Tapit Colt Pinhooked for $1.2M at F-T Saratoga Sale

For Dean DeRenzo, betting on Tapit   is a no-brainer. The offspring of the all-time leading North American sire by earnings and active leader among grade 1 and graded stakes winners feels like as close to a sure bet as there is.

So when he purchased one of Tapit's offspring at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale for $275,000, he knew the potential return as a pinhook prospect was high. That expectation proved true as the colt, consigned as Hip 129, sold for $1.2 million Aug. 8 on the second night of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. Whisper Hill Farm signed the ticket for the colt out of the Tiznow mare Plenty O'Toole.

DeRenzo wasn't surprised by the return.

"I thought he was one of the best colts in the sale," he said. 

DeRenzo and his partners work the weanling and yearling sales as well as anyone in search of pinhooking prospects. When they saw the son of Tapit, they knew they had to have him. He said they like to work at the upper end of the market because, as DeRenzo put it: "Great horses do great things."

Tapit stands for $185,000 at Gainesway near Lexington.

"You know, when we bought him, we absolutely fell in love with him," DeRenzo said. "He was a little bit smaller because it was November, and he grew and grew and grew and he just does everything right."

Part of that growth includes a lot of food.

"He would eat you out of house and home," DeRenzo said. "It was a great thing. So he just developed exactly the way we hoped he would, and he did."

Still, the similarities to the sire were exactly what was hoped for back in November. Tapit colts can put visions of Flightline  , Essential Quality  , and Tonalist   in one's head. 

"He had a lot of bone and has a strong hip," DeRenzo said. "Tapits are amazing. When they have a hip, they are extra amazing. He's got a great family; it's a young family, too."

The colt is also a half brother to three-time Breeders' Cup participant Mr. Money  , who earned $1,360,430 in his career. The mare has nine colts, six starters, with half having won. 

DeRenzo and his partner Randy Hartley weren't just unloading from their collection of Thoroughbreds Tuesday; they added a Not This Time   colt, consigned as Hip 122, for $900,000.

Not This Time stands for $135,000 at Taylor Made Stallions near Nicholasville, Ky.

In Gainesway's consignment and out of the War Front   mare Pammy Whammy, the bay is one of five foals, two of which have raced.