TAPIT’s Grade 1 winning daughter Chasing Yesterday saw her 3-year-old full brother break his maiden on debut impressively Saturday when TAPIT 3-year-old Triple Tap romped at Santa Anita to become TAPIT’s 45th Thoroughbred Daily New Rising Star.
Trained by Bob Baffert, just like Chasing Yesterday and the pair’s Triple Crown winning half-brother American Pharoah, the colt looked professional in his first start. Racing just a head behind the leader for much of the seven furlong race, Triple Tap inched up on the leader in mid-turn as Flavien Prat sat like a statue on his mount.
By the time they entered the stretch, the Summer Wind Equine homebred had galloped to the lead and just pulled away from there. Never touched with the whip, Triple Tap was asked to extend in the final sixteenth and extend he did for Prat, giving everyone a glimpse of things to come. He crossed the line 4 ¼ lengths in front to give his dam Littleprincessemma 100 percent winners from six to race.
“It went well and he rated kindly,” Baffert told Thoroughbred Daily News. “When Prat asked him to go, he took off. He looked like he was in control of the race and Flavien worked him the other day for me and he really loved him. He usually doesn’t say too much. When he came back, he said it was nothing for him, he was just getting going here in the end, so that’s good sign.”
Triple Tap scores in his debut! Big things ahead for the 1/2 brother to American Pharoah!
Flavien Prat on the mount for Trainer Bob Baffert & @moresummerwind. pic.twitter.com/NA6HZdqwUl
— TVG (@TVG) March 13, 2021
Of those winners, four are stakes performers with American Cleopatra placed at the Grade 1 level and St. Patrick’s Day placed at the Group 3 level in Ireland. Littleprincessemma has visited TAPIT the last four years with a 2-year-old filly named Lasting Tribute, and a yearling filly named Sunrise Service following Triple Tap. The mare was also bred to TAPIT last year.
Triple Tap is one of three impressive winners for TAPIT on Saturday with the stallion also registering a Japanese double early Saturday morning. Valkyria, out of Grade 1 winner Peace And War was an impressive 2 ½ length winner at Chukyo to stay undefeated in two starts while American Face won his own race by 1 ½ lengths at Nakayama.
The sire of 10 stakes horses and three stakes winners this year, TAPIT is again among the leading sires in 2021.