Tiago (b h, 2004, by Pleasant Tap x Set Them Free, by Stop the Music)
Adena Springs; $7,500
A multiple G1 winner (Santa Anita Derby and Goodwood) and G2 winner (Swaps and Oaklawn Handicap), Tiago was a second high-class racer from the good mare Set Them Free. His half-brother, Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo (by Holy Bull), also stands at Adena Springs and may have had a role in making Tiago more attractive to the stallion managers there.
Even without the presence of Giacomo, however, Tiago has merit as a tough horse who raced through age 5 and earned $2,358,270. Perhaps his best placing came last year at the Breeders’ Cup over his favorite track, Santa Anita, when the horse ran third in the Classic to Raven’s Pass and Henrythenavigator, beating Horse of the Year Curlin.
As an outcross, Tiago will have interest for breeders. The horse is from the little-loved but highly classic Ribot male line, descending back through the mists of time from St Simon. The horse’s only inbreeding is Nasrullah 5×5 through the fifth generation, but there are at least eight lines of Phalaris already showing in the fifth generation, as well as considerable deep duplications.