A Tapit for Conquest

Ernie Semersky admitted he was waiting for just the right time to purchase an offspring of Tapit for his Conquest Stables. That time came Tuesday at Keeneland when Semersky, sitting alongside partner Dory Newell and trainer Mark Casse, went to $700,000 for a gray colt by Gainesway’s super sire. 

“We’ve been waiting for one that we really loved and we really loved that one,” Semersky said of hip 234. 
The yearling consigned and bred by Gainesway, is out of Seeinsbelieven (Carson City) and is a half-brother to stakes winner Aquapazza (Stormy Atlantic). Seeinsbelieven is a half-sister to graded stakes winners Softly (Binalong) and Coragil Cat (Forest Wildcat). 

“We liked the way he walked, his size, the really high hip and the long legs,” Semersky said. “We liked the Carson City broodmare. We liked everything about him.” 

The Tapit colt was Conquest’s sixth purchase at the two-day old September sale. Earlier on Tuesday, the operation purchased a filly by Unbridled’s Song (hip 216) for $350,000. Its three purchases Monday were led by a colt by Kitten’s Joy (hip 24) acquired for $400,000. 

“I think we’re getting some good values,” Semersky commented. “I think there is good value. There are 
good horses here and good value if you go through enough of them. Mark is through just about everything in the sale and we have a vet and a lot of people who go around. So then we look at the short list and, if we all agreed, we buy them.” 

Gainesway purchased Seeinsbelieven for $270,000 at the 2008 Keeneland November sale. The mare’s Tapit colt of 2010 sold for $425,000 at the 2011 September sale and her 2012 Tapit filly brought $475,000 at this auction a year ago. 

“He was a great horse,” Gainesway’s Michael Hernon said of the yearling. “He was a homebred and a very high-quality product. He is a beautiful horse with excellent conformation and great motion combined with an excellent temperament and demeanor. He really looks like a great prospect. He was here to sell and was very realistically reserved. He had a strong following. And he’s gone to a top trainer and we have high expectations for him going forward.”

 In the midst of an impressive year on the racetrack, yearlings by Tapit have been in demand at Keeneland. The stallion was represented by a $900,000 colt and a $775,000 filly during Monday’s first session of the sale. Just minutes after Conquest purchased hip 234, another Gainesway homebred by Tapit, hip 249, sold for $700,000 to Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm. The two Gainesway-bred yearlings were two of four by the stallion to bring $700,000 Tuesday. 

“I think Tapit right now is king of the hill,” Hernon said. “He’s set himself apart, both on the general sires list and here at Keeneland in the sales ring. And he just has this ability to get very top drawer Grade I horses, be they colts or fillies, on turf, dirt or synthetic. He is a remarkable horse in how he moves mares up. I think this is just the tip of a pretty big iceberg.”