Kentucky Derby Horse Profile: Tapit Trice
Mar 14, 2023
Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway Stable’s Tapit Trice earned 50 points on the 2023 Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series leaderboard following his two-length victory in the
$360,000
Tampa Bay Derby (G3) on March 11. The winner clocked 1 1/16 miles over
the fast main oval in 1:43.37 under the guidance of Luis Saez.
His pilot stated, “The start was a little slow, but as soon as he started to get going, he got big-time position for us.
When the dirt started hitting him in the face, he was a little green. But at
the half-mile pole, he got going.”
Classic
Car Wash, Classic Legacy, Prairie Hawk, and Lord Miles crossed the wire next
and picked up qualifying points on a 20-15-10-5 basis, respectively.
Tapit
Trice commenced his career at Aqueduct on Nov. 6 and rallied for a
third-place finish in a one-mile maiden special weight contest. In his second
assignment, the gray inched clear late to graduate over a muddy oval to
conclude his brief juvenile campaign.
The
Todd Pletcher trainee made his seasonal bow at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 4
and roared home to an emphatic, eight-length allowance win. His lifetime line
now reads 4-3-0-1, $310,150.
Tapit
Trice was bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Farm and brought the gavel down at $1.3
million at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The sophomore is the
initial black-type victor produced from the multiple stakes-winning Dunkirk
mare Danzatrice, who counts herself as a half-sister to 2018 Breeders’ Cup
Juvenile Fillies (G1) heroine and champion Jaywalk.
Tapit
Trice has earned Brisnet Speed figures of 85-96-99-95 in his four lifetime tries to
date, and the son of Tapit has also registered Late Pace numbers of 107 and 101
in his last pair of outings. The colt has the pedigree and running style to
indicate that he will prosper as the distances increase throughout the spring.
“It took him a while to get on track,'his conditioner said, “but I was very impressed down the lane. He finished up
the way we expected him to. He certainly seems like the farther he goes, the
stronger he gets. He's got a big, long stride. Once he got clear down the lane
he really extended himself and I loved the way he finished up. He relished the
two turns and the longer he goes, the better he'll get.”
The $1 million Blue Grass S. (G1) at
Keeneland on April 8 is the next potential target for the budding star,
according to his connections.
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