Tapit Colt Catches the Eye in Glitzy Aqueduct Debut

This column highlights the performances of maidens who have made no more than five starts and who either sold for more than $500,000 at public auction, have siblings that are graded/group winners, or have dams that are graded/group winners. BloodHorse research shows maiden winners, in particular, who meet these criteria are more likely to go on to be graded stakes winners. Aqueduct Racetrack LNJ Foxwoods' homebred Tux turned his debut into a sparkling affair Nov. 12, trouncing his rivals by 3 1/2 lengths in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight at Aqueduct Racetrack. The second foal out of the gifted graded stakes-winning sprinter Fancy Dress Party, Tux turned in a professional first-time effort for trainer Bill Mott. Racing just off the frontrunner early under jockey Junior Alvarado, the colt cut into his rival's advantage turning for home. With long, bounding strides he put away his stubborn foe and surged to a clear advantage in the final sixteenth. Tux completed the distance in 1:17.39 over a fast main track. Favored Salamis, a half brother to this year's Wonder Again Stakes (G2T) victress and Belmont Oaks (G1T) runner-up Segesta, finished fourth. Tux's dam, Fancy Dress Party, tore through her first four starts under the LNJ Foxwoods banner. Trained by Ben Colebrook, the chrome-splashed daughter of Munnings passed each new test with grit, style, and speed in climbing the ladder of conditions from October 2018 to April 2019. After capturing her first two outings as a juvenile, she came back even stronger as a 3-year-old, taking Gulfstream Park's Glitter Woman Stakes before battling to a head victory in Keeneland's Beaumont Stakes (G3). The streak ended in the 2019 Acorn Stakes (G1), where Fancy Dress Party ran unplaced, her only effort out of the money. In the final race of her career, she bowed out a winner in the Miss Woodford Stakes that September at Monmouth Park. Fancy Dress Party has a weanling full sister to Tux on the ground and was bred to Good Magic during the 2024 breeding season. From two foals of racing age, Tux is her first winner.