BackTrack: Scat Daddy Prevails in Florida Derby

It seems like forever ago, but the first glimpse of the type of powerhouse that Michael Tabor was to become in American racing came in 1995 when a horse he had purchased privately at age 2 captured the Florida Derby (G1) and Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream. Thunder Gulch would, of course, go on to win the Kentucky Derby (G1), and while the intervening years have seen a parade of Tabor runners make impacts on American soil, his recollections from that run remain sharpest.

"It's still very, very vivid in my memory," said Tabor moments after Scat Daddy, a colt he co-owns with James Scatuorchio, became just the third horse since Thunder Gulch to capture both of Gulfstream's major 3-year-old races, winning the $1 million Florida Derby March 31 in a time of 1:49 flat. "I still can remember clearly how Gary (Stevens) sat on top of the horse (in the Derby) and how he looked motoring down the stretch. I'd always liked racing in the States, but that really fueled it."

Besides their diminutive profiles, the similarities between Thunder Gulch and Scat Daddy are numerous. As with Thunder Gulch, Tabor purchased his interest in the son of Johannesburg—Love Style, by Mr. Prospector, during the middle of the colt's 2-year-old campaign. And like the champion 3-year-old of 1995, Scat Daddy experienced a period when his stock publicly plummeted, leading to doubt among even his strongest backers. But while for Thunder Gulch that happened immediately after his Gulfstream double, Scat Daddy saw his bandwagon empty much earlier.

After victories in three of his first four lifetime starts, including the Champagne Stakes (G1), the Axel Wend-bred never threatened in the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and began his 3-year-old campaign with a disappointing third in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3). Suddenly, he was off the radar of Derby watchers everywhere, including his co-owners'.

"You had to have doubts at that point," admitted Tabor. "You never know how a good 2-year-old will come back at age 3."

His strongest backer, trainer Todd Pletcher, never wavered in his confidence. It was Pletcher who, with his father J.J., paid $250,000 for the colt at the Keeneland September yearling sale, and it was Pletcher who sold his (and his father's) interest in Scat Daddy to Tabor before the Champagne win. Tabor recalled that his interest in Scat Daddy was piqued by the heady endorsement of the Pletchers and was sealed by his lineage: sire Johannesburg earned a 2001 Eclipse Award following an undefeated juvenile season while raced by Tabor in partnership. He, like Thunder Gulch, is now a prominent sire at Ashford Stud, with which Tabor is affiliated.

But Pletcher, although it did not prevent him from padding his lead in the trainers' standings with four more wins, was not on hand this day at Gulfstream—he and Scatuorchio were in Dubai watching English Channel struggle home 12th in the Dubai Duty Free (G1). That left the rooting primarily to Tabor and the strategy to jockey Edgar Prado who, with John Velazquez situated in the Middle East, was aboard Scat Daddy for the first time. Much was made of the dramatic change of running style that saw Scat Daddy come from the clouds, even against a bias, to win the Fountain of Youth. But that did not deter Prado from tracking much closer to the pace in the 1 1⁄8-mile Florida Derby, staying on the outside within three lengths of expected pacesetters Stormello and Adore the Gold through reasonable

fractions.

"I did my homework and figured out what was going to be the best style of running in this race," said the jockey, who clearly aced his assignment, scoring five winners on the afternoon. Adore the Gold capitulated first and when Stormello tired—the California-based colt had battled Scat Daddy to the wire in the Fountain of Youth just to fall a nose shy—Prado found himself on the lead turning for home. Notional, after circling much of the field on the turn, appeared poised to challenge in the stretch, but never threatened the winner, finishing 1 1⁄4 lengths behind.

While the connections of both Notional and Stormello rationalized their defeats and planned to continue toward the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, Stormello's trainer, co-breeder, and co-owner, Bill Currin, was critical of Victor Espinoza's efforts to rate the 3-year-old. Directly off the turn, Ramon Dominguez tried to shoot the stakes-debuting Chelokee through an opening on the rail only to be completely shut off by Stormello. After steadying sharply, Dominguez angled Centennial Farms' son of Cherokee Run to the outside and re-rallied, finishing just three-quarters of a length behind Notional in third. Trainer Michael Matz indicated he would like to be at Churchill Downs May 5, but fretted that his $100,000 in graded stakes earnings would fall shy of a likely oversubscribed Derby field.

"We know we're right on the bubble," said Matz. "If we don't make it into the Derby, he will be heard from again."

There are no such worries, of course, for Scat Daddy, whose position in the starting gate is assured. He will depart Florida mission accomplished and head with Pletcher's string to Kentucky, trying to replicate Barbaro's success off a five-week layoff following a Florida Derby win. And that, too, will differ from Thunder Gulch, who followed his Gulfstream achievements by disappointing in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) with a fourth-place finish.

"I remember that, too," Tabor said with a smile. "I don't think this horse will be given the chance to do that."