Beautifully bred and attractive, Scylla was always going to be an obvious broodmare prospect for breeder-owner Juddmonte Farms. The 4-year-old filly just raised her stock on June 1, when she romped in the Shawnee Stakes (USA-G3) over a nice field that included last year’s Coaching Club American Oaks (USA-G1) winner, Wet Paint, and four other graded stakes winners.
As a full sister to multiple Grade 2 winner Tacitus, much was always expected of Scylla, who comes from a glittering female family. Sired by three-time American champion sire Tapit from 2014 American champion older female Close Hatches, Scylla traces back to the Sir Ivor mare Monroe, one of a clutch of good producers foaled by 1982 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and modern matriarch Best in Show.
In spite of a pedigree that suggested that classic distances should have been within her scope, Monroe was most effective in sprints and took down her biggest score in the 1980 Ballyogan Stakes (IRE-G3) over 5 furlongs at Leopardstown. She produced four stakes winners, the best of which was 1997 European champion 2-year-old male Xaar (by Zafonic), and six of her daughters became the dams of stakes winners with three producing graded or Group winners.
Xaar’s full sister Silver Star was not nearly as talented as he on the race course, turning in her best performance when third in the listed Prix Coronation in France, and her best produce as a dam of winners was Group 2-placed listed stakes winner Barsanti (by Champs Elysees). However, her most important foal is the winning Storm Cat mare Rising Tornado, who produced Close Hatches to a cover by 2008 Forego Stakes (USA-G1) winner First Defence (by Unbridled’s Song) as her first foal. Rising Tornado is also the dam of Close Hatches’ full sister Lockdown, a multiple Grade 1-placed stakes winner and the dam of 2023 American champion older dirt female Idiomatic (by Curlin). Rising Tornado’s most recent foal is the 2022 Tapit colt Pulse Storm, who has yet to race, and Lockdown also has an unraced 2-year-old in the wings, the Into Mischief filly Chasten.
Close Hatches, too, has not been idle in the paddocks since Scylla’s birth. The dam of the winning Tapit filly Batten Down in 2021, she has since produced the 2022 Constitution filly Resurge, an unnamed yearling filly by Uncle Mo, and a suckling filly by Gun Runner. Scylla herself still has racing to do before joining her dam as a matron in Juddmonte’s nursery, and there is an intriguing possibility that if she continues to develop, she may find herself on a collision course with her “cousin” Idiomatic, who began her defense of her crown with a win against a strong field in the Fasig-Tipton La Troienne Stakes (USA-G1) on the Kentucky Oaks undercard. Juddmonte, of course, is in a no-lose situation as the owner of both, and both are strong prospects to continue the legacy of Monroe for another generation when they finally retire.
As a full sister to multiple Grade 2 winner Tacitus, much was always expected of Scylla, who comes from a glittering female family. Sired by three-time American champion sire Tapit from 2014 American champion older female Close Hatches, Scylla traces back to the Sir Ivor mare Monroe, one of a clutch of good producers foaled by 1982 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and modern matriarch Best in Show.
In spite of a pedigree that suggested that classic distances should have been within her scope, Monroe was most effective in sprints and took down her biggest score in the 1980 Ballyogan Stakes (IRE-G3) over 5 furlongs at Leopardstown. She produced four stakes winners, the best of which was 1997 European champion 2-year-old male Xaar (by Zafonic), and six of her daughters became the dams of stakes winners with three producing graded or Group winners.
Xaar’s full sister Silver Star was not nearly as talented as he on the race course, turning in her best performance when third in the listed Prix Coronation in France, and her best produce as a dam of winners was Group 2-placed listed stakes winner Barsanti (by Champs Elysees). However, her most important foal is the winning Storm Cat mare Rising Tornado, who produced Close Hatches to a cover by 2008 Forego Stakes (USA-G1) winner First Defence (by Unbridled’s Song) as her first foal. Rising Tornado is also the dam of Close Hatches’ full sister Lockdown, a multiple Grade 1-placed stakes winner and the dam of 2023 American champion older dirt female Idiomatic (by Curlin). Rising Tornado’s most recent foal is the 2022 Tapit colt Pulse Storm, who has yet to race, and Lockdown also has an unraced 2-year-old in the wings, the Into Mischief filly Chasten.
Close Hatches, too, has not been idle in the paddocks since Scylla’s birth. The dam of the winning Tapit filly Batten Down in 2021, she has since produced the 2022 Constitution filly Resurge, an unnamed yearling filly by Uncle Mo, and a suckling filly by Gun Runner. Scylla herself still has racing to do before joining her dam as a matron in Juddmonte’s nursery, and there is an intriguing possibility that if she continues to develop, she may find herself on a collision course with her “cousin” Idiomatic, who began her defense of her crown with a win against a strong field in the Fasig-Tipton La Troienne Stakes (USA-G1) on the Kentucky Oaks undercard. Juddmonte, of course, is in a no-lose situation as the owner of both, and both are strong prospects to continue the legacy of Monroe for another generation when they finally retire.
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