a second look. That's all you're asking, is to still be in the game.”

“When you have a fourth-year sire, nowadays with the large books it gets tougher and tougher to find mares until breeders have something to believe in because it's a big risk to breed to a fourth-year sire if you're not very encouraged by what you're seeing,” Farish echoed. “When they have good results at the sales it can really make a difference.”

Both Gormley and Unified will have to contend with a third major player for leading freshman sire status.

Practical Joke made a major splash at last week's sale with a $750,000 sales topper and four more juveniles reaching six figures, and while Coolmore's Adrian Wallace said the farm has received inquiries about the Ashford resident over the last few days, his book was full before the sale began.

“Yes, we've gotten calls on Practical Joke this week, but unfortunately we've been unable to fulfill their requests because Practical Joke is the worst-kept secret out there,” he said. “His 2-year-olds have been doing very, very well and they have been from the beginning, so most people were aware that the horse has been full before we got to see the results from the March sale.”

Practical Joke's leading sale at OBS was Hip 311, a filly out of Peruvian champion Valiant Emilia (Per) (Pegasus Wind). A $120,000 KEESEP purchase for Top Line Sales LLC, the daughter of the buzzed-about sire brought $750,000 after breezing in :9 4/5.

Wallace reported that Gabriela Alvarez-Calderon of Teneri Farms already has Valiant Emilia slated to return to Practical Joke again this year.

The son of Into Mischief has maintained a large book in his first few years at stud, seeing 220 mares in 2018 before filling a 200 and 188-mare book the following two years. His $120,243 yearling average last year placed him amongst the top five first-crop yearling sires.

Last week, he saw seven youngsters go through the ring with five selling to average $296,000. Hip 113, a colt out of SW Mystic City (City Zip) brought $210,000 while four hips earlier, a filly from the Old South Farm consignment sold for $200,000.

“Not a single race has been run yet and we're very mindful of that, but nevertheless it's good to see them in demand and gallop out so well at the breeze sale, and then see a continuation of what they achieved as yearlings,” Wallace said.

Practical Joke filly goes for $750,000 to top the OBS March Sale. | Photos by Z

While Practical Joke didn't necessarily need the added boost of a near-million-dollar sale in order to fill this year's book, Wallace said the added publicity does nothing but help in kicking off this young sire's fourth year at stud.

“It makes them relevant,” Wallace replied when asked what a successful sale helps achieve for a young stallion. “The first-season sires, as most people are aware, are the ones that are easy to sell. They're the ones people put their faith in and they're fresh in people's minds, possibly because they could be the next biggest thing but also because they've never done anything wrong. There's less risk involved.”

He continued, “By the time you get to the fourth and fifth year, the talking stops and the advertising stops, so it very much depends on how they sold as yearlings and how the 2-year-old buyers perceive them. If you're lucky enough to have a horse that's well-received in the marketplace, then it's all well and good.”

One first-crop juvenile Ashford resident that did reap the benefits of a solid OBS Sale was Cupid. Off a $46,786 yearling average last year, the son of Tapit was represented by two six-figure juvenile sales in Ocala, and Wallace reported that his fourth book has increased by 20 mares in the past week.

Both Farish and Toothaker echoed that several of their first-year juvenile sires cashed in on the results of last week.

Spendthrift's Lord Nelson averaged $103,937 at OBS with Hip 67, a colt out of SP Luna Dorada (Seeking the Gold) selling for $385,000.

Toothaker said the son of Pulpit had 15 slots remaining going into last week, and those spots have since been filled.

“We've been saying here for a month that we felt like with a good showing from Lord Nelson and Gormley there at OBS, it would probably finish Lord Nelson off and spark a fire underneath the breeding right holders on Gormley,” he explained.

Meanwhile Lane's End's Connect had three six-figure sales, including Hip 503, a colt that sold for $290,000 to Narvick International.

“Connect has a really good group going to Gulfstream, and from what I'm told an even better group going to the April sale,” Farish said. “He's picked up some mares, not as many as Unified, but I think his better ones are in the sales to come.”

