Tapit has emerged as one of the most influential and breed-shaping stallions of the past half-century.
Ticonderoga, a Tapit colt who had sold for $850,000 as a yearling, cruised to a 4 1/4-length maiden special weight win Sept. 10 at Belmont Park to earn a TDN Rising Star tag, the second Tapit 2-year-old to get the coveted designation in the past two weeks.
Tapit’s astounding year for his progeny continued on Sept. 10 when the up-and-coming 3-year-old filly Southern Girl captured the $75,000 Shine Again S. at Laurel Park, her fourth win in five starts.
Tapit’s exceptional turf runner Ring Weekend set a course record at Saratoga on Labor Day, Sept. 5, in the $250,000 Bernard Baruch H. (G2), capping off the three-day weekend that saw Tapit’s 2-year-old fillies Pretty City Dancer and Sweet Loretta dead-heat for the win in the Spinaway S. (G1) and Scuba capture the Grade 3 Greenwood Cup.
Tapit’s pair of 2-year-old fillies, Pretty City Dancer and Sweet Loretta, separated themselves from the field but couldn’t be split at the wire in the $350,000 Spinaway S. (G1) Sept. 3 at Saratoga, with the duo dead-heating 5 3/4 lengths ahead of the competition.
The nation’s leading sire Tapit got his 20th TDN Rising Star on Aug. 27 when the regally-bred Life’s Blessings powered to a 4¼-length victory in a 5½-furlong maiden special weight contest at Del Mar.
Tapit, the two-time reigning leading North American sire, hit another stallion career milestone July 16 when Cupid won the $500,000 Indiana Derby (G2), pushing the Gainesway stallion past the $100 million mark in lifetime progeny earnings.