On Day 1 at Royal Ascot, Carvaggio, a son of Scat Daddy, scored an impressive victory in the Coventry Stakes (gr. II). Last year, Scat Daddy was represented by Royal Ascot juvenile group winner Acapulco, and before that there was No Nay Never. None of that trio, however, was as spectacular as this year’s Queen Mary Stakes (gr. II) heroine, Lady Aurelia, who completed the five furlong test.

The Leading Freshman Sire of 2011, Scat Daddy passed all too early in December 2015. To date he’s sired 41 Northern American stakes winners, also including last weekend’s Just A Game Stakes (gr. I) winner Celestine, and other grade one scorers Nickname and Lady of Shamrock. He was also a multiple Champion Sire in Chile, and one of his Chilean-bred offspring, Dacita, also has top-class form in the U.S.

Lady Aurelia’s dam, D’Wildcat Speed, was Champion Imported Three-Year-Old Filly in Puerto Rico, but also won the Rampart Handicap  (gr. II) in the U.S. She is out of a mare by, Forest Wildcat, who is by Storm Cat out of mare by Bold Native (close relative to Mr. Prospector), where Scat Daddy is by a grandson of Storm Cat out of a Mr. Prospector mare.

The most prestigious race on the card on Day 2 was the ten furlong Prince of Wales’s Stakes (gr. I). This rather surprisingly went to My Dream Boat, who scored narrowly from last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf (gr. I) heroine Found, with A Shin Hikari, officially rated the World’s Leading Racehorse finishing last, being swamped after setting a rather sedate pace.

A four-year-old, My Dream Boat is from the first crop sired by Lord Shanakill, who now stands in Pennsylvania, having begun his career in Europe. In turn from the first crop of Speightstown, and out of a mare by Theatrical, Lord Shanakill was a group winner at two, three and four, gaining group one honors in the Prix Jean Prat (gr. I) in his second season. My Dream Boat is his only stakes winner to date.

My Dream Boat’s dam, Betty Burke, is a daughter of Choisir (by Danehill Dancer). The second dam, Island Lover is by Turtle Island, a son of Fairy King (giving the three-quarters relative Nureyev/Fairy King 4×4. The third dam, Loveliest, is dam of Optimistic Lass (by Mr. Prospector), a multiple group winner in England, and is ancestress of numerous other good winners, including the Irish 1,000 Guineas (gr. I) and Garden City Stakes (gr. I) victress Samitar.

The Duke of Cambridge Stakes (gr. II) for older fillies and mares over a mile went to Usherette, who now boasts a lifetime record of six wins in second starts. She is by Giant’s Causeway’s highly successful son, Shamardal. The dam, Monday Show, a daughter of Maria’s Mon was stakes placed in Germany, and is a sister to U.S. graded stakes winner and grade one placed performer, Expansion. The granddam, La Sylphide (by Barathea) became the first group winner bred in Switzerland when taking the Prix Penelope (gr. III). From a strong Wildenstein family (Vitiges, Vallee Enchantee, Volga, Verveine), La Sylphide is half-sister to several good winners, including French Three-Year-Old Highweight Vespone, and Purple Moon, a stakes winner and multiple grade one placed, including when second in the Melbourne Cup (gr. I).

Class told out in the seven furlong Jersey Stakes (gr. III), which fell to the Mill Reef Stakes (gr. II) and 2000 Guineas (gr. I) third, Ribchester. He is by Iffraaj (by Zafonic) a former record-breaking freshman sire. The dam, by Marju, is half-sister to group winner Tactic, stakes winner Yazzy, and the dam of group winner Convergence. The third dam, Mehthaaf, won the Irish 1,000 Guineas (gr. I), and is out of Elle Seule, a daughter of foundation mare, Fall Aspen, and herself ancestress of such as Occupandiste, Impressionnante and Intello.

For three-year-old fillies over a mile, the Sandringham Handicap went to Persuasive, who is now four-for-four. She is by the speedster Dark Angel (by Acclamation, from a branch of Northern Dancer that goes back to El Gran Senor’s brother, Try My Best, who is also in the sire line of Written Tycoon, the current leading sire of two-year-olds in Australia). Dark Angel is now the leading speed sire in Europe, but can get them to go a little further, and it’s not impossible that Persuasive could get ten furlongs.

Persuasive is out of Choose Me (by Choisir, who was appearing as broodmare sire of his second stakes winner of the day), a stakes winner at ten furlongs. The family goes back to the fourth dam, Cairn Rouge, an excellent filly in the early eighties when she took the Irish 1,000 Guineas (gr. I), Champion Stakes (gr. I) and Coronation Stakes (gr. II). Dark Angel’s dam is a Mr. Prospector line mare out of a mare by Night Shift, and the granddam of Persuasive is by a grandson of Mr. Prospector out of a mare by Night Shift’s close relative, The Minstrel.