2023 Blue Grass Stakes winner

Tapit Trice was a tall, gray colt who looked the part of a classic horse and ran like one in the spring of 2023. He was foaled in 2020, a son of the great Tapit out of the mare Danzatrice. He raced for Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm in partnership with Antony Beck's Gainesway Stable, two of the most prominent breeding operations in Kentucky. Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher got the training assignment, and Luis Saez rode him in his biggest moments.

Tapit Trice showed up on the Kentucky Derby trail in flashy fashion. He picked up his first major win in the Tampa Bay Derby in March 2023 with a powerful late kick, then traveled to Keeneland and captured the Blue Grass Stakes in another stretch closing performance. Both wins came under Luis Saez, and the gray colt looked like the most exciting closer of his crop heading into Churchill Downs. By Derby Day he was sent off as one of the favorites in a wide open three year old crop.

The 2023 Kentucky Derby did not go his way. Tapit Trice broke a touch slow, got caught wide on the first turn, and never quite got into his rhythm down the stretch, finishing seventh behind Mage. He skipped the Preakness Stakes but came back fresh for the Belmont Stakes. There he ran a much better race, rallying late to finish second behind a brilliant performance by Arcangelo. The result confirmed that he was a top three year old, even if his big classic moment never quite arrived.

Tapit Trice raced on through 2023 and 2024 against top company before being retired to begin a stallion career at Gainesway Farm, where his sire Tapit had become one of the most influential stallions of the modern era. The big gray colt joined the next generation of Tapit sire prospects with a Grade 1 win and a Belmont second on his page. Tapit Trice is remembered as one of the most exciting closers of his crop and as a colt who carried the Whisper Hill and Gainesway colors into all three Triple Crown events of 2023.

Sources:

• Tapit Trice (Wikipedia)

• Tapit Trice (Gainesway)

• Equibase Tapit Trice profile