A stallion is only half the equation – and, in getting a new stallion off on the right foot, a premium is placed on the quality of mares behind him. Few are in a position to support their new stallions better than Mandy Pope.
Gainesway Farm – where Pope boards mares, and with whom she has raced in partnership – introduces four new stallions this year. They are Grade 1 winner Tapit Trice and graded stakes winner Charge It, both by Gainesway’s kingpin Tapit; Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey, by the late, great Arrogate; and Grade 1 winner Muth, by young classic sire Good Magic.
Charge It raced as a homebred in the name of Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm, while Tapit Trice was bred by Gainesway and raced for Pope and the farm in partnership.
Pope is well known for her auction activity, as about a decade ago she began making major investments in her broodmare band with the goal of developing an elite homebred racing and commercial operation. With that phase now coming to fruition, Pope has campaigned multiple Grade 1 winners and has sold multiple seven-figure yearlings, many in the Gainesway consignment. She is now in the next phase of what she calls “a very long game,” as she is now seeking to develop stallion prospects.
To that end, Pope was active acquiring colts during this yearling season and continued to be active acquiring mares last month to support her current prospects. She was involved in the purchase of 19 fillies and mares for a combined $9,010,000 at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale while “looking for mares to breed to Charge It and Tapit Trice. Definitely,” she said.
“Probably similar kinds of mares” will go to them, Pope said. “Neither one of them were really quick out of the gate. They always needed a chance to get their footing and to get going. So again, we’ll probably be looking for some mares to put some speed with them.”
Seven of the Whisper Hill purchases were in partnership with Antony Beck’s Gainesway, which bought another 11 mares on its own, many of which will go to its newcomers.
“I mean, everyone knows Mandy Pope has some of the best mares in the country and continues to add,” said Ryan Norton, Gainesway’s stallion director. “So it’s exciting to see the mares that she already has, plus the ones that she’s going out [and acquiring]. She’s going to support these stallions that she’s retiring with her own mares, which I think is important for the breeders, that they know the person who actually raced them has full support behind these stallions.
“Mr. Beck is also actually out buying mares for these stallions, and they’re buying some mares in partnership together. So it is a full Gainesway team and Mandy Pope support system for these two stallions as they go to stud.”
Charge It, Tapit Trice
Charge It, who is currently 5, will debut for a fee of $12,500 in 2025, while Tapit Trice, one year his junior and a former stablemate with trainer Todd Pletcher, will stand for $20,000. Both took Pope to the Kentucky Derby and then were graded stakes winners as older horses.
Charge It, unraced at 2, was second in the Grade 1 Florida Derby in just his third career start, beaten 1 1/4 lengths by White Abarrio. After finishing 17th in the Kentucky Derby, he bounced back with a highlight-reel performance in the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes, in what proved the final start of his 3-year-old campaign. He rolled by 23 lengths in the one-turn-mile race, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 111.
In 2023, Charge It won the Grade 2 Suburban, going 1 1/4 miles at Belmont Park, earning a Beyer of 106. This year, he was graded stakes-placed in an abbreviated campaign.
Tapit Trice, a late-starting 2-year-old who won his maiden in December, established himself as a classics candidate by winning the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby and Grade 1 Blue Grass. After running seventh in the Kentucky Derby, he was a solid third in the Belmont Stakes, beaten 1 1/2 lengths by that year’s eventual divisional champion Arcangelo, while just nosed out for second by champion juvenile Forte.
He went on to be third in the Grade 1 Travers to Arcangelo. In a four-start campaign this year, Tapit Trice won the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup and Grade 2 Woodward. He retired with earnings of more than $1.8 million.
“Obviously, Charge It winning the Dwyer by 23 lengths at a mile really stamped himself as a fast son of Tapit,” Norton said. “Tapit Trice was a little bit more of a classic-distance horse. And so, I think if you’re looking for a stallion and you need some speed, you would lean more towards Charge It; and I think if you were looking for a little more stamina for your mare, I think Tapit Trice does it.
“Physically, they’re similar size-wise, but there are some differences, so I think you need to come and inspect the stallions, and be able to see which one fits your mare physically the best.”
