Tapiture Sailing Well into BC Dirt Mile
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Winchell Thoroughbreds' homebred Tapiture clocked four furlongs in :50 2/5 Oct. 26 at Santa Anita Park leading up to a bid for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I).
The 3-year-old son of Tapit will attempt Oct. 31 to mirror the success of another Tapit runner, Tapizar , who won the Dirt Mile for trainer Steve Asmussen in 2012.
"Right now, with him, it's the right spot, and I'm sure it's influenced by Tapizar's success in the Dirt Mile, with so many similarities to the two races and two horses," Asmussen said.
"He has made a great deal of money this year at a mile and a sixteenth, mile and an eighth, but he's just a very athletic, talented horse and he's capable of being quicker."
Tapiture was second to Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) contender Bayern in the Sept. 20 Pennsylvania Derby (gr. II) going 1 1/8 miles last time out. He won the Aug. 2 West Virginia Derby (gr. II) at the same distance after taking the June 14 Matt Winn Stakes (gr. III) at 1 1/16 miles.
The chestnut colt shortens up to a mile for the first time since prior to breaking his maiden. He was third in an Oct. 27 maiden special weight last year in his only try at the Dirt Mile distance, and went directly from that race to win the Nov. 30 Kentucky Jockey Club (gr. II) at 1 1/16 miles before winning the 2014 Southwest Stakes (gr. II) also at 1 1/16 miles.
Asmussen also sent Winchell's Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) contender Untapable through four furlongs Oct. 26 in :50 3/5.
"I'm extremely pleased with how they've done out here," the trainer remarked. "We got very big works in them last week, plenty of time to settle in. They've been very healthy and things have gone very smoothly. Right now, you just get nervous about how the track is playing and how you draw."