Farish can remember another stallion at Lane's End from not too long ago that saw an explosion in demand after his first juveniles went through the sales ring.

“Stephen Got Even had a 2-year-old bring $2 million and change that Sheikh Mohammed bought,” he recalled. “His book jumped by over 100 when that happened. It was absolutely amazing. It has to be genuine when that happens because everybody down there in Ocala is too savvy, so it has to be real and that certainly set his book on fire, and Unified has had a similar reaction.”

Wallace said that Munnings is one Ashford sire that comes to mind as one who saw a jump in demand after his first juvenile sales, while Toothaker reported the same of Goldencents at Spendthrift.

Looking at the bigger picture, Farish said that for now, his sale's team must hold their breath as the whims of the market help decide the size of their stallions' fourth book, but in the future, The Jockey Club's 140-mare cap could change this trend.

“What we've seen in the last 10 years is that it's tougher and tougher to fill any stallion that is not a first year or proven,” he said. “When you're in that crucial second-through-fourth year, it's very competitive because the first-year and proven stallions are getting so many mares that it doesn't leave room for the unproven stallions. With the mare cap, all those mares are going to have to go somewhere. They're going to have to go either to additional new stallions or the second-through-fourth-year horses and hopefully smooth out that transition.”

Taylor Made's Midnight Storm (average $190,000, top price $240,000) and Airdrie's American Freedom (average $123,666 average, top price $260,000) were also in the top five first-crop sires by average.

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Tiz Just the Beginning

There were just 56 days between Tiz the Law's (Constitution) dazzling sophomore debut in the GIII Holy Bull S. on the first day of February to his next start in the GI Florida Derby. How much could change in that time?

As it turned out, just about everything.

So maybe that's why, during a dark time, this bay colt with the bright, white-blazed face was so easy to cheer for. During uncertain circumstances, the Sackatoga silks with the familiar connections brought a piece of near normalcy to the starting gate.

Even now, as he takes up stud duty at Ashford Stud, Tiz the Law's campaign will long be remembered as one piece of an unforgettable year in racing.

“No one is ever going to forget 2020,” said Ashford's Adrian Wallace. “It was a year in which everyone had been touched in some way or another by the pandemic, by loss. A horse like Tiz the Law, to have gone from the Holy Bull to the Florida Derby to the Belmont Stakes, and then who is ever going to forget the Travers and him running a gallant second in a Kentucky Derby in September? No one is ever going to forget this campaign because of how different it was.”

The fact that this horse was owned by a syndicate of racing fans, Wallace said, made his success all the more meaningful.

“Being owned by a syndicate, he was able to touch so many more people,” he said. “We've seen it when some of his previous owners have come to the farm to visit him. He generated a huge amount of excitement and a huge following. Even though they couldn't go to the races and watch him, [fans] will never forget watching the owners celebrate the Travers win at Saratoga.”

Bred by Twin Creeks Farm, Tiz the Law was a $110,000 yearling purchase for Sackatoga's Jack Knowlton at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred Sale.

After a winning debut and easy four-length romp in the GI Champagne S., the son of Constitution had already caught Ashford's attention.

“Tiz the Law stamped himself as a very exciting prospect early in his 2-year-old season,” Wallace said. “The Champagne is a race that, year after year, stamps itself as a stallion-making race. We know first-hand with the likes of Uncle Mo, Scat Daddy and Practical Joke all having won the Champagne. It separates the wheat from the chaff, so any horse that wins in New York at that time of year, we're certainly looking at.”

Following his definitive wins in the GIII Holy Bull S. and GI Florida Derby, Tiz the Law followed an odd Triple Crown trail as he took on the first leg of the series in a nine-furlong GI Belmont S. When jockey Manny Franco cued him while heading into the long Belmont stretch, the bay shifted gears to blow by his foes and become the first New York-bred to win the Belmont since 1882.

