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After two foals by Imagining to start her breeding career, Littlemissperfect will visit another representative of the Storm Cat sire-line in 2020 as she is booked to Darby Dan’s versatile new son of Scat Daddy, the multiple Graded stakes winner Flameaway.
As we’ve laid out here before, Littlemissperfect’s dam, Admirer, is a Phipps-bred full-sister to Procession, she in turn the dam of Grade 3 winner Proceed Bee by Storm Cat’s son Bernstein. Other successful runners from Littlemissperfect’s female family include Grade 3 victor With Distinction (sired by Storm Cat himself), while black-type winners Grand Prix and Knit One Purr Too are both sired by Storm Cat’s son Tale of the Cat. Flameaway’s sire, Scat Daddy, is a son of Johannesburg, who is very closely related to Tale of the Cat.
Among the 17 foals so far sired by Scat Daddy and his sons out of mares by Street Cry and his sons, Group 1 winner Skitter Scatter and Group 3 winner Con te Partiro lead the way for this A+ rated TrueNick, so the pedigree matchup has that going for it, too.
In addition to the fact that the pedigrees should blend well, we also love Flameaway for Littlemissperfect because they were both extremely tough and versatile runners — in 47 starts, she won 11 races on eight tracks, including both turf and dirt, from 7 furlongs to 1-1/16 miles, while Flameaway’s wins came on dirt (fast and sloppy), turf and all-weather, from 4-1/2 furlongs to 1-1/16 miles, often in front-running, stretch-battling style.
Flameaway was originally a $150,000 short yearling purchase who was pinhooked for $400,000 at Saratoga. He broke his maiden first-time out in May of his 2YO for trainer Mark Casse, then was a stakes winner at Saratoga and won Keeneland’s Grade 3 Bourbon Stakes by a nose despite a 3-wide trip in the slop. His first start as a 3YO was a win in the grassy Kitten’s Joy Stakes (“battle every step, game” was the chart comment) before he out-gunned future Grade 1 winners Catholic Boy and Vino Rosso to take the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis on dirt (“pressured, headed, game”). He was then 2nd in the Tampa Bay Derby-G2 and the Blue Grass-G2 prior to attempting the Kentucky Derby-G1. Later in the year he was 2nd in the Jim Dandy-G2, and at 4YO he returned to be 3rd in the Mineshaft-G3 and win the Challenger Stakes at Tampa (“determinedly”).
Flameaway’s sire, Scat Daddy, ascended to the top of the stallion heap prior to his untimely death, and his sons are now at a premium after the early success of the likes of No Nay Never. Flameaway traces on his dam’s side to Flame of Tara, who produced 5 stakes winners including the top class Marju and Salsabil. This pedigree, combined with his race record and toughness, make him an exciting prospect, and a perfect match for the likes of Littlemissperfect.
Flameaway wins the G3 Sam F. Davis over Catholic Boy and Vino Rosso
Flameaway wins the G3 Bourbon Stakes