Tag: Triple Crown

Whisper Hill Farm owner Mandy Pope has invested significantly in the sport of thoroughbred horse racing, primarily in the market for broodmares with world-class pedigrees. In Saturday's Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, she will seek a breakthrough triumph with a horse she purchased as a yearling in $1.3 million acquisition Tapit Trice.

Pope is best known for purchasing dual Champion Female Sprinter Groupie Doll [$3.1 million], 2011 Horse of the Year Havre de Grace [$10 million] and soon to be enshrined Hall of Famer Songbird [$9.5 million] to add to her broodmare band. All three have visited four-time Belmont Stakes producing stallion Tapit – the sire of Tapit Trice.

Co-owned by breeder Gainesway Stable, Tapit Trice enters the “Test of the Champion” off a troubled seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs. The effort ended a four-race win streak over as many racetracks, which included triumphs on the Derby trail in the Grade 1 Blue Grass on April 8 at Keeneland, where he defeated Verifying after a thrilling stretch duel, and the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby on March 11 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Although Tapit Trice is not a Whisper Hill homebred by Tapit like many of Pope's racing prospects, she said the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase is, “a great example of what we've done in buying horses.”

“We did a lot of shopping and looking at the horses that we're available at Keeneland. He was the one that I just really zeroed in on,” recalled Pope. “I loved him physically and mentally. I also trusted Gainesway to know that they did a good job in raising him. It was awesome that they bought back in. His brain is very good and he's very level headed, which helps him.”

Todd Quast, general manager of Whisper Hill Farm, echoed Pope's sentiments.

“He really stood out amongst the horses that we looked at and we don't buy a lot of [yearlings] at the sale,” Quast said. “We might buy 5-10 tops every year. Mandy was very, very high on him and I liked him as well. I was hoping we would pay a little less for him, but the market is what the market is. We're extremely happy to have him.”

Tapit Trice certainly has plenty on his side leading up to Saturday's engagement. He is by Tapit, who produced Belmont Stakes winners Tonalist [2014], Creator [2016], Tapwrit [2017] and Essential Quality [2021] while also producing Constitution – a Belmont Stakes producing stallion in his own right as the sire of 2020 winner Tiz the Law.

Additionally, he is conditioned by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, who has saddled four winners of the prestigious race, including the aforementioned Tapwrit. On the bottom side of his pedigree, Tapit Trice is out of the three-time stakes-winning mare Danzatrice whose Pletcher-trained sire Dunkirk finished second in 2009 Belmont Stakes behind Summer Bird.

“I don't think there's any question that he can go the distance,” Pope said. “Hopefully, he'll get a better trip than he did in the Derby and it sets up for that closing punch that he has.”

Quast noted the horse's large stride as his most effective weapon in getting the endurance-testing 1 1/2-mile distance.

“He's a big, powering horse that takes him a while to get going,” Quast commented. “In the Derby, we drew inside [post 5] and it was frustrating for him being down there. He couldn't get out in the straightaway the first time, couldn't get out into the first turn, couldn't get out down the backside and then when he finally gets out, he had too much left to do. I don't see the Belmont being that way with only nine horses.”

Tapit Trice drew post 2 of nine contenders for the Belmont Stakes, but drawing an inner post does not concern Quast this time around.

“That's OK because it's a longer race and hopefully we can get a better trip,” Quast said. “His high-cruising speed is what we need to have. He needs to be able to get into that gear and go on. In the Blue Grass, when Verifying bumped him a couple of times, he showed he can keep going, he just has to be able to get in that stride.”

Quast commented on the legacy that Tapit has developed in being a prominent Belmont Stakes producing sire.

“We have a lot more distance in the Belmont and being a Tapit, it's well documented how well they've done in the Belmont,” Quast said. “He's got help on the mare side too with Dunkirk. He is a Tapit in that he can be a little headstrong every now and then, but he's very smart. After he won the Blue Grass, he kind of woke up a bit. He's doing a little more showing off, in a good way, as he gets older. The Classics are huge and I do think the Belmont is coming up as one of the best races this year in terms of depth and quality.”

Tapit Trice will be ridden by Luis Saez, who guided dual Champion and Tapit progeny Essential Quality to victory in the 2021 Belmont Stakes. Although best known for being a frontrunning rider, Saez and Tapit Trice fit each other quite well according to Quast.

“He's a good physical rider and sometimes Tapit Trice needs to be reminded to get into it and get going,” Quast said. “As we've gotten him into more races he doesn't need that as much, but I think that's where Luis fits him well. He never gives up on him either. He knows that kick is coming, you just have to put him in the position or get the position to be able to do it. They fit each other to a 'T.'”

For Pope, an elusive triumph in an American Classic would be a special one.

“I want to say it would be the icing on the cake, but there's a lot of icing out there to be had,” Pope said. “It definitely would be at the top.”

The post Belmont Stakes: American Classic Win Would Be ‘Icing On The Cake’ For Tapit Trice Owner Mandy Pope appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The last time a Pennsylvania-bred horse won the “Test of the Champion,” there was no Triple Crown and Belmont Park did not yet exist. But that could all change when Keystone State native colt Angel of Empire goes into the gate for Saturday's 155th renewal of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets.

