Tapizar Takes Down the Dirt Mile Crown

The trend of losing favorites in the Dirt Mile continued when Shackleford ran his race in the paddock and in the post parade. The Dale Romans trainee was a complete mess from the moment he was brought over to be saddled. In the past, a washy Shackleford has been a good sign but that was not the case today. Shackleford Nation had to be hoping that his behavior would lead to a “Preakness” like performance but when the gates opened Shackleford went to his knees and was slow into stride.

Disappointment ran through the Shackleford camp but it didn’t change their feelings about the horse they love. Dale Romans said: "It was the start; that’s it." Jockey Ramon Dominguez who was aboard Shackleford said “He stumbled at the break and that was it. There’s no two ways about it, he’s a front runner."

Not to be lost in the disappearance of Shack was the great performance by 15-1 long shot Tapizar. Tapizar was a horse I personally tossed from the moment he was entered.  I just couldn’t see him outrunning the class that was in this race but of course I was dead wrong. The Steve Asmussen charge came into the race off a last place finish in the G2 Kelso Handicap. Tapizar did have a major excuse in the race when he broke like Shackleford did today.

When the gates opened for the G1 $1,000,000 Breeders’ Cup Dirt mile Rail Trip was on top with Jersey town in second.  Quicky Emcee and Tapizar rushed to the lead as Jersey Town settled into a stalking trip while Rail Trip took back to come off the pace. Delegation and Fed Biz settled in behind Jersey Town but were never far from the lead. Shackleford stumbled out of the gate and was back in the pack before making a move into contention early on in the race.  Second City was slow early on and never showed much interest in running. As they reached the top of the stretch Tapizar assumed command by 2 ½ lengths with Jersey Town in persuit, Rail Trip made a big run from 7th with Delegation following, Emcee began to fade as John Scott made his move from last. Tapizar was strong in the stretch under jockey Corey Nakatani as he galloped home to a 2 ¼ length victory over Rail Trip who had to weave his way through traffic. Delegation finished  3rd with the late closing John Scott rounding out the super. The time for the dirt mile was an average 1:35.34

Even with the poor performance in the Kelso, Asmussen and Ron Winchell weren't discouraged they believed their colt could bounce back in the Dirt Mile. Asmussen said:  “The Kelso was a bad race. We threw it out and he sure performed great today. He acted the day after the Kelso like he hadn’t run. The racetrack and the circumstances leading up to that race were not ideal, but everything went smooth as glass out here. Scott Blasi, my assistant here, did a great job with him. I can’t say enough about what a big win it is for him.”

Even though he tasted defeat Rail Trip had some traffic trouble and still ran great to finish second. Ron Ellis said this of his performance, “ These championship races have a lot of traffic. He was game.  I’m very  proud of him. He took a lot of dirt.  Jose Valdivia Jr. said he was almost clipping heels a couple of times. He ran a game race."

Though this year’s Dirt Mile lacked the star power of last years you can’t take anything away from Tapizar.  Tapizar shocked most of us with his big performance in winning the lion’s share of a million dollars. Bravo Tapizar!