Daddy Long Legs: A Successful Son of Scat Daddy Arrives in KY

Since the untimely death of Scat Daddy at the end of 2015, the hunt has been on to find a son-successor to the prominent stallion, who sired just eight crops before passing away before the 2016 breeding season. No Nay Never has achieved early success as the leading first-crop sire in Europe in 2018, and this season, of course, Justify and Mendelssohn will attempt to stake their claim in America. But Taylor Made is the only farm to land a proven sire son with their acquisition of Daddy Long Legs, the Champion First-Crop Sire in Chile. From his one crop (now midway through their 3-year-old season in the Southern Hemisphere), Daddy Long Legs has already sired five stakes horses and two stakes winners, including two graded winners and one Group 1 winner, the Chilean Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Fallen From Heaven (Chi). We caught up with Duncan Taylor at the Keeneland January Sale to talk to him about the new acquisition.

TDN: Can you start by telling us just about Daddy Long Legs, and how he has come to stand at Taylor Made?

DT: We were looking at Daddy Long Legs and thinking about maybe actually brokering him to Europe, and that was just sort of an interest level, saying that he has Apalachee on the bottom, the second dam is by Apalachee. And Apalachee goes back to Moccasin, who is a full sister to Thong, the third dam of Sadler's Wells. Then the opportunity came up with Phoenix Thoroughbreds. They were thinking about buying the horse. We said, “Well, we'd like to stand him.” Scat Daddy makes all kinds of sense with what's going on with No Nay Never starting out and Justify. You couldn't have a hotter sire line right now than Scat Daddy, and Daddy Long Legs is a big, good-looking horse. He has a good race record. He won a Group 2 in England when he was two years old. And then he went on and won the UAE Derby. His race record is quite a bit like Mendelssohn's, but there's not really a horse in his range–and he's already started throwing winners and stakes winners and Grade 1 winners in Chile. We said, well, it's a lot like his daddy. It's a good place to take a shot and I think breeders would like to have a horse like this, because there aren't any more Scat Daddy's coming along.

TDN: What do you think American breeders might find appealing about his race record?

DT: To win a Group 2 as a 2-year-old in Europe, that's a tough task. There's 14, 15, sometimes 20 horses in those races, so you've got to be a good racehorse to do that. And then to be shipped as a 3-year-old over to Meydan and win the same race as Mendelssohn, the UAE Derby, I think that shows the horse is versatile. I think it's something that the American breeders will appreciate. Of course, if he won a six-furlong race on race on the dirt going 1:08, they like that a lot better. But he has shown he has precocity, and that he's a nice horse as a 2-year-old and followed through with it at three, so that's where everybody's looking for.

TDN: Tell us about his conformation and the reaction he's getting since arriving at the farm. Are people happy with what they're seeing from him?

DT: They are. He's a big, strong, stout horse. He got a good walk. Meadowlake was one of the best-looking horses in Kentucky and he's out of a Meadowlake mare so I think he gets a lot of his looks from Meadowlake.

TDN: You mentioned his early run that he's had with his first crop in Chile–he's done very well there.

DT: He's had five stakes winners, two graded stakes winners, and one was a champion. That's from his first crop, and you're looking at the racing in the Southern Hemisphere, so they just turned three in the middle of 2018. They're still in their 3-year-old year, and a lot more could happen, but he's done plenty for a horse starting out. And his winners have been on dirt and turf, so we like that, also.

TDN: What has the interest been from breeders so far?

DT: It has been really good. We've had a lot of calls, a lot of people coming out to look at him. We've been surprised; you know, with any stallion nowadays, there's just so many of them out there at the low prices, so it's very competitive. But we still have interest and people are booking to him and he's one of the most popular that we have, so I think the sire line is really helping us a lot and that he's a proven stallion at the price level he is. I think we're blessed to have him.