From his first crop to race, 2-year-olds of 2008, Tapit (by Pulpit) has been a leading sire. The stallion’s first crop of juveniles included the champion filly Stardom Bound, winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, as well as the G1 Del Mar Debutante and Oak Leaf Stakes.
Shortly after the Breeders’ Cup, Stardom Bound was sold at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton November sale to IEAH Stables for $5.7 million, and the following season, the big gray won her first two starts, the G1 Las Virgenes Stakes and Santa Anita Oaks, and ran her tally to five victories, all in G1 races.
Even with such a strong beginning, Tapit went from that high to further high-caliber performers. These have included champions Untapable, Unique Bella, and Hansen, as well as 2021 champion and classic winner Essential Quality and 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline. Through 17 crops of racing age, the great gray has sired 1,719 foals of racing age, with 80 percent starters and 60 percent winners, statistics that are nearly 20 percent higher in each category than the overall breed stats.
This weekend at Churchill Downs, Tapit added his 164th stakes winner with Scylla, winner of the G3 Shawnee Stakes. Bred in Kentucky by Juddmonte Farms, Scylla is a full sister to three-time G2 stakes winner Tacitus (Wood Memorial, Suburban, and Tampa Bay Derby), who had the distinction of finishing second in the G1 Belmont Stakes, Travers, and Woodward, as well as running third in the Kentucky Derby.
This is one of the grandest families in the Stud Book, tracing to Broodmare of the Year Best in Show (Traffic Judge) through Monroe (Sir Ivor), and one of the surest ways to keep great families in strength at the highest level is to continually breed them to the best sires of the day.
Following Monroe, the generations leading to Scylla come from European highweight and classic winner Zafonic (Gone West), leading sire and G1 winner Storm Cat (Storm Bird), and G1 Forego Stakes winner First Defence (Unbridled’s Song), who stood eight seasons at Juddmonte, then was sold and moved to stand at Haif Stud in Saudi Arabia in 2017.
The dam of Scylla and Tacitus, however, is not just a nice mare by First Defence; she is champion Close Hatches, the best racing daughter of First Defence. And she can dispute being the best producer by First Defence with her full-sister, stakes winner Lockdown, who is the dam of last year’s champion older filly, Idiomatic (Curlin).
High-class racers and producers occur in each generation of this family, as well as plenty of useful racehorses too.
Scylla is clearly useful, at least, and as a winner in four of her six starts to date, she has the potential to develop further.
At the very least, she will be a premium broodmare prospect, and her sire is becoming almost as well-known as a broodmare sire as he has been known for years as a sire of premium racers.
According to statistics from Equineline.com, Tapit is the sire of 595 broodmares who have produced 109 stakes winners to date, with many more obviously to come.
Just this weekend, Tapit is the broodmare sire for the first-time stakes winners Happy Jack (Oxbow) and Circle of Trust (Union Rags).
Bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm, Happy Jack was presented as a foal at the 2019 Keeneland November sale. As Hip 4375, Happy Jack did not draw a bid and went back home. With earnings now approaching a half-million, that seems like a fortuitous outcome for the owner-breeder.
A son of 2013 Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow (Awesome Again), Happy Jack was unraced at two, then progressed markedly at three. He won a maiden at first asking in January 2022, then placed third in both the G2 San Felipe and the G1 Santa Anita Derby. Tried in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Happy Jack was unplaced.
After coming back to win an allowance at three, Happy Jack did not start for more than eight months, making only two starts at four, but the handsome dark bay has returned most emphatically at five. From two starts, he has been second in the listed Kona Gold Stakes behind The Chosen Vron and closed the deal in the G2 Triple Bend Stakes at Santa Anita on June 1 to earn his first stakes success.
Out of the Tapit mare Tapitstry, Happy Jack is one of three winners out of the dam; all are earners of more than $100,000.
Circle of Trust was bred in Kentucky by Gary and Mary West and made her first four starts for the Wests, running with promise but not finishing in the top three. Following a private transfer that allowed her to stay in the barn of trainer Phil d’Amato, Circle of Trust races for James Downey.
In her first start for Downey, the bay filly won a maiden at Santa Anita and has subsequently finished third in the G3 Providencia Stakes and won the G3 Honeymoon Stakes, all at Santa Anita. Now a winner in two of seven starts, Circle of Trust has earned $119,560.
A daughter of Belmont Stakes winner Union Rags (Dixie Union), Circle of Trust is 32nd stakes winner by her sire from 992 foals of racing age and is the 17th graded stakes winner for Union Rags, according to stats from Equineline.com.
The Honeymoon Stakes winner is out of the Tapit mare Open House, an unraced half-sister to G1 stakes winner West Will Power (Bernardini), a winner of $1.7 million. Circle of Trust is the second winner from three foals to race from Open House, which also includes the multiple winner Flashy Lass (Street Sense), who has earned $167,200.
With daughters producing graded stakes racers like these, Tapit is assured to have continuing importance as a broodmare sire in the years to come.
bloodstock in the bluegrass 