By Christie DeBernardis
Wesley Ward has had immense success with the progeny of Scat Daddy as a trainer, especially in Europe, conditioning the likes of Group 1 winners No Nay Never and Lady Aurelia; G2 Queen Mary S. romper Acapulco; and Sandringham H. victress and “TDN Rising Star” Con Te Partiro. The conditioner looks to succeed with Scat Daddy in a new way Sunday when he offers a homebred filly (Hip 98) by the late Ashford sire at the inaugural Fasig-Tipton Turf Showcase Yearling Sale.
Ward has over 20 former trainees in his broodmare band spread between Kentucky and Ocala, F.L. His breeding program has been quite successful, producing Canadian champion Madman Diaries (Bring the Heat); GSP half-siblings Maniacal (Kitten's Joy) and Happy Like a Fool (Distorted Humor); and his first Royal Ascot winner Strike the Tiger (Tiger Ridge), victor of the 2009 Windsor Castle S. and now Ward's stable pony.
The trainer usually runs all of his homebreds and, while he will sometimes sell them privately on the racetrack, Sunday will be the first time he sells one at auction.
“I run them all, except for this one,” Ward said. “A great friend of mine, [Fasig-Tipton's] Boyd Browning, who has been fantastic to me over the years, asked me if I could help them with this sale they are trying to inaugurate. I could never repay all of the favors he's done for me, so I found it hard to say no.”
The Turf Showcase catalogue includes five yearlings from the final crop of Scat Daddy, who passed away suddenly from cardiac arrest at age 11 in December of 2015, but Hip 98 is the only filly in the group.
“[Scat Daddy's death] was a great loss,” Ward said. “I think he was going to go on to be a tremendous sire. I think he would just be getting the mares now that he needed to get behind him to really show what he could do. It is just a terrible loss. He was a tremendous sire.”
Hip 98's red hot sire is what led Ward to choose her as the one to yearling to sell.
“She is the only Scat Daddy filly in the sale,” Ward explained. “She's beautiful. She vets completely flawless and she is by what I believe to be the hottest sire going. Unfortunately, they don't make anymore of those, so she will be a very hot commodity. It will be very hard for me to part with her, but, like I said, Boyd asked me for a favor and it was harder for me to say no than to keep the horse.”
Hip 98 is out of Miss Shangai (Songandaprayer), who was trained by Ward throughout her career and was acquired by the conditioner after her owner left the business. Ward has an unraced 3-year-old full-brother to the winner named Austin Ray and their dam was most recently bred to Vancouver (Aus).
“The owner just folded and I acquired the mare,” Ward said. “[Hip 98's] full-brother is training very, very well. I'm excited about that guy. Unfortunately, he won't be able to start prior to the sale as I would have wanted to, but he is extremely talented. He will debut at Keeneland this fall.”
When asked for his thoughts on this new turf-focused yearling sale, which takes place in Lexington Sept. 10 at 4p.m., Ward said, “I think it is a good idea. It will be a wonderful day. Everyone will be in town. The European people will be here as well. We have shown now with Tepin and a lot of the success overseas that we can be very competitive. A lot of Europeans will be receptive to the American horses going over there and being successful. They will be able to check them out and see if they fit what they want to bring home.”
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