Caravaggio keeping the late Scat Daddy's name in lights

Caravaggio landed short odds to claim the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday, and in so doing became the 18th top-level scorer to be sired by the much-missed Scat Daddy.

The Aidan O'Brien-trained colt was bred by Windmill Manor Farms et al out of Mekko Hokte, a stakes-winning daughter of Holy Bull. She has produced five winners from six foals, three of whom were campaigned exclusively on dirt, including the Grade-2 winning sprinter My Jen, a daughter of Fusaichi Pegasus.

Scat Daddy passed away in December at Coolmore's Kentucky branch at Ashford Stud in Kentucky at the age of 11.

The son of Johannesburg, a dual Grade 1-winning dirt performer for Todd Pletcher, had been due to stand the 2016 breeding season at a career-high fee of $100,000.

As if to emphasise what a loss he is to the breeding industry Scat Daddy has continued to grab the headlines throughout the 2016 season, most notably when claiming two of the biggest juvenile Group races at this year's Royal Ascot.

Caravaggio initiated the double with an impressive success in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes, although that performance was soon eclipsed when Lady Aurelia produced the best two-year-old performance of the year to rout her Queen Mary Stakes rivals the very next day.

With just two remaining crops to come from Scat Daddy his progeny are bound to be in high demand at the upcoming yearling sales, with the 12 lots due to go on offer at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Sale, which kicks off in New York on Monday, the next opportunity buyers will have to get their hands on an increasingly rare commodity.