Tapit Trice Outduels Verifying to Win $1 Million Toyota Blue Grass

By Amy Owens —-

Tapit Trice Outduels Verifying to Win $1 Million Toyota Blue Grass

LEXINGTON, KY (April 8, 2023) – Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway Stable’s Tapit Trice edged away from Verifying in deep stretch to win the 99th running of the $1 million Toyota Blue Grass (G1) for 3-year-olds on Saturday afternoon by a neck at Keeneland.

Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Luis Saez, Tapit Trice covered the 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:50.00. The victory is a record-setting fourth in the Toyota Blue Grass for Pletcher and the third for Saez.

Pletcher’s other victories came with Bandini in 2005, Monba in 2008 and Carpe Diem in 2015. Saez won with Brody’s Cause in 2016 and Essential Quality in 2021.

The victory was worth 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and gave Tapit Trice 150 points, good for fourth place on the leaderboard. The Derby is limited to the top 20 point earners and invitees that pass the entry box.

Verifying picked up 40 points and increased his total to 54. Blazing Sevens earned 30 points for finishing third to boost his total to 46. Sun Thunder picked up 20 points for finishing fourth to give him 54 points, and Raise Cain added 10 points for fifth and a total of 64 points. The current cut line is 45 points.

Next Saturday’s Stonestreet Lexington (G3) at Keeneland is the final points race for the Derby and offers 40 points on a 20-8-6-4-2 scale for the first- through fifth-place finishers.

In the Toyota Blue Grass, longshot Clear the Air set the pace through fractions of :23.32 and :48.04 with Verifying running second and Tapit Trice racing in midpack in the clear in the early run down the backstretch.

Midway on the backstretch, Saez made a five-wide move to close in on the leaders and by the time the field passed 6 furlongs in 1:12.57, Tapit Trice had drawn within a length of the leaders.

As the field turned for home, Clear the Air retreated leaving the two favorites to battle it through the lane with Verifying holding a narrow advantage until past the sixteenth pole when Tapit Trice inched past.

The two colts brushed a couple of times in the stretch, and an objection lodged by Tyler Gaffalione on Verifying was disallowed.

Tapit Trice’s victory, his fourth in a row, was worth $573,500 and increased his earnings to $883,650 with a record of 5-4-0-1. Tapit Trice, purchased for $1.3 million at Keeneland’s 2021 September Yearling Sale, is a Kentucky-bred son of Tapit out of the Dunkirk mare Danzatrice.

Favored in the field of 11, Tapit Trice returned $5.28, $3.12 and $2.64. Verifying returned $3.70 and $2.92 and finished 5¾ lengths in front of Blazing Sevens, who paid $3.74 to show under Irad Ortiz Jr.

It was another half-length back to Sun Thunder, who was followed in order by Raise Cain, Mendelssohns March, Hayes Strike, Classic Car Wash, Scoobie Quando, Major Blue and Clear the Air.

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Keeneland is closed for racing tomorrow, Easter Sunday. Racing will resume Wednesday with an eight-race program that begins at 1 p.m. ET.

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Since its first race meet more than 85 years ago, the Keeneland Association has devoted itself to the health and vibrancy of the Thoroughbred industry. The world’s largest Thoroughbred auction house, Keeneland conducts five sales a year, in January, April, September and November. Graduates of Keeneland sales dominate racing across the globe at every level. In April and October, Keeneland offers some of the highest caliber and richest Thoroughbred racing in the world. Keeneland hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships in 2015, 2020 and 2022. Uniquely structured, Keeneland is a privately held company with a not-for-profit mission that returns its earnings to the industry and the community in the form of higher purses and millions of dollars donated in support of horse industry initiatives and charitable contributions for education, research, and health and human services throughout Central Kentucky. Keeneland also maintains the Keeneland Library, a world-renowned public research institution with the mission of preserving information about the Thoroughbred industry. To learn more, visit Keeneland.com.