Tapit (foaled February 27, 2001, in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won three of his six races, including the Wood Memorial Stakes, then a Grade I event. He was an immediate success after retiring to stud, becoming the leading freshman sire in North America of 2008 with Breeders' Cup winner Stardom Bound becoming his first Grade I winner. He was the leading sire in North America in 2014, setting an earnings record that he broke in 2015 and again in 2016. For the 2015 season, his stud fee was raised to $300,000, the highest in North America. In 2021, Essential Quality became his fourth Belmont Stakes winner (Tonalist, Creator and Tapwrit being the others), tying him for the all-time record of winners sired in this race with the great Lexington.
Background Tapit is a gray horse. He is heterozygous for the dominant gray gene, which he inherited via his dam, Tap Your Heels. As such, there is a 50-50 chance that any given foal sired by him on a non-gray mare will be gray. His base coat color before turning gray was chestnut.
Tapit was purchased as a yearling in 2002 for $625,000 by Verne Winchell, a prominent California owner, under the recommendation of his bloodstock advisor Dr. David Lambert. Winchell died soon afterwards and left the horse to his son, Ron. The manager of Winchell Thoroughbreds, David Fiske, placed the horse in the hands of trainer Michael Dickinson.
Tapit has been described as an attractive, well-balanced, elegant horse whose appearance reflects the Thoroughbred's Arabian ancestors. He stands high.
Racing career Tapit raced twice at age two, winning both times. On October 19, he won a one-mile maiden special weight at Delaware Park by 7 3/4 lengths. He then won the Grade III Laurel Futurity Stakes on November 15 by five lengths, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 98. Veteran sportswriter Andrew Beyer wrote, "No 2-year-old in America had looked more impressive."
His return to the racetrack was delayed due to lingering shin problems. He made his 3-year-old debut in the Florida Derby on March 13 and finished sixth in the Grade 1 race, but his poor finish was later explained by the discovery of a lung infection. He bounced back in April, coming from last to win the Grade I Wood Memorial Stakes by half a length over Master David. “I was dreading the race, because I knew he wasn’t fit,” trainer Michael Dickinson said. “He’s a very generous horse, and he has such a big heart. I felt I was putting him into battle unprepared. And if anything had happened I would have blamed myself. But the horse carried me through, and I’m indebted to him. He’s such a generous horse and we love him dearly.”
Tapit was the 6–1 third betting choice in the 2004 Kentucky Derby and finished ninth behind Smarty Jones. He was scheduled to race in the 2004 Belmont Stakes but was scratched due to a return of the lung infection. In his last race, the Sept. 6, 2004, Pennsylvania Derby, he finished ninth.
Stud career Tapit was retired to stud at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky in 2005 for a stud fee of $15,000. His first foals were of racing age in 2008 and he made an immediate impact, making him the leading freshman sire that year. His first crop was led by champion 2-year-old filly Stardom Bound, winner of the 2008 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, and included 15 stakes winners overall.
His next few crops were not as strong but he was still third on the 2009 second-crop sire list (including 2009 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Tapitsfly), and third on the 2010 third-crop sire list. In 2011, he was third on the general sire list. His leading performer, Hansen, won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and was named champion two-year-old. Tapit finished fourth on the general sire list in 2012, and seventh in 2013.
In 2014 Tapit led the sire list for North America, setting an earnings record in the process. His top performers of 2014 were Untapable and Tonalist. Tonalist became Tapit's first American Classic winner when he won the 2014 Belmont Stakes; Untapable won the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders' Cup Distaff, and was named champion 3-year-old filly.
In 2015, Tapit led the sire list for the second time, breaking his own earnings record. Top performers that year included Tonalist and Frosted. In 2015, he also led North America by number of winners with 174. He was the leading sire in every "black-type" category tracked by Thoroughbred Daily News, with 23 Black-Type Winners, 47 Black-Type Horses (meaning that 47 of his foals finished first, second or third in qualifying stakes company), 16 Graded/Group Stakes Winners, 29 Graded Stakes Horses, five Grade I/Group 1 winners and 10 Grade/Group 1-placed horses.
In 2016, he once again headed the sire list, with top performers including Frosted and 2016 Belmont Stakes winner Creator. Two fillies sired by him dead-heated in the Grade I Spinaway Stakes, the two being Pretty City Dancer and Sweet Loretta. He also sired two Grade I winners on the turf, Ring Weekend and Time and Motion. David Firsk, the stallion manager of Winchell Stable, said, "The versatility he has and everything else, I mean, you could subtract his turf earnings from his total ... and he'd still be the leading sire. Turf runners are like a hobby for him."
In 2017, his son Tapwrit won the Belmont Stakes, marking the third time a son of Tapit had won the race in four years. His other leading performers included Cupid (Gold Cup at Santa Anita), Actress (Black-Eyed Susan), and Unique Bella (American Champion Female Sprint Horse, Las Virgenes, Santa Ysabel Stakes, La Brea Stakes).
