Stallion Feature; Tapit is on Top and Soaring Higher

Stallion Feature; Tapit is on Top and Soaring Higher:  When it comes to royalty in horse racing, a stallion usually achieves this by his progeny. By earnings, there is a stallion at the top, and he is a very expensive date, but by the numbers, his number is totally worth it. Tapit is now a sire of a classic winner in 2014 Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist. He also has his chief earned in Untapable, who just finished off the board in her first start against the boys. How did Tapit get to be such an expensive and desirable stallion?

Tapit was a prominent two-year-old and was a very large, looming threat for the Kentucky Derby when he came charging to win the Wood Memorial. He wasn’t made the favorite, due to being in the same crop at the then undefeated Smarty Jones. While he disappointed when finishing ninth, he would live to see one more dance. That dance would be the Pennsylvania Derby. That dance wouldn’t be a swan song of any kind, because he also finished a disappointing ninth. Tapit would finally get to retire and become a stallion.

Now, Tapit had a fantastic pedigree, being by a sire of sires in Puplit. Tapit’s dam, Tap Your Heels, was by Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled, who had proven to be a good sire, by siring Unbridled’s Song. In the nine years he has been standing stud, Tapit has become the most desirable stud in North America. He has gotten a reputation for not being able to sire a classic winner, but he just did so in June! Tonalist is hopefully pointing to the 10F Travers at Saratoga next month, after a surprising second in the Jim Dandy. He also has, possibly, the best three-year-old of 2014 in the filly Untapable. Tapit, as a sire, dominated the Kentucky Derby prep season. He had Ring Weekend who took the Tampa Bay Derby winner. There was Southwest and Rebel winner Tapiture. Then, there was Florida Derby winner Constitution. Once again, Tapit failed to win the Kentucky Derby through his progeny, but he did steal the Triple Crown from California Chrome, through his son Tonalist.

From a pedigree standpoint, there is no reason Tapit cannot sire a Kentucky Derby winner, but he obviously needs a mare with a lot of stamina, such as Tonalist, whose broodmare sire is Pleasant Colony. We see a lot of Tapit’s get really good in their early three-year-old year, but kind of tail off. With the right mare, I think there could be a horse that could run and beat just about anyone, because there is no debating that the Tapit’s are classy horses.