There’s an old saying in the racing business that the fastest way to a million dollars is to start off with two million dollars. Whoever uttered these words clearly was not in the business of selling yearlings. Although I could write an article about how yearlings from sires such as Lemon Drop Kid and Exchange Rate are terrific values and actually turn a profit for their buyers, it’s much more fun to write an article about yearlings who are overvalued.

When a brand name sire has a yearling with good confirmation (bone structure and proportions that seem conducive to winning races) people tend to drive up that horse’s price to unbelievable heights. This year’s prime example came at the September yearling sale when a horse sired by Tapit out of Pretty N Smart sold for a staggering one million dollars! The horse is currently referred to as Hip# 325 as it waits to receive a name. He actually has good confirmation and a nice chestnut coat.; the problem is the price.

I will not argue that Tapit isn’t one of the top 5 sires in the world right now, but lets put all of this into perspective. Tapit has sired approximately 1500 runners, 6 of which have gone on to earn over a million dollars. Since Tapit’s progeny do not have a reputation of being world-class sires themselves, I am going to assume the buyer is purchasing this horse primarily for its racing abilities and not its siring abilities. This means that the buyer believes that hip#325 is a horse that comes along 6 out of every 1500 times- that is one special horse!

At the time of this writing two more Tapit foals have sold for over a million dollars! The first one is out of prominent broodmare Avaknowsthecode and the second is by Evrobi. So, what is American racing’s fascination with Tapit?

Well, for starters he actually sires durable horses. His average starts for per runner is usually toward the top of the list which is impressive considering how precocious he was as a racehorse. It is also remarkable considering that he isn’t the most muscular horse and though his confirmation is very good, it is far from remarkable. The industry seems to finally be getting tired of horses who’s progeny can’t get past their two-year old season without getting injured.

Though people outside of the business probably don’t spend much time thinking about it, paying the vet bill for a thoroughbred must feel like owning a car that only runs on 93 gas- a really annoying but ultimately necessary evil. Well, most people seem to be of the opinion that Tapit colts and fillies remain healthy if given the proper care- in other words they’re built Ford tough.

His horses are almost always milers. This is big because American breeders love milers. A miler has enough stamina to sneak out a win in a distance race, and can usually hold their own in sprints. Milers tend to be moneymakers on the track and in the breeding shed. In fact, Case Clay once said something to the effect of, people running breeding operations should look to the Met Mile for stallion prospects. In short, milers make money.

I am embarrassed to reveal the next reason because it sounds silly, but it is not. Out of all the top sires in the country, what seems different about Tapit? Tapit is gray. Yes, his coat color endears him to people. Most thoroughbred owners do not care if you take their decisions seriously because they already have enough money to make it so that your decisions do not affect them. This means that they can pick horses based on coat color genes. Even if a Tapit yearling is brown (many of them are) the horse still has the recessive genes necessary to give birth to a grey horse. If someone conducted a study on coat color and yearling prices, I’m sure that they would find that a given sire’s grey yearlings tend to outsell his non-grey yearlings. This is anecdotal but I’ve seen this on many occasions-so it’s kind of true.

Tapit continues the A.P. Indy sire line. A.P Indy and Danzig were the greatest sires of the last twenty-five years, so any horses that appear to be their heir apparents will be in high demand. Tapit seems to be the heir apparent to A.P. Indy just like Hard Spun may be the heir apparent to Danzig. This is not to say that Tapit is as good as his grandfather A.P. Indy, it just means that he is the best of the active stallions in this sire line. Since he is part of the A.P. Indy sire line, he meshes well with the American broodmare gene pool. You know how people say that there is a certain magic that happens when you cross A.P. Indy with Mr. Prospector? Well there’s a certain magic that happens when you cross Tapit with Mr. Prospector; and there is a lot of Mr. Prospector in the American broodmare gene pool-trust me.

I will be rooting for all of Tapit’s yearlings. The A.P. Indy sire line is the best that we have ever produced and I wish nothing but the best to those who invest in this sire line. Hopefully Tapit will continue to make his mark on the breed and produce the types of horses that this sport has been patiently waiting for.