Then came the GI Runhappy Travers S., which was slated to run exactly one year after his winning debut at the Spa in 2019. Sent off as the 1-2 favorite, Tiz the Law raced three wide before pouncing on his tiring rivals at the far turn and geared down in the stretch to win by 5 ½ lengths to John Imbriale's call of, “Here he is, Saratoga's hometown hero, Tiz the Law.”

“Only one horse has gone faster since 1990, and that was Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) five years ago,” Wallace noted of the Travers victory. “It just shows how much ability the horse had-how much raw, natural talent. What made Tiz the Law so great was his huge ability to quicken off a high cruising speed. The Travers was one example of that and the Belmont was another. I think that's the key to any great horse, and it was the key to him.”

Arguments arose as to if this horse would be named a Triple Crown champion if he were to win the next two legs of the series. But the controversy died when Tiz the Law had to settle for second against Bob Baffert's eventual GI Breeders' Cup Classic champion Authentic (Into Mischief) in the Run for the Roses.

After a sixth-place finish in the Classic, Tiz the Law's connections were ready for a comeback in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. But after an X–ray revealed bone bruising, the decision was made for him to retire.

The four-time Grade I winner arrived at Ashford with earnings of over $2.7 million, running in the money in all but one of his career starts.

“For a very long period of time, he was right at the top of his generation,” Wallace said. “He was New York's home-bred hero and he really captured the hearts and minds of a lot of people in New York in a very troubling year. That's one of the reasons that, as a four-time Grade I winner, he really resonates with a lot of breeders and a lot of fans.”

Tiz the Law now gives breeders a unique opportunity as the first son of rising young sire Constitution (Tapit) to enter stud.

“It's no secret that Constitution is probably regarded as one of the most promising new sires in the business at the moment,” Wallace said. “Worldwide, he has already sired four Grade I winners, including three from Chile, and Tiz the Law is obviously his marquee horse here. Tiz the Law is a great embodiment of what Constitution has to offer.”

Tiz the Law is out of the Tiznow mare Tizfiz, winner of the 2009 GII San Gorgonio H. and a full-sister to Grade III winner and Grade I-placed Fury Kapcori. Her granddam is a half-sister to Favorite Trick (Phone Trick), who won Horse of the Year honors as a juvenile in 1997.

“It's a family replete with 2-year-old success,” Wallace noted. “Obviously Tiz the Law himself was a very good 2-year-old, so I think it's a pedigree that will offer people a lot of precocity and it will suit a wide array of broodmares here in this country.”

Wallace said the Coolmore team has kept busy since the 4-year-old's arrival as breeders have been out to see the new prospect, who will stand his first season for a $40,000 fee.

“Physically he's all about balance,” he said. “He's an exceptional mover, lots of quality and a lovely nature. A lovely hip and shoulder on him as well. The breeders who have come to see him over the last couple of weeks have been blown away.”

Tiz the Law joins the growing list of fan favorites at Ashford Stud alongside Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify.

“What makes any horse special is the amount of people that they can bring into the sport,” Wallace said. “This sport, like any sport, needs heroes. We need storylines. Barclay Tagg has been around for a long time and we'll never forget his role with Sackatoga Stables and Funny Cide (Distorted Humor). To come back with the same owner-trainer combination with a New York-bred, I think that really drew people into the sport. He's a stunning individual and we couldn't be prouder to stand him here.”

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Homecoming for Ashford’s Caravaggio

While most American breeders are just now getting their first look at multiple Group 1 winner Caravaggio, who stood his first three years at Coolmore’s headquarters in Ireland and now takes on the U.S. market for 2021, the son of Scat Daddy is not new to Ashford Stud.

The speedy grey was born and raised at Ashford, having been bred by the farm’s Director of Sales Charlie O’Connor and his in-laws’ Windmill Manor Farms.

“Caravaggio is a horse that’s obviously very close to our hearts,” Coolmore’s Adrian Wallace said. “He was born here and spent all of his young life here. The barn where he was raised is in front of our office. So when he went to Ballydoyle, we followed him very closely.”

