TAPIT: MAKE THAT THREE BELMONT STAKES WINNERS

After breaking the single-season earnings record for a North American stallion for three consecutive years, from 2014-16, Tapit was dethroned from atop the general sires earnings list in 2017. However, the Gainesway resident – whose seasonal record of $19,245,198 remains the standard – still made more history.

Tapit recorded a rare accomplishment when Tapwrit won the Belmont Stakes last June, giving his sire his third victory in four years in the oldest and longest American classic. Tapwrit joined Tonalist (2014) and Creator (2016) as Belmont Stakes-winning sons of Tapit. Tapit finished second in the 2015 Belmont with Frosted, who chased home Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, and third in 2016 with Lani.

Tapit is the only sire in the modern era to be represented by three Belmont Stakes winners – and one of just five stallions to sire three or more winners of the classic. The great Lexington, America’s leading sire 16 times, holds the all-time record, with four victors in General Duke (1868), Kingfisher (1870), Harry Bassett (1871), and Duke of Magenta (1878).

Three other stallions have sired three Belmont winners. Lexington’s contemporary Australian won with Joe Daniels (1872), Springbok (1873), and Spendthrift (1879). Fair Play, a grandson of Spendthrift, sired the great Man o’ War, who won the 1920 Belmont, and was joined by Mad Play (1924) and Chance Shot (1927). Man o’ War himself sired three Belmont winners in American Flag (1925), Crusader (1926), and 1937 Triple Crown winner War Admiral.

Joining Tapwrit as Grade 1 winners for Tapit in 2017 were Cupid, Dream Dancing, and Unique Bella, an Eclipse Award finalist in two categories. Cupid earned the stallion’s highest Beyer Speed Figure of the year, with a 108 in winning the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita. Led by that figure, Tapit led Daily Racing Form’s Beyer Sire Performance Standings by performances recording a 90 or higher in dirt routes and was among the leaders by percentage of individual runners recording a 100 or higher in all types of races.