William Taplin, with his father Ian, shows off the Tulloch Stakes trophy won by Tapildoodledo. A stunning Group Two victory at Rosehill on Saturday was former Southland couple Kerry and Ian Taplin’s biggest moment since their move across the Tasman last winter, and it fittingly came from a thoroughbred family that has given them dozens of victories over the last two decades.
The Taplins landed a 20-to-one upset in the Tulloch Stakes with Tapildoodledo, who outfought five others in a blanket finish and earned himself a shot at this weekend’s Gr. 1 Australian Derby at Randwick.
Bred and raced by the Taplins, the gelding is trained by Kerry Taplin at their new base on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
“To pick up a win like that so soon after we moved across to Australia was incredible,” Ian Taplin told RaceForm on Monday.
Tapildoodledo is the Taplins’ latest star performer in a family that they first tapped into with his granddam Tapildo.
Bought for just $5,000 as a yearling at Karaka in 1999, the daughter of Rhythm won six races and more than $800,000 in stakes for Ian Taplin and his late father Syd, who raced her in partnership with Laurie Laxon. After capturing the Gr. 1 New Zealand Oaks at Trentham in 2001 for Sheila Laxon, she relocated to Singapore and added the Raffles Cup and Paititi Gold Trophy.
Tapildo became the foundation of a hugely successful breeding line for the Taplins, being the dam or granddam of numerous winners including Tapildoodledo, the stakes-placed Tappy’s Best and Hot Tap, six-race winner Tappy’s Lad and five-time winner Taponisme.
“It’s been such an amazing family for my dad and me over a number of years now, and it really meant a lot for us to add another big black-type win to that pedigree page – especially in a race like the Tulloch in Sydney,” Ian Taplin said.
“We’re still going with quite a few branches of the family, and we’ll continue to breed from them. We’ve still got Tapildoodledo’s mother, and she had a Proisir filly who’s a two-year-old now. She’s also got a Vadamos filly at foot.”
A recurring theme in more recent parts of the pedigree page is Rich Hill Stud’s all-conquering stallion Proisir, whose influence on Saturday’s Rosehill programme extended to a stunning performance by Prowess in the Gr. 1 Rosehill Guineas. The New Zealand premiership leader is the sire of Tapildoodledo and his stakes-placed sister Hot Tap, as well as multiple-race-winning close relatives Tappy’s Lad and Super Tap.
Taplin has been on board with Proisir since he first arrived on New Zealand shores for the 2015 breeding season.
“My interest in Proisir goes back to a half-sister to Tapildo by Encosta De Lago, called Haiku,” Taplin explained. “She had a foal by Choisir who was named Japonisme and was trained by Chris Waller. He won the Gr. 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes as a spring three-year-old, and he had quite a few other placings at Group One level.
“I’m good friends with Karl Mihaljevich at Rich Hill Stud, and he called me one day and asked if I was aware of Japonisme. He told me that Rich Hill had Proisir coming, and he’s by Choisir out of an Encosta De Lago mare – that same cross.
“That’s why we fell in love with Proisir. We sent half a dozen mares to him every year, and it worked out brilliantly. His stock are good two-year-olds and three-year-olds, but they also have the longevity to race as five and six-year-olds.
“They stay and they sprint. They can do anything. We’re very lucky that we became involved with him and ended up with the stock that we got.”
Since making the move to Australia, however, the Taplins have switched to local stallion talent.
“Tapildoodledo’s dam is in foal to Kobayashi,” Taplin said. “When we came over here last year, I sent all of our mares to Aquis Farm. They have 15 or 16 stallions there, and we just went through and found the best match-ups.
“We used their stallions exclusively this year while we were getting ourselves settled in, although we might spread them around a little bit more in future seasons.”