The team back home heard positive reports from Aidan O’Brien from the beginning, and those proved true when Caravaggio won on debut and then followed up with three more victories, including the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot and a four-length victory in the G1 Keeneland Phoenix S., for an undefeated juvenile season.

“He had speed to burn,” Wallace said when asked of Caravaggio’s greatest quality. “As someone said, speed is dangerous. The way he broke, the way he traveled through his races and then finished off those races showed that he was a sprinter to be reckoned with.”

Coming back at three, Caravaggio won the G3 Lacken S. before heading back to Ascot to claim the G1 Commonwealth Cup in a battle against Godolphin’s Harry Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal).

“Royal Ascot, for anyone now but especially for Europeans, is the pinnacle and height of the middle of the European racing season,” Wallace noted. “To win the Coventry S. over six furlongs is a race that’s high in prestige but then to come back as a 3-year-old and do it again in the Commonwealth Cup against some very good sprinters marked Caravaggio as one of the best of his generation. When you can do it on the main stage at Royal Ascot, that’s what it’s all about.”

Later in the season, the swift sprinter added the G2 Flying Five S. to his list of victories before retiring later that year.

Caravaggio stood his first two seasons in Ireland for €35,000 and that fee was increased to €40,000 in 2020. He also shuttled to Australia in 2018.

His first crop of yearlings hit the market this year and several made it to the Keeneland September Sale.

His top seller at the sale, a half-sister to G1-placed Consort (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) named Her World (Ire), brought $400,000 to Stripes Stable LLC/Susan Moulton, while a colt out of Swept Away (Ire) (Power) brought $300,000.

“The interesting thing is that three of his horses [from the September yearling sales] are going to go into training with Wesley Ward,” Wallace said. “So hopefully come April and May of next year, we should see some early runners from Caravaggio in this country.”

Caravaggio later made headlines at Tattersalls October Book 2, where his 105,417gns average was the highest of any first-crop sire over the three-day sale. Demi O’Byrne, agent for Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm, went to 205,000gns for a yearling colt out of the winning Galileo (Ire) mare Longing (Ire) and then came back to pay 170,000gns for another Caravaggio colt out of Solar Event (GB) (Galileo) {Ire}).

“The sales in both Ireland and England continued in somewhat of a depressed market this year, but Caravaggio’s progeny continued to sell well,” Wallace said. “They averaged just over $155,000. They’re training with the right people and look like they should be early.”

Ashford is now looking to build upon the foundation Caravaggio has already started for himself overseas. The son of Scat Daddy will stand for $25,000 in 2021.

“He’s a horse that we’ve wanted here for three years, and finally on the fourth year we got him,” Wallace said. “He’s been very popular so far. I think that the demand for sons of Scat Daddy worldwide is only going to get greater. He was a horse that, in a very short time, was able to achieve so much. I think people need to, and already are, taking note with these young sons of Scat Daddy. There’s something in the water. These horses are too good.”

He continued on Scat Daddy’s international success, “One of the things that made Scat Daddy such a dominant sire was his ability to get runners on the biggest stages. These horses have run, with the likes of Justify, Ten Sovereigns (Ire), No Nay Never or Con Te Partiro in Australia. They run and win on the biggest stages and hopefully that’s going to continue with these young sons of Scat Daddy.”

Wallace said that Caravaggio’s conformation fits the look of his sire.

“Physically, he brings a lot of what was Scat Daddy,” he said. “He’s got a lot of quality, but he’s also got a massive forearm and gaskin. He’s very broad across his chest. He moves like a panther and that translated to excessive speed on the track. He’s very balanced and he’s got that strength that we think will suit American mares.”

Wallace added that Caravaggio’s pedigree should also appeal to the American breeder.

“We think he’ll be a good influence on both dirt and turf,” Wallace said. “He’s out of the stakes-winning Holy Bull mare Mekko Hokte, whose first foal My Jen (Fusaichi Pegasus) was a Grade II winner on the dirt. So we think that given his physique and his pedigree, he’ll be a horse that’ll achieve on both surfaces.”

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