Belmont Stakes (G1) winner TAPWRIT fittingly registered his first U.S. winner on Sunday, less than a week before this edition of the classic, when Real Tap scored a Maiden Special Weight victory at Lone Star Park by a length.
The 2-year-old TAPWRIT daughter broke well before taking back to watch four horses duel for the lead soon after leaving the gate in the five furlong dirt race. Once they had settled up front, Weston Hamilton let his filly move closer so she was in contention around the turn.
Real Tap proved to be professional when the jockey took her over five paths wide to come up on the outside of the leaders. A bit of her inexperience was seen in the stretch but once she zeroed in on the leaders, she found another gear to fly past the duo for the victory.
She is the third worldwide winner for TAPWRIT from five starters with the duo of Goryanka and Teona Bars winning in Russia. The stallion’s colt I Like Boston is looking to make it four winners from five starters later this week when he makes his second start in a Maiden Special Weight at Belmont Park on Thursday.
Bred in Texas, Real Tap races in the colors of her breeders Eric and Randi Moreau-Sipiere. She is trained by Carlos Padilla and showed she was ready for this race three works ago when registering a bullet breezing from the gate over this track. That wasn’t the only impressive work the TAPWRIT filly put in, ranking among the top workers in her two works surrounding that breeze as well.
Real Tap is the fourth winner from four to race out of the winning Harlan’s Holiday mare Really Charming. Really Charming is one of five winners from five to race out of her own stakes winning dam Really Royal, who also produced the Grade 3-placed Any Given Royal.
Before he was a Belmont Stakes winner, TAPWRIT was a 2-year-old stakes winner. That victory came in his third career start when he won the Pulpit Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Juvenile form runs strong in TAPWRIT’s pedigree with his dam winning the Spinaway Stakes (G1) at two – also in her third career start.
TAPWRIT’s sire TAPIT was also a 2-year-old stakes winner, taking out the Laurel Futurity (G3) in his second start as a juvenile.