The progeny of his triple Grade 1-winning son, Frosted (USA) who stands at Darley Victoria, have made an excellent start to their careers on the track, with the Godolphin colt, Ingratiating, a stakes winner on debut in the Listed Maribyrnong Trial earlier this month, while stablemate Cloudy finished third in the same race.
A week earlier, Tapit himself got his first Australian stakes winner when Love Tap won the G3 Gloaming S. at Rosehill, while in 2019, he celebrated his first Australian Group 1 win as a broodmare sire, when Qafila (Not A Single Doubt) who is out of Zighy Bay (USA), claimed the G1 SA Derby.
The stunning physical influence of Tapit is not only clear from the distinctive grey colouring of his progeny - indeed nine of his 10 winners in Australia have carried their sire's colour - but also through the quality of horses he is producing.
With 27 Grade 1 winners in his home country, he has more top-flight winners than any other active American stallion, including the victories of Essential Quality (USA) in the G1 Breeders' Futurity and Valiance (USA) in the G1 Spinster S. this month.
Tapit also had the top lot at last month's Keeneland September Yearling Sale, with a colt out of Tara's Tango (USA) (Unbridled's Song {USA}) selling for US$2 million (AU$2.77 million), as the Gainesway Farm sire averaged US$415,909 (AU$575,032) across 22 sold lots.
Tapit (USA) x Tara's Tango (USA) (colt)
"He has those 27 Grade 1 winners and he leads active American sires by the number of Graded stakes winners that he has produced, I think that speaks of the class he puts in his horses," Sean Tugel, Gainesway's Director of Stallion Sales and Recruitment, told TDN AusNZ.
"He passes on that desire to win, which is what the best sires give you. If there is ever one quality you want from a sire, it is that desire to win. They not only have that desire to win maidens, but also the desire to win at the highest level. That's what we are searching for in every sire."
"He passes on that desire to win, which is what the best sires give you. If there is ever one quality you want from a sire, it is that desire to win." - Sean Tugel
The growing international influence of Tapit, whether it be through his own progeny, or those of his sons and daughters, is something that Gainesway takes pride in, along with his domestic success in the United States.
Tapit's progeny have won stakes races in nine countries, including Testa Matta's (USA) win in the G1 February S. in Japan in 2012, while his bid for a Group 1 winner in Australia fell just short last weekend when the Richard and Michael Freedman-trained Love Tap finished fourth in the G1 Spring Champion S.
"He's a horse that has had international appeal throughout his career, but to see him be able to have Grade 1 winners and runners and top level horses throughout the world, gives us a lot of pride in him. Gainesway was founded on many horses that have international appeal and who were leading sires," Tugel said.
"Tapit is a generational sire and for him to be able to have Grade 1 influence internationally with that Group 1 winner in Japan and the possibility to have them in other continents, it speaks of the dominance he has as a sire and his ability to give the world top-class racehorses."
Sire sons ready to leave legacy
It's a legacy well-poised to continue on home shores, given there are 16 sons of Tapit on stallion rosters in the United States, including Group 1 producers Constitution (USA), Flashback (USA) and Gainesway resident Tapizar (USA), who stands along fellow sons of Tapit, Anchor Down (USA) and Tapwrit (USA).
"His resume speaks for itself as far as producing those top-quality winners, but now as that established horse and that generational horse, his sons are stamping themselves as up-and-coming horses," Tugel said.
"You've got Constitution, who is the leading second-crop sire and had the leading 3-year-old colt, Tiz The Law, you've got up and comers like Tapiture and Tonalist, and they are going to get horses like our own Tapwrit, who won the G1 Belmont S. and we are very excited to see his first foals."
Gainesway is also experiencing success with his daughters, with its G1 Fourstardave H. winner Halladay (USA) (War Front {USA}) from a Tapit mare, one of four Group 1 winners for him as a broodmare sire, including last Saturday's G1 Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup winner Harvey's Lil Goil (USA) (American Pharoah {USA}).
"Those sons and daughters are carrying on his legacy, and he is a generational sire which we probably haven't seen in America since a horse like Storm Cat. He's going to be a gift to our bloodstock not only in America but internationally for years to come," Tugel said.
Tapit (USA) | Standing at Gainesway Farm
Opportunity knocks in Australia
While Tapit's influence in Australia has grown, in reality breeders have barely scratched the surface in this country. He has two sons at stud, Darley's Victorian-based Frosted, and A Lot (USA), who stands in Western Australia, while he has only had 19 runners in total on the track and the same number through the sales ring as yearlings.
Not one of his 10 winners in Australia is from an Australian-bred mare while he has had just five starters as a broodmare sire.
Tugel sees the Tapit bloodline, particularly through any of his sire sons, as highly compatible to what Australian breeders are trying to produce.
"What we see with Tapit is that class will get you a long way in America. We want that two-turn 3-year-old type. I have always been a believer that you get the class through the stallion, but you get the speed through the mare. I think with the Australian mares and the emphasis on that early and 2-year-old type, that’s only going to help speed him up," he said.
"I have always been a believer that you get the class through the stallion, but you get the speed through the mare." - Sean Tugel
"You put that will to win and that fire in the belly that Tapit brings, and that 2-year-old precocity that Australia likes with their mares, it seems like it might be starting to pay off."
From a pedigree perspective, there appears to be a strong compatibility as well, with Tapit blood nicking particularly well with Northern Dancer (Can)-line stallions such as Medaglia D'Oro (USA), Into Mischief (USA) and War Front (USA).
"He loves Storm Cat and he loves Danzig-line mares and certainly in Australia there are a lot of opportunities there with Danzig and Northern Dancer blood specifically, he just absolutely loves Northern Dancer," Tugel said.
Frosted (USA), one of two of Tapit's (USA) sons standing in Australia | Standing at Darley
Frosted's early success also points to the precocity of the sireline, something reflected in the United States where Tapit himself has one of the leading contenders for the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile in the Godolphin-owned and Brad Cox-trained colt Essential Quality (USA).
Tugel sees the influence of Tapit as a terrific opportunity for Australian breeders moving forward.
"If the Australian buyers and breeders don't strictly label him an American dirt horse and start to realise he brings that precocity, you got to have the population of opportunities, and so that will only up the demand for Tapit and his sons and daughters, you would think," he said.
