Contenders

Todd Pletcher

A native of Dallas, TX, Pletcher grew up around Thoroughbred racing as his father, Jake Pletcher, trained Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds. After graduating from the University of Arizona with a degree in animal science, he went to work for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. He stayed with Lukas for six years, eventually becoming his main East Coast assistant trainer. Pletcher went out on his own in 1996 and he currently trains for such powerhouse owners as: Michael Tabor of Coolmore, Aaron and Marie Jones, Padua Stables, and Eugene Melnyk. In less than 10 years, Pletcher has conditioned such top-class performers as Ashado, Bluegrass Cat, Left Bank, Speightstown, Strong Hope, Forest Danger, Flower Alley, Balto Star and others. While he has been very successful since taking out his license, 2006 was yet another banner year for the Pletcher stable. He set a season earnings record in 2005 with his horses winning more than $20.8 million in purses, surpassing the previous record of $19.1 million set by Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel. Pletcher recently won the 2006 Eclipse as the nation's top trainer, his third win in a row. After going winless with his first 12 Breeders' Cup starters, Pletcher won two races in the event in 2004: the Sprint with Speightstown, and the Distaff with Kentucky Oaks champ Ashado. Both would also go on to be Eclipse winners in their respective divisions. Pletcher's best Derby finishers to date are the aforementioned Bluegrass Cat and Invisible Ink, second in 2006 and 2001, respectively, and a fourth with Limehouse in 2004.

Edgar Prado

Edgar Prado is a native of Lima, Peru and hails from a racing family - his father is a trainer and two of his eight brothers are jockeys. He dominated the Maryland racing scene for years with multiple riding titles at both Laurel and Pimlico, but in the summer of 1999 decided to shift his tack to New York. He won 1,000 races over a two-year span in 1997-1998, to join Chris McCarron and Kent Desormeaux as the only riders to accomplish that feat and led the nation in wins with 536 in '97, 474 in '98, and 402 in '99. He was second nationally in earnings in 2005, when his mounts won over $18 million for the second consecutive year. He also won 299 race in 2005, finishing in seventh nationally while winning at a 20% clip. Prado won the Kentucky Oaks in 2003 on Bird Town and the Belmont twice: Birdstone (2004) and Sarava (2002). He has ridden in the past seven Derbies, culmunating with a win aboard Barbaro last year, which likely propelled him the Eclipse Award.

James Scatuorchio & Michael Tabor

Scatuorchio was born October 10, 1947 in New York City and now resides in Rumson, New Jersey. He worked on Wall Street for some 30 years before retiring in 1998. His involvement with racing began as an owner about 25 years ago, though he has been a racing fan for most of his life. He was involved in partnerships with several Wall Street friends, but began buying his own horses around the time of his retirement, which also coincided with his relationship with trainer Todd Pletcher. He owns top grass horse English Channel, winner of last year's Woodford Reserve (GIT), the race run just before the Kentucky Derby. He has had one Derby starter, More than Ready, fourth in 2000. Pletcher was one of Scat Daddy's original owners, but sold his interest to Michael Tabor last summer. Tabor is the owner of Derby contenders Circular Quay and Ravel.

Axel Wend (KY)

Wend is a Geneva, Switzerland native and resident. The family is a publisher of books, in addition, his is director of a technology and marketing consultancy and director of other companies in Geneva. Wend has been involved with racing trotting horses in France for some time, and has about 30 mares, with about 10 of them being Thoroughbreds. The mares are boarded on three farms in Normandy, France. Scat Daddy is first North American stakes winner bred by Wend.

Scat Daddy is from the first crop of Johannesburg, adding quite a bit of luster to already stellar group of runners. Currently ranked on the top of the second crop sire list, his eight stakes winners to date include Hamoody, Marcavelly, Teuflesberg, Baroness Thatcher and Fernando Po. Early success is no surprise with Johannesburg. He was champion 2-year-old in Ireland, England, France and North America after a juvenile campaign that saw him win all seven of his starts, including six stakes, topped by an awesome performance in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. A brilliant career lost some of its glow, however, when he was winless in three starts the following year, including a loss in the Kentucky Derby. Being a son of the top sprinter Hennessy, there are questions about how at far his offspring will be effective. He does come from a female family that includes Tale of the Cat and Preach, the dam of 1997 Kentucky Derby fourth place finisher Pulpit.

Scat Daddy is out of the unraced Mr. Prospector mare Love Style. Her only other foal, a 4-year-old, is winless in two starts. Love Style’s dam, Likeable Style, won the Las Virgenes (GI) and three other stakes on the way to racking up over $320,000 in earnings. She has also produced the stakes winner Grat (Glendale Handicap).

Scat Daddy is inbred 4x2 to Mr. Prospector, a great sprinter and sire of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus. Despite the distance questions of Scat Daddy’s top half, the female side of his pedigree offers a nice balance with stamina from sires such as Nijinsky II, Count Fleet, and also the tandem of Swaps and Nashua, one-two finishers in the 1955 Derby. Dosage Index: 2.47 – by Mark Hoard

SCAT DADDY continues to disprove all doubters as he just keeps cranking out winning races despite being labeled a “miler” by many handicappers. What he really is is a grinder that can stay no matter what the pace, finishing strongly every time. He was fourth at Churchill Downs in the Breeders’ Cup, but obviously no threat to a runaway winner. Pletcher has gone on record as saying that he wasn’t in an ideal position going into that race, so that tosses the “dislike the course” theory. Like a lot of these, he’s yet to run a triple digit Beyer Speed Figure, something that it almost always takes to win this race (Giacomo’s 100 in 2005 was the lowest in recent times). Pletcher has always been high on this son of Johannesburg, keeping him in graded company after an ultra-impressive maiden debut at Belmont last June. 2006 Derby winning rider Edgar Prado will ride after picking up the mount for the Florida Derby (GI) win. There is so much to like here, it’s tough to say why there’s a nagging feeling that he is not a “Derby-type” horse. This is another whose best effort could be a winning one, and you can’t fault those who feel he can do it. All things considered, he seems more like a filler in the bottom of the exotics.