Charge It is out of the unraced Indian Charlie mare I’ll Take Charge, who in turn is out of multiple Grade 1 winner and Broodmare of the Year Take Charge Lady. Tapit Trice is out of the stakes-winning Danzatrice, a daughter of the Unbridled’s Song horse Dunkirk. Danzatrice is a half-sister to champion Jaywalk.
“Charge It and Tapit Trice are both big, taller Tapits, but I do think they have qualities that actually accentuate the female families a little bit more,” Norton said. “Charge It, being out of an Indian Charlie mare, you see that bigger frame, but you also see the speed that comes with it, and the little bit more substance to him.
“Tapit Trice, out of a Dunkirk mare, you start to see the rangy Unbridled’s Song, and I think that’s where you see a little bit more of the two-turn influence.”
Muth
Muth is by a sire of the moment in Good Magic, who has been represented by a classic winner in each of his first two crops. The first of those was 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, who retired to stud in 2024 at Airdrie Stud and covered a relatively sizeable book of 171 mares. For comparison, the next-busiest stallion at Airdrie was established young sire Girvin, with 138 mares.
That popularity is expected to continue, but many of Good Magic’s sons will have to compete for mares this year. The young stallion is the sire of five Grade 1 winners. Mage is joined in the stallion ranks this year by 2024 Belmont winner Dornoch at Spendthrift Farm, and Grade 1 winners Muth, at Gainesway, and Blazing Sevens, at Darby Dan Farm. Grade 1 winner Mixto, owned by Calumet Farm, is still in training.
Muth, who will stand for $35,000, won the Grade 1 American Pharoah as a 2-year-old for owner Amr Zedan. He was second in both the Grade 3 Best Pal, around one turn, and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile that year. Early this year, he won the Grade 2 San Vicente sprinting and Grade 1 Arkansas Derby routing. A fever caused him to miss the Preakness, for which he was the morning-line favorite, but he won the Shared Belief in the summer.
Muth’s race record, as a Grade 1 winner at both 2 and 3, and around both one and two turns, differentiates him from the other sons of Good Magic.
“He’s a little taller son of Good Magic, and he’s also the only son of Good Magic at stud that is a Grade 1 winner at 2 and 3,” Norton noted. “So I think he offers you the precocity, but also has the ability to stretch it out . . . you saw his potential.”
Mage was unraced at 2, before his success early at 3. Dornoch was a Grade 2 winner at 2 and a multiple Grade 1 winner at 3. Blazing Sevens was a Grade 1 winner around one turn at 2 and just missed winning the Preakness Stakes at 3.
Seize the Grey
Differentiating himself from the pack won’t be a concern for the final member of Gainesway’s incoming quartet – even though he is yet another gray horse on a stallion roster packed with them.
Preakness winner Seize the Grey is one of two Triple Crown race winners from just three crops by the late Hall of Famer Arrogate – and those two are his only surviving Grade 1-winning sons at the moment, which put their stallion rights at a premium.
Arrogate’s six Grade 1 winners to date – his youngest foals are 3-year-olds, meaning more could be in the offing – include Arcangelo, Cave Rock, and Seize the Grey. Champion Arcangelo, winner of the 2023 Belmont and Travers stakes, entered stud this year at Lane’s End and bred a big book of 154 mares. For comparison, the same farm has limited champion Flightline to 152 mares in each of his first two seasons.
Cave Rock, a multiple Grade 1 winner at 2, died at age 3 after complications from colic. That left Seize the Grey alone at the top level of the market this year. Gainesway struck the deal for stallion rights with MyRacehorse and will debut him this year for $30,000.
Seize the Grey is one of four 3-year-old colts to win multiple Grade 1 races on dirt this season as he defeated Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan in the Preakness and later triumphed in the Pennsylvania Derby. He also won this year’s Grade 2 Pat Day Mile and placed in two stakes.
Arrogate has a handful of sons going to stud this year – but Seize the Grey is the only Grade 1 winner, and the only one in Kentucky. Graded stakes winners Mr Fisk and Petulante debut at Pleasant Acres Stallions in Florida and Irish Hill and Dutchess Views Stallions in New York, respectively. The unraced Arrogates Hercules will stand at Equine Partners Veterinary Services in Texas.