Great sires almost always sire at least very good sire sons, but it is often late in their stud careers, particularly for stallions who start out at relatively low stud fees and thus cover better-pedigreed mares after they prove their worth, as did three-time leading sire Tapit. Tapizar, from Tapit’s third crop, was the first Grade 1-winning son of Tapit to go to stud, and though he has not made the fastest start at stud, he has a genuine star in Coaching Club American Oaks winner Monomoy Girl. The Oaks was Monomoy Girl’s fourth consecutive Grade 1 win, and she has now won eight of her nine career starts. She is only a neck shy of being unbeaten, having finished second by that margin to Road to Victory in her final start at 2. Bred in Kentucky by the Winchell family, who raced Tapit, Tapizar has plenty of pedigree. His dam, Winning Call, is a winning daughter of leading sire Deputy Minister out of Grade 2 Del Mar Debutante winner Call Now, by Wild Again. Call Now was full sister to stakes winner Your Call and half-sister to Grade 1 winner Olympio, by Naskra. Carols Christmas, by Whitesburg, Tapizar’s third dam, is a Winchell stud’s foundation mare, and tail-female ancestress of champion Untapable, by Tapit, and Grade 1 winners Paddy O’Prado, by El Prado; Pyro, by Pulpit; and Cuvee, by Carson City. :: DRF BREEDING LIVE: Real-time coverage of breeding and sales Trained at 2 by Kelly Breen, Tapizar showed talent right from the start, but did not win until his fourth and final juvenile outing, drawing off by 10 ½ lengths in a 1 1/16-mile maiden race at Churchill Downs in November after being transferred to the care of Steve Asmussen. He followed up three months later with an easy 3 ½-length win in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita, but chipped a knee and faded to fifth after leading for a half in the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis there. He did not race again until October, when he won an allowance at Belmont, but the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile perhaps came a bit too soon for him, and he finished fifth, beaten eight lengths by Caleb’s Posse. Tapizar won the Grade 2 San Fernando in his first start at 4 but was beaten in both the Strub Stakes and Razorback Handicap before winning the West Virginia Governor’s Handicap. He ran the worst race of his career in the Grade 2 Kelso, beaten 20 lengths by Jersey Town, but had his revenge in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, leading most of the way to win by 2 ¼ lengths over Rail Trip with Jersey Town fifth. Retired to Gainesway Stud to stand alongside his sire in 2013 at a fee of $15,000, he sired stakes winners Tip Top Tapizar (out of Counterpoise, by Storm Cat) and Tap It All (Yawkey Way, by Grand Slam), but Monomoy Girl is his first graded stakes winner. Bred in Kentucky by FPF LLC and Highfield Ranch, Monomoy Girl is the third foal out of the winning Henny Hughes mare Drumette and was purchased for $100,000 by BSW Bloodstock/Liz Crow, agent for Michael Dubb and Sol Kumin’s Monomoy Stables LLC. Trained by Brad Cox, she won her first start last September at Indiana Grand before moving up to tougher company at Churchill Downs to win an allowance and the listed Rags to Riches Stakes. She is undefeated in five starts this year, starting off the year in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra before her Grade 1 sweep of the Ashland, Kentucky Oaks, Acorn, and CCA Oaks. Her dam, Drumette, whose first two foals are winners, has since produced a 2-year-old colt by Tapizar named Cowboy Diplomacy, followed by colts by Palace Malice and Shackleford. She was covered by Mastery this year. Drumette is half-sister to Grade 3 Knickerbocker Handicap winner Drum Major, who is by Dynaformer. Drumette is out of the undefeated (5 for 5) listed stakes winner Endless Parade, by Williamstown. Endless Parade is a half-sister to Mexican champion Winning Limit, by Honour and Glory. Endless Parade’s dam, Mnemosyne, by Saratoga Six, is half-sister to listed winner Afleet Floozie, by Afleet. Afleet Floozie’s dam, stakes-placed My Lady Love, by Smarten, is half-sister to champion Heavenly Cause, by Grey Dawn, and she is from the outstanding family descending from Shy Dancer, by Bolero, fostered by the late Jacques Wimpfheimer. That family includes the top-class runners Bounding Basque, by Grey Dawn; Shy Dawn, by Grey Dawn; Opening Verse, by The Minstrel; Quixotic Lady, by Quadratic; By the Moon, by Indian Charlie; Petite Rouge, by Ballydam; Purple Mountain, by Grey Dawn; and Princess Arjumand, by Prince Taj.