Trained by Brad Cox and owned by Albaugh Family Stables, Angel of Empire enters off a late-closing third as the lukewarm favorite in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs. The son of 2016 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Classic Empire has already covered plenty of ground during his sophomore season with scores in the Grade 2 Risen Star on February 18 at Fair Grounds Race Course and the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on April 1 at Oaklawn Park.

The last Pennsylvania-bred horse to capture the Belmont Stakes was C.E. Rand's Foxford, who captured the 1891 renewal with a winning ride by future Hall of Famer Edward “Snapper” Garrison. The Belmont Stakes was run at 1 1/4 miles that year at the defunct Morris Park in the Bronx. The other Pennsylvania-breds to win the Belmont are Saunterer [1881] and Panique [1884].

For Pennsylvania breeder Christian Black, Angel of Empire has become the pride and joy of Forgotten Land Investment and Black Diamond Equine Corp., which he operates with his wife Cristina. Black is also a partner in the leading Pennsylvania breeding operation Blackstone Farm, who bred three-time graded stakes-winning millionaire Tom's Ready.

“You put a lot of time and effort into these horses, so it's very, very exciting. The fact that it's been over a hundred years since a P.A. bred won the Belmont Stakes just makes it even more exciting,” Black said. “There are a lot of people that have had a hand in this for all of this to happen and we're very appreciative for all of our staff at the farm as well as Mr. [Dennis] Albaugh for buying the horse and trusting in a P.A.-bred.”

Black, a native of Copenhagen, Denmark, spent time mucking stalls at a standardbred track while at school. He emigrated to the United States in 2006.

“I started studying Thoroughbred pedigrees,” Black said. “If I wanted to try myself out in the industry, I wanted to go to a market that I thought was the most commercial and challenging and that would be the U.S. market. That's how I ended up over here.”

Angel of Empire's dam Armony's Angel, by To Honor and Serve, never found the winner's circle in eight lifetime starts. Black acquired the chestnut mare for $67,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale while she was in foal with Angel of Empire.

Armony's Angel, out of the Carson City mare Seeinisbelieven, is a half-sister to graded stakes winner Conquest Big E. Her third dam, Coragil, produced graded stakes winners Softly and Coragil Cat as well as stakes-placed Spring Eclipse. She is also a direct descendant of prolific broodmare Sister Satan – an ancestress of dual Breeders' Cup Classic winner Tiznow.

To Honor And Serve – who won the nine-furlong Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga in 2012 – boasts a strong pedigree, being a full brother to graded stakes winner Angela Renee and a half-brother to Grade 1-placed Elnaawi. His fifth dam, Golden Trail, was a foundation mare for prominent commercial breeding operation Darby Dan Farm.

“[To Honor and Serve] himself was not that successful as a stallion, but looking at his female family it's one of the better female families in the American stud book,” Black said. “The mare was a half to a graded stakes winner and if you go further down it gets a little bit deeper. There's a lot of speed in that family, but at the same time To Honor and Serve won going a mile and an eighth. She's a beautiful and straightforward mare.”

Black described a young Angel of Empire as immature physically, but a horse that was willing to do what was asked of him.

“He was always mature mentally, it was all about the body. He's a big, leggy horse, not a small horse by any means,” Black said. “He's not a 'let's go from 0-to-60' type. He can do that, he just needs a little more ground to do that than some of the others that might be more handy. When he gets there, he just keeps going and that's one thing that's required to be able to go the mile and a half. Not coming from way off-the-pace, you just have to be able to sustain. Some horses, you can get them to show some speed but they can't sustain it. With him, when he gets up there, he'll keep sustaining.

“He didn't take much time as a foal. He was an easy foal to be around,” Black continued. “His weaning process was a little hard on him. He was always an immature horse in that he still has a lot of frame and body to grow into. He's always been like that and Brad had kind of alluded to that saying that he's a horse that just keeps maturing better and filling out.”

Angel of Empire was sold in Book 4 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, which generally does not offer as commercially-friendly yearlings as the first few catalogs.

Black expressed a sense of pride in having a prominent owner like Dennis Albaugh and his racing manager Jason Loutsch take an interest in his horse. Angel of Empire was bought by Albaugh for $70,000.

“They usually buy in the early books at the Keeneland sale. They were a little short on numbers and Jason was going through the catalog looking for pedigrees and physicals and horses that might take them to where Angel of Empire ended up going,” Black recalled. “His pedigree was probably better than a lot of Book 4 or 5, but he was there because he was an immature yearling. I think they were looking for something that would at least be a two-turn horse. When we buy or breed horses, we're all thinking and dreaming that they could be the next superstar. Obviously, it doesn't always work that way, but at least we have the dream until we're proven wrong.

“We're very grateful that they purchased the horse and that he ended up in Brad Cox's hands,” added Black. “When you get those kind of connections, there's a chance it all comes together. The horse has to be talented to do it and he's shown that he's at the top end of the 3-year-old crop this year.”

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