Shortly after the results for the 2012 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile were made official, Gainesway Farm's Antony Beck and Michael Gainesway stood in the shedrow of trainer Steve Asmussen's stable. Before them was the winner of the race, the 4-year-old Tapizar, a powerful-looking son of Gainesway's rising star Tapit who was still fired up from his open-lengths win. But Beck and Hernon hadn't made the walk to Santa Anita's backside just to admire their stallion's third Breeders' Cup winner. They were there on business. With them was Ron Winchell, whose family's Winchell Thoroughbreds owned and bred Tapizar. The Winchells had also, of course, owned Tapit, a $625,000 KEESEP yearling purchase.
“Naturally we were very familiar with Tapizar, but we went back just to eyeball him again,” said Hernon.
The men quickly come to an agreement. Gainesway purchased a significant interest in Tapizar, as it did in Tapit seven years earlier, and announced that the prodigal son would return to stand alongside his sire in Kentucky.
Two years on, the results of that agreement–weanlings from Tapizar's first crop–hit the market at November, and if Tapit's son Trappe Shot was the surprise standout at this year's yearling sales, Tapizar showed he might garner similar support next season.
Heading into yesterday's penultimate session at November, Tapizar had 15 weanlings from 17 on offer sell for $83,600. His median was $75,000, off a $15,000 fee, and his offspring included a $190,000 son of Strict Access (Mr. Greeley) from Dark Hollow Farm that was hammered down to Lakeview Stables Hip 1666.
“Tapizar is a big horse; he's 16.1 [hands], and is a strong horse with a lot of bone and substance, and his first-crop foals strongly resemble him,” said Michael Hernon. “He's certainly stamping them. They have size and strength, and some top horsemen are buying them: J.J. Crupi, Nick de Meric, McMahon and Hill Bloodstock, Winchell Thoroughbreds.”
Tapizar's early commercial success is a reflection of how the market is looking at Tapit these days. Almost since champion Stardom Bound emerged from his first crop to win the 2008 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies,
Tapit has been considered a clear source of top runners. But in recent years, and in particular thanks to a huge 2014–which included GI Kentucky Oaks and Breeders' Cup wins by Untapable and a Classic victory by Tonalist–Tapit's fee has been doubled to $300,000. That, too, after his 2014 yearlings, from 40 to sell, averaged $611,125.
Clearly, buyers aren't just looking at Tapit yearlings as top racing prospects. They're looking at them–well, his colts, at least–as potential stallion prospects, too.
“There's no question,” said Hernon. “I think he's very well positioned to be a sire of sire going forward. Horses like Tapizar, Trappe Shot and Hansen have gotten off to exciting starts at stud. And next season, he's going to breed 135 incredibly high-quality, well-managed mares. Those resulting foals will have stallions' pedigrees. Some may have balked at $300,000, and it's obviously a very significant stud fee, but given the demand, I think it was the right decision. We have a stack of pedigrees in the office of some very, very good mares who tried to get into the horse [and couldn't].”
Tapizar isn't the only son of Tapit to have his first weanlings sell at November. The aforementioned Hansen had his first sell, too, with 15 averaging $46,000, while weanlings from Trappe Shot's second crop have averaged $55,125.
For Hernon, it doesn't seem so long ago that he made the trip to trainer Michael Dickinson's Tapeta Farm in Maryland to first examine Tapit in person. It was the fall of 2004, and Tapit was coming off a star-crossed season that nonetheless saw him win the GI Wood Memorial S. in last-to-first fashion.
“We were approached by [Winchell Racing manager] David Fiske,” remembered Hernon. “He was a horse I was very keen on, and I spoke to Antony, who said, 'Well, jump on a plane and go see him.' It didn't take long to complete a deal. He had a great pedigree, and had real ability to accelerate. If you go back and look at his Laurel Futurity, and the way he circled the field in the Wood, it was obvious he had a lot of ability.”
Hernon said he saw similar ability in Tapizar.
“Through his career, he always flashed real brilliance,” said Hernon. “He showed it when he broke his maiden at Churchill by 10 lengths, when he won the GII San Fernando S. by 3 1/2 lengths, and when he won the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in his final career start before retiring sound to Gainesway. Because of that brilliance, he has been very popular with breeders. He bred 142 mares in his first year at stud, and 110 this past spring.” Tapizar will remain at $15,000 for the 2015 season.
Gainesway, meanwhile, announced it would cap the 13-year-old Tapit's book at 135 mares.
“We recognize that he's the asset, and you have to look after the golden goose,” said Hernon. “And we want to look after the shareholders who used the horse and helped make him. They're going to be rewarded.”
Most of them already have been. From eight to sell from eight on offer, Tapit was the leading sire of weanlings this fall from more than one to sell. They averaged $820,625, and included the North American record $3 million filly from Serena's Cat.
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