With his record of siring winners, his stud fee steadily increased, from the original $15,000 to $80,000 in 2011, $125,000 in 2013, and to $150,000 in 2014. For the 2015 breeding season, his fee was doubled to $300,000, and in 2017 was the highest in the United States. In 2014, a single share in Tapit, providing a guaranteed breeding right for the rest of his career, was sold for $2.8 million. This made his total value an estimated $140 million.
Tapit has produced the most successful foals from mares that "nick" or complement the genetic strengths in his pedigree. Tapit is inbred to Nijinsky, a son of Northern Dancer, and many of his best offspring are out of mares who also carry Northern Dancer breeding, but via different lines. Frosted is an example of how Tapit crosses well on mares that carry the bloodlines of Seattle Slew.
Statistics + By Racing Year Year North American Rank Winners Black-Type Winners Graded Stakes Winners Chief Earner Earnings†2008 #1 first-crop 24 3 2 Stardom Bound $2,811,3372009 28 70 11 4 Careless Jewel $5,187,0862010 12 111 12 5Concord Point$6,521,6622011 3 121 13 7 Hansen$9,229,4832012 4 140 10 6Tapizar$9,305,0682013 7 139 116Joyful Victory$9,184,6242014 1 156 17 12 Untapable $16,813,536201511752316 Frosted $18,397,691201611492115 Frosted $19,245,888201751521911 Tapwrit $12,909,19120185152157 Unique Bella $12,864,700201931472613 Tacitus $14,335,769202021131411 Tacitus $11,825,591 † Prior to 2015, the Leading Sire Lists published by The Blood-Horse excluded earnings from Hong Kong and Japan due to the disparity in purses. Starting in 2015, earnings from Hong Kong and Japan are included on an adjusted basis.
Notable progeny His major stakes winners include:
c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding
Foaled Name Sex Major Wins2006Careless JewelfAlabama Stakes, Cotillion Handicap2006LaraghfHollywood Starlet Stakes2006Stardom BoundfBreeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Santa Anita Oaks, champion 2yo filly2006Testa MattacJapan Dirt Derby, February Stakes2007TapitsflyfBreeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf2008Joyful VictoryfSanta Margarita Stakes2008TapizarcBreeders' Cup Dirt Mile2008Tell a KellyfDel Mar Debutante Stakes2008ZazufLady's Secret Stakes, Las Virgenes Stakes2009Dance CardfGazelle Stakes2009HansencBreeders' Cup Juvenile, champion 2yo colt2011ConstitutioncFlorida Derby, Donn Handicap2011Ring WeekendgFrank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes2011TonalistcBelmont Stakes, Jockey Club Gold Cup (twice), Cigar Mile Handicap2011UntapablefBreeders' Cup Distaff, Kentucky Oaks, Mother Goose Stakes, Apple Blossom, Cotillion stakes champion 3yo filly2012FrostedcWood Memorial, Metropolitan Handicap, Whitney Stakes 2013CreatorcArkansas Derby, Belmont Stakes2013CupidcGold Cup at Santa Anita2013Time and MotionfQueen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes2014Dream DancingfDel Mar Oaks2014Pretty City DancerfSpinaway Stakes2014Sweet LorettafSpinaway Stakes2014TapwritcBelmont Stakes2014Unique BellafLa Brea Stakes, Beholder Mile, Clement L Hirsch Stakes, champion female sprinter in 2017, champion older female in 20182016Chasing YesterdayfStarlet Stakes2016ValiancefSpinster Stakes2018Essential QualitycBreeders' Cup Juvenile, champion 2yo colt, Bluegrass Stakes, Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes2018FlightlinecMalibu Stakes, Metropolitan Handicap, Pacific Classic Stakes, Breeders' Cup Classic, 2022 Horse of the Year, 2022 Champion Older Male2018Pauline's PearlfLa Troienne Stakes2018ProxycClark Stakes2020Arthur's RidecWhitney Stakes2020ScyllafBreeders' Cup Distaff2020Tapit TricecBlue Grass Stakes2022SandmancArkansas Derby
Pedigree Tapit is by Pulpit, who stood at Claiborne Farm. Pulpit is by A.P. Indy, the 1992 Horse of the Year and an outstanding sire. A.P. Indy is by Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, and out of Weekend Surprise by Secretariat. Pulpit's female family traces back to one of Claiborne's foundation mares, Knight's Daughter, the dam of Round Table.
Tapit's dam is Tap Your Heels, a stakes-winning mare by Unbridled. Her dam, Ruby Slippers, also produced champion sprinter Rubiano, and is the third dam of champion Summer Bird. Tapit's third dam, Moon Glitter, was a stakes-winning full sister to important sire Relaunch. Tap Your Heels is inbred to In Reality, a descendant of Man o' War.
Tapit is inbred 3s × 4d to Mr Prospector, meaning he appears in the 3rd generation on the sire side and 4th generation on the dam side of his pedigree.
He has seven strains tracing to the influential broodmare La Troienne.
References
External links TT Tapit Gainesway Farms web site