The first thing you need to remember about the Belmont Stakes is forget the long-believed idea the “Test of the Champion†is easy for closers to pass. It isn’t. It sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Send horses 1 ½ miles – the longest distance any of them will ever run and […]
Tag: Tapit
Former Horse of the Year Gun Runner Sets First-Crop Sire Earnings Mark
Gun Runner continued his climb up the stallion rankings this weekend, setting the record for all-time progeny earnings for a first-crop sire. The Three Chimneys’ stallion climbed over the $3.8 million mark when Shotgun Hottie captured a $92,000 maiden special weight race at Churchill Downs on Sunday. That sent Gun […]
Betting On The Derby Gene Pool: Who Will Father the 2022 Derby Winner?
One of the more interesting prop wagers in horse racing, betting on the sire of the future Kentucky Derby champion, opens Thursday with “All Other Sires†as the early 6/1 favorite. The Kentucky Derby Sire Future Pool is offered concurrently with Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, but […]
Even at 20, Gainesway’s Champion Sire Tapit Holds His Value
Three-time Champion Sire Tapit’s stud fee remains at $185,000, the primary takeaway from Gainesway Farm’s 2022 stallion roster fee update. Even as Spendthrift Farm’s Into Mischief continues to draw most of the oxygen and attention on the sire tables, Tapit remains North America’s leading sire over numerous categories. He leads […]
This QE II Challenge Cup Contender is Certainly Flippant
It was in the genes that Flippant would run her first two races on dirt. After all, that’s what Tapit offspring do. They run on dirt. Often, quite well on dirt, as we’ve seen with the likes of Belmont and Travers winner Essential Quality, among numerous others. But Flippant flipped […]
Essential Quality, Hot Rod Charlie Ready For More After Belmont Stakes
Even after Hot Rod Charlie reeled off record early fractions, and even after Essential Quality caught and passed him in the stretch, both leading protagonists from Saturday’s Belmont Stakes came out of their 1 ½-mile “Test of the Champion†in fine form. “He looks amazing. It doesn’t look like he […]
Could Essential Quality Close Triple Crown Hole in Cox’s Resume?
For Brad Cox, is Essential Quality the final piece of the Triple Crown race puzzle? First, there was Owendale’s third in the 2019 Preakness Stakes. Then, there was Mandaloun finishing second in the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Can Essential Quality give Cox his first American Classic victory in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes? […]
Into Mischief Takes Top Stallion Honors for Second Consecutive Year
That Into Mischief became North America’s leading stallion for the second consecutive year is borne out by facts that carry weight, heft and meaning beyond the breeding shed. Yes, there’s the $225,000 stud fee he commands. That hasn’t stopped would-be filly and mare owners from beating a path to his […]
Derby Sire Future Wager: You Can Bet on the Derby Winner’s Dad
You can make Kentucky Derby futures bets at William Hill Nevada and – starting Thursday and running through Sunday – Churchill Downs through its first Kentucky Derby Futures Wager pool. But now, you can also wager on Kentucky Derby sires through the Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager. That’s right. You […]
Into Mischief Again Proves He’s a Breed Above the Rest
Into Mischief illustrated again why he is the most sought-after sire in North America when his suddenly hot 2-year-old, Life Is Good, won his Del Mar debut Sunday. With the victory, Into Mischief broke the North American single-season progeny earnings record. When Life Is Good romped home by 9-½ lengths […]
Promising Pedigree: Constitution Progeny Showing What’s in Sire’s DNA
His racing career was promising, but unfulfilled – four victories in eight starts. Even being a son of standout sire Tapit, there was nothing in the crystal ball foreshadowing what awaited Constitution in the stallion shed. Which illustrates why horse breeding is such an inexact science, and why semi-royal bloodlines […]