Riggio and Bandoroff Offer Tapwrit's Half Brother
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Photo: Fasig-Tipton Photo
Hip 124 is a Speightstown half brother to Tapwrit
By Julie Witt
Len Riggio and Craig Bandoroff are returning to familiar grounds Aug. 7-8.
In 2015, Bandoroff's Denali Stud brought a grey son of Tapit bred by Riggio's My Meadowview to Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga selected yearling sale, and the colt out of grade 1 winner Appealing Zophie brought a cool $1.2 million in the sales ring—the third highest price of the sale.
Flash forward two years, and that yearling is now 2017 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) winner Tapwrit. At this year's Saratoga sale, Bandoroff and Riggio offer Hip 124, Tapwrit's yearling half brother by Speightstown .
"Physically, he's pretty different than his brother, he's definitely more of a Speightstown build—short coupled and more compact—and you can see the mare's influence in him," said Bandoroff. "When it came time to decide where to bring him we looked at him and decided if he fit the sale as an individual, regardless of the success we had with Tapwrit, and he does. He's got a good pedigree and we think he'll withstand the scrutiny up there."
The yearling is the only one offered at this sale out of a dam who is both a grade 1 winner and grade 1 producer.
"You never expect them to bring those big numbers, but it's awfully nice when they do and we'd love for it to happen again," Bandoroff said.