Tapwrit stamped himself as a serious contender on the south Florida scene for next year’s series for the 3-year-old colts after the son of Tapit splashed to victory in the $75,000 Pulpit S. Dec. 10 over a sloppy Gulfstream Park main track.
The colt holds special significance for Bridlewood Farm, who owns Tapwrit in partnership with Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Robert LaPenta. He is the first stakes winner for John Malone’s Bridlewood since Malone purchased the Ocala property.
Tapwrit, the 3-2 favorite in the one-mile Pulpit was four-wide down the backstretch for the one-mile affair run out of the chute. After sitting a couple lengths off the lead, Eddie Castro deftly moved Tapwrit to the front around the turn. The dark gray powered clear in the stretch and was hand-ridden to the wire as he finished a little better than a length ahead of stablemate Master Plan.
“I think everything is in play now,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “We’ll see how he comes out of it. He’s seems to be going the right way. We’ll target one of these stakes. I’m not sure which one yet.
“He’s certainly improved off his first start. He didn’t behave well in his first start. He kind of missed the break and didn’t know what to do after that,” Pletcher continued. “Subsequently, he’s trained well and has become much more professional. I think the blinkers have helped. We’re very pleased with his last two runs.”
After finishing off the board in his debut, Tapwrit has won two straight and now has earned $63,902 in his three starts.
Tapwrit, a son of two-time leading sire, was purchased by his owners for $1.2 million at the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Sale. Bred by Meadowview Farm, he is out of Spinaway S. (G1) and Silverbulletday S. (G3) winner Appealing Zophie.
Gulfstream Park’s upcoming 3-year-old graded stakes include the Hutcheson S. (G3) on Jan. 7 and Holy Bull S. (G2) on Feb. 4.
