Coolmore Strikes for $1M Scat Daddy Colt

Trainer Todd Pletcher signed the ticket for the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale's second seven-figure purchase March 28, a $1 million colt by Scat Daddy that was purchased on behalf of Coolmore.

Sold by SGV Thoroughbreds as Hip 31, the colt is the first foal out of stakes winner Risky Rachel and is from of the family of multiple graded stakes winner Say Florida Sandy.

"He's by a world-class stallion, one of my all-time favorites. I trained him, and it's great to see him have so much success," Pletcher said. "A great loss to the industry that he's gone too soon. He gets it on turf, he gets it on dirt. 

"This is a beautiful horse, one that we've had on the radar for a while. He came in here and had a super breeze and came out of it in good order. I think when you get to a certain level, you don't know what they're going to bring. We knew he wasn't going to be cheap, but we weren't sure where he would land."

SGV's Steve Venosa said the sale of the colt was the culmination of a plan put into place to have breeder Sanford Bacon's mare Risky Rachel bred to Scat Daddy with the hope that the resulting New York-bred foal would be sent to the Gulfstream auction.

"It was bittersweet because it is the first foal out of the mare, and he didn't want to sell," Venosa said. "We discussed it and decided if he went to a good home, that would be a good outcome, and it worked out with Coolmore and Todd Pletcher ending up with him. He is a New York-bred, so maybe (Bacon) will be able to see him run."

Venosa said the colt showed his class during the days leading up to the sale. "He showed as well the last day like he did the first day when he rolled off the van. He is nothing but class, and he was rewarded in the ring."

Venosa also credited his personnel with achieving such results in the sale ring.

"I couldn't do it without the team; it was just a team effort," he said.