Tapit

Larry Walton has been named as the new Stallion Manager of Gainesway, the farm announced Monday. Walton, a native of Wall Township, New Jersey, received his bachelor's degree in Graphic Design from The Pennsylvania College of Technology (Penn State) in 2001. Larry began his career in Florida, first at Padua Stables and then spent nine years at Adena Springs. From there, he relocated to Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky, where he served as assistant stallion manager for three years. For the past five years, Larry has been the Stallion Manager at...

Signator (Tapit) earned the 'TDN Rising Star' tag with a good-looking score at second asking at Belmont at the Big A. A $1.7-million OBSAPR acquisition after breezing in :20 4/5 for Eddie Woods, he finished up well to be second on debut going six panels at this oval Sept. 16 and was hammered down to 3-5 favoritism to go one better here. Away a beat slow from his inside stall, the gray tugged his way up the fence, sitting near the back of the tightly bunched group. Saving ground off...

Front-running Pleasant Passage dug in resolutely Saturday to  honor her recently deceased sire and stamp her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Up in time to belie longer than 15-1 odds on debut at Saratoga Aug. 21, she employed opposite tactics here under new pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr., taking her five rivals along through fractions of :23.81, :49.77 and 1:14.98 over the yielding going. Free Look took a run at her to try and secure a ninth Miss Grillo trophy for Chad Brown, but Pleasant Passage stiff-armed...

While his main locally based rivals were gearing up for the GI Awesome Again S. Saturday afternoon, unbeaten superstar Flightline (Tapit) continued his march towards the Nov. 5 GI Breeders' Cup Classic with another strong breeze at Santa Anita. The 'TDN Rising Star', last seen dropping jaws in the Sept. 3 GI TVG Pacific Classic S. to go five-for-five lifetime, covered five furlongs in 1:00.40 (11/59) under John Sadler's assistant trainer Juan Leyva (Click for video via XBTV). "He went nice and easy, no heavy lifting," Sadler said. "We've got...

Was it divine intervention? As the story goes, sometime in late 1923 or early 1924, a Kentucky pastor, Rev. Dr. Thomas Settle, convinced some state legislators in Frankfort not to end legalized gambling in Kentucky by repealing parimutuel wagering, much to the relief of the Kentucky Jockey Club and other concerned horsemen. Most ministers may have taken the opposite tack at the time, but not Dr. Settle, and this made him stand out. A well-travelled Englishman who'd found his way to a small congregation on Main St. and Bell Ct....

1st-Belmont The Big A, $95,000, Msw, 9-16, 2yo, 6f, 1:12.12, ft, 1 1/4 lengths. QUICK HAMMER (c, 2, Mor Spirit--Malibu Cove, by Malibu Moon), picked up for just $100,000 out of the Fasig-Tipton Timonium Sale (:10 1/5) earlier this year, broke sharply from an outside gate, outpaced only by Warman Road (Unified) to his outside. Taken in hand, he rated patiently while racing two wide in company into the far turn with Space (Ghostzapper) until given his cue with just over a quarter mile to run. Still with a length...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency                                                         1st-BAQ, $95K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 1:00 p.m. The third-highest price at the OBS April Sale this year (:20 4/5), SIGNATOR (Tapit) makes his debut after bringing a final bid of $1,700,000 from Lane's End Racing & West Point Thoroughbreds. Now racing for Woodford Racing LLC, Lane's End Racing, Phipps Stable and Ken Langone out of trainer Shug McGaughey's...

Mandy Pope outlasted Chad Brown, who was bidding on behalf of Peter Brant, to take home a Tapit filly out of MSW & GSP Danzatrice (Dunkirk) (Hip 603) for $1.1 million during the Book 2 opener at Keeneland Wednesday. The chestnut was bred and sold by Gainesway. Her dam is a half-sister to champion Jaywalk (Cross Traffic). Pope purchased the filly's full-brother for at the auction last year for $1.3 million with Gainesway staying in for a piece. He is now named Tapit Trice and is in training with Todd...

David Ingordo of Lane's End Bloodstock doesn't smile much, and when he does, it's usually a half-smile. But he does have a sense of humor. On Sunday afternoon, he was spotted at Keeneland outside the Lane's End consignment wearing a gray vest with the name "David DeVaux" embroidered on the chest, a nod and a wink to his trainer wife Cherie DeVaux. Ingordo likes to be incognito and shuns the spotlight whenever he can, but he's very much in that spotlight at the moment, thanks to Flightline (Tapit), who first...

Thoro-Graph, which has been computing speed figures for 35 years, gave Flightline (Tapit) a negative 8 1/2 for his win in the GI TVG Pacific Classic, the fastest number it has ever assigned to a horse. The previous record was a negative 8, the figure Frosted (Tapit) ran when winning the 2016 GI Metropolitan H. Flightline was given a 126 Beyer figure. That is the second fastest Beyer number ever, trailing only the 128 that team gave to Ghostzapper (Awesome Again) when he won the GIII Philip H. Iselin H....

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency                                          6th-DMR, $80K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 6:44 p.m. Making his first start Saturday for trainer Bob Baffert, FORT BRAGG (Tapit) was a $700,000 FTKOCT yearling purchase for the large ownership group of SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Rob Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC & Catherine Donovan. Bred in partnership with SF Bloodstock LLC, this is the first...

After watching her undefeated homebred sensation Flightline (Tapit) demolish the GI TVG Pacific Classic field by 19 1/4 lengths Saturday, Jane Lyon was in just as much awe as the rest of the racing world. "It was unbelievable," Lyon said. "The fact that I bred him almost doesn't come into my mind. I don't take credit for any of that because I think a horse like this is a gift. After not running until a very late 3-year-old, he is just seems like he is getting better every day and...