Triple Crown hero Justify (Scat Daddy) will resume his shuttling duties at Coolmore Australia this year. The Jerry Plains operation released its 2023 roster and fees earlier Wednesday. It will be the chestnut's fourth Southern Hemisphere season and his fee will be determined in the coming weeks.
Of his three Southern Hemisphere winners–Californian (Aus), Legacies (Aus) etc.–the best is G2 Reisling S. and G3 Widden S. heroine Learning To Fly (Aus). He covered books of 149, 142 and 82 from 2019-2021. Justify is currently leading the Australian First-Season Sires' table by earnings.
“We welcome Justify back to Australia with open arms,” said Tom Moore, Coolmore's head of marketing and nominations. “It's on the back of a remarkable start to his stud career, and while it's only early days for him in Australia, he has already produced arguably the best 2-year-old filly in Australia in Learning To Fly.
“He's the leading First-Season Sire by a significant margin, and the feedback we're getting from trainers throughout Australia suggests this is only the tip of the iceberg for him in this part of the world. We expect his credentials to keep improving as the season goes on.”
In the sale ring, Justify's debut yearlings averaged A$244,545 last year, and his second crop averaged just shy of A$220,000. His priciest yearling was a A$1.4-million son of Group 1 winner Sunlight (Aus) (Zoustar {Aus}), who went to Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
“It's particularly encouraging that Justify has already proven to be extremely effective with Danehill blood,” Moore said. “Learning To Fly is out of a Fastnet Rock (Aus) mare, while Legacies (Aus) is out of a Danehill Dancer (Ire) mare.
“We are immensely confident that Justify will elevate himself into an elite stallion within the Australian ranks and, most importantly, provide another outcross option for top-class mares, just like So You Think (NZ), Wootton Bassett (GB) and Pierro (Aus).”
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