Canadian found winning combination
Trainer Bob Baffert walks Triple Crown hopeful Justify after a Wednesday arrival at Belmont Park. Triple Crown contender Justify’s father caught eye of breeder Gunther
DAN RALPH Canadian Tanya Gunther is quite the matchmaker.
On Saturday, Justify will attempt to win the Belmont Stakes and become the 13th thoroughbred — and second since 1978 — to clinch the U.S. Triple Crown. It was Gunther who paired Justify’s parents after poring over their respective bloodlines.
Justify was bred at Glennwood Farm in Versailles, Ky., which Gunther runs for her father, John. She paired stallion Scat Daddy, a Grade 1 winner, with Stage Magic, a mare the Gunthers own, to produce the 2018 Kentucky Derby and Preakness champion.
“I remember someone asking me what I thought of Scat Daddy as a stallion and I said I really liked him,” Tanya Gunther said. “I was met with deafening silence and I remember thinking, ‘Oh well, I guess I’m on my own then.’
“When I went to see Scat Daddy, the one thing I noticed was he had a very flowing, fluid walk. It was years before we bred him but I remember being surprised, ‘Oh, he’s quite a nice looking stallion,’ and he moved so well.”
John Gunther credits his daughter’s encyclopedic understanding of bloodlines and attention for creating the champion thoroughbred. Tanya grew up riding horses in Langley, B.C., and left a career in investment banking for the breeding business.
“She has studied pedigrees since she was eight or nine,” he said. “It was her hard work and diligence that picked Scat Daddy to breed to our mare.”
Scat Daddy was a tough, determined horse that finished in the money in seven of nine lifetime starts (five wins, one second, one third) before suffering a career-ending tendon injury in the 2007 Kentucky Derby. He entered stud in 2008 and sired 69 stakes winners, reportedly fetching up to $150,000 for stud fees before his death in 2015 at age 11.
But Glennwood is said to have only paid $35,000 because Ta- nya Gunther spotted the stallion early.
Justify heads into the demanding 11⁄ 2- mile Belmont as the heavy 4/5 favourite but the distance won’t be his lone challenge in Elmont, N.Y. The unbeaten chestnut will run his sixth race since February against eight well-rested rivals looking to halt his historic run.
John Gunther boldly predicted before the Preakness that Justify would capture the Triple Crown. Tanya agrees, although not quite so emphatically.
“I’m more conservative about these things than my dad,” she said with a chuckle. “I think (Justify’s) talent may be superior to the group he’s running against now.
“When (trainer Bob) Baffert says Justify breathes different air, I know what he means. Justify has surprised me and others throughout his life, he just seems a class apart in everything he’s done.”
Justify’s pedigree features plenty of Canadian content.
Scat Daddy’s bloodlines include Canadian-breds Nijinsky (an English Triple Crown champion), Northern Dancer and Storm Bird. Stage Magic’s genealogy features Canadian Hall of Famer Awesome Again — the 1997 Queen’s Plate and 1998 Breeders’ Cup Classic champion — and Canadianbreds Deputy Minister, Vice Regent and Mint Copy.
The 11-year-old mare is also a descendant of Seattle Slew, the 1977 Triple Crown winner. Her sire, Ghostzapper, was known for his stamina, as was A.P. Indy, another horse in Stage Magic’s bloodlines.
So while breeding horses can be trial and error, there’s definitely a game plan involved.
This year’s Derby featured four starters from Scat Daddy’s penultimate crop. But Gunther said Stage Magic also deserves credit for Justify’s success.
“She always tried hard,” Gunther said. “She didn’t have the efficient movement Justify has.
“I can only imagine the races she would’ve won if she did.”
Justify’s success has brought Glennwood Farm much notoriety. While a Triple Crown winner would be the operation’s first, Gunther said that would merely be icing on the cake.
“I’m so proud of Justify and the entire family,” Gunther said. “But I’m most thankful to the farm and my dad for listening when I wanted to breed to Scat Daddy.
“If you really believe in what you do and happen to be good at it, you can’t look so much at the odds or expenses for the year. You just have to follow your dream, believe in yourself and persevere.”