Scat Daddy Doubly Represented In 1000

[Wandering Eyes]

Just as in Saturday’s Newmarket Classic, Scat Daddy’s influence is strong in Sunday’s G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas with two daughters of the late sire sensation in Qabala and Skitter Scatter at the forefront. The former is still a raw prospect, having registered two wins from two starts both at this track and bids to become the first winner of the seven-furlong Apr. 16 G3 Nell Gwyn S. to double up since Speciosa (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) in 2006. Qabala will be ridden by David Egan, who remarkably will be joined in the race by his father John who partners the outsider Garrel Glen (GB) (Mount Nelson {GB}). The latter is a long way below this standard on known form, but Qabala is the likely market leader with all the pressure on the 2017 champion apprentice.

“It was unbelievable last time [in the Nell Gwyn],” David said of Qabala on Saturday. “Everything went to plan there–we took our time and she picked up well up the hill. She had been training well at home and has done everything right since, so hopefully she’ll run big. She’ll appreciate it if the rain stays away and will 100% get the mile, as she was nearly off the bridle at halfway last time. To have the chance to get a ride on a Guineas favourite is unreal and to have dad in there too is great.”

Skitter Scatter’s profile is in stark contrast, with the Airlie Stud homebred having begun her juvenile campaign with a defeat of Sergei Prokofiev (Scat Daddy) in a five-furlong maiden at Dundalk way back last April. Racing’s proverbial rubber ball, she was a relentless learner throughout the remainder of her season with her entrepreneurial spirit garnering rich rewards in the G3 Silver Flash S. at Leopardstown and G2 Debutante S. and G1 Moyglare Stud S. at The Curragh. Ten years after John Oxx delivered a phenomenon in Sea the Stars (Ire) to an unsuspecting Newmarket faithful, a win for the filly he has so gratefully ensconced into his stable would prompt emotive scenes.

It is worth noting that when Virginia Waters (Kingmambo) gave Aidan O’Brien his first Guineas success in 2005 she was ending an 11-year hiatus for successful Irish-trained fillies in this. Before the Stack stable’s Las Meninas (Ire) (Glenstal) shone in 1994, students had to go back to 1966 to find the Ballydoyle raider Glad Rags (Ire) as the latest to swoop from those shores. Now in the era of the superfillies the axis has swung, with four of the last seven renewals falling to a selection of the Coolmore-owned contingent and an expectancy each year that the Irish are the ones to beat.

Perhaps the most interesting of them all this time is Evie Stockwell’s ‘TDN Rising Star’ Fairyland (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), mainly because she is bred so much for speed yet is given her opportunity by a stable already replete with guaranteed stayers. Unlike the 2000 Guineas, the fillies’ Classic has not proven a bridge too far for the previous year’s speed juveniles with Natagora (Fr) (Divine Light {Jpn}) and Attraction (GB) (Efisio {GB}) two recent winners who had plied their trade over sprint trips at two. There are also a plethora of fast fillies who made the frame here such as Tiggy Wiggy (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), Maqaasid (GB) (Green Desert), Dazzle (GB) (Gone West) and Marling (Ire) (Lomond).

Frankie Dettori was on Scorpion (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) for Ballydoyle in the 2005 G1 St Leger and has another rare ride for the stable on the G1 Cheveley Park S. and G2 Lowther S. winner.

“I like her–she’s very, very tough and although everyone is going to say she’s not won beyond six she’s got a lots of guts and a big heart,” he said. “If push comes to shove and she’s in the fight, she’s going to come out best. If she stays she’ll be there. The form is there in black-and-white.”

Family Endures Test of Time

In 1982 Robert Barnett’s silks were brought back into the second spot in the winner’s enclosure here by the filly that would go on to bear them with success in the higher echelons of the sport. She was called Time Charter (GB) and 37 years after her defeat by Cracksman’s third dam On the House (Fr), the cerise colours are back on two of her descendants in Mot Juste (Distorted Humor) and Star Terms (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}). Interestingly, the latter hails from the Richard Hannon stable who managed to conjure a Guineas victory out of the outsider Billesdon Brook (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) 12 months ago despite her being well-beaten in her trial. Star Terms was fourth in the G3 Fred Darling S. over an inadequate seven-furlong trip last time on Apr. 13, as was the millennium Guineas heroine Lahan (GB) (Unfuwain).

David Elsworth has yet to win this Classic and could put that right with Dandhu (GB), who along with Lady Kaya (Ire) provide sire Dandy Man (Ire) with a formidable duo in this line-up. Successful in the Fred Darling, she renews rivalry with ‘TDN Rising Star’ Just Wonderful (Dansili {GB}) after finding her 1 3/4 lengths too strong in the G2 Rockfel S. over seven furlongs here in September and could be a different proposition with extra maturity gained over the intervening months. Fast conditions are a concern, however.

“She is a good filly. I am just a bit concerned about the quick ground,” he said. “She went to Newbury for her trial and she had done a lot of honest preparation, but she hadn’t done any competitive work. She hadn’t had a strong preparation for an animal that was going to run in that class of race. She has come out of the race well and she is pretty fit. I believe she is in good shape and I don’t think the trainer has messed it up.”

Billesdon Brook is back to the scene of her finest hour in the supporting G2 Charm Spirt Dahlia S., where she encounters ‘TDN Rising Star’ Veracious (GB) (Frankel {GB}). The latter bids to provide Sir Michael Stoute with a seventh renewal and Cheveley Park Stud with a fourth following a solid 3-year-old campaign which saw her win the G3 Atalanta S. at Sandown in September and finish third in the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot in June and G1 Nassau S. at Goodwood in August.

Fillies of the Classic generation take in the Listed Tweenhills Pretty Polly S. won in recent times by Lah Ti Dar (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Jazzi Top (GB) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), Taghrooda (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), Talent (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) and Ouija Board (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}). The first three hailed from the John Gosden stable and Shambolic (Ire) (Shamardal) is the chosen representative this time. The Duke of Devonshire and Duke of Roxburghe’s homebred was fourth in the G1 Fillies’ Mile here in October before finishing a disappointing seventh in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud later that month.

 

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