Taiba (foaled April 13, 2019) is an American
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...
racehorse who has won multiple
Grade I
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
events as a three-year-old in 2022 including the
Santa Anita Derby
The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is currently run at a distance of miles on the dirt and carries a purse of $400,000. It is on ...
and
Malibu Stakes
The Malibu Stakes is a race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses of either gender held each December at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The race is at a distance of seven furlongs '' and is the first leg of Santa Anita Park's Strub Seri ...
at
Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...
and
Pennsylvania Derby
The Pennsylvania Derby is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Parx Racing and Casino (formerly known as Keystone Race Track, then from 1986 through 2010 as Philadelphia Park) each year. The track's premiere event is open to horses, age three, a ...
at
Parx Racing
Parx Casino and Racing (formerly Philadelphia Park Racetrack and Casino) is a thoroughbred horse racing venue and the largest casino gaming complex in Pennsylvania. Parx is located in Bensalem Township in Bucks County, northeast of the city of Ph ...
.
Background
Taiba is a
chestnut
The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.
The unrelat ...
colt that was bred in Kentucky by Bruce Ryan who has been breeding and raising horses for more than 30 years. The founder of Ryan's All-Glass, a commercial custom glass company in Cincinnati, started out with Quarter Horses but soon discovered he had better opportunities to make money with Thoroughbreds.
His sire is
Gun Runner
Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small ar ...
, the 2017
American Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to sanction the various awards, "Hor ...
and stands at
Three Chimneys Farm
Three Chimneys Farm is an American Thoroughbred race horse breeding farm in Midway, Kentucky, established in 1972 by Mr. & Mrs. Robert N. Clay. Three Chimneys has been home to a number of famous horses including U.S. Triple Crown champion Se ...
and his dam is Needmore Flattery, a daughter of Flatter that won nine black-type stakes on her way to earning $732,103.
[ Her granddam Kiosk, was from Eutrophia Farms at the 2001 Ohio Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Fall Mixed Sale after she was bought back on a final bid of $6,700. Kiosk became a five-time stakes-placed winner of $115,649. She has produced eight winners from eight to race including Needmore Flattery.][
Zach Madden consigned the colt as a yearling for Bruce Ryan at the 2020 ]Fasig-Tipton
The Fasig-Tipton Company, Inc. is an American auction house for Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses. Founded in 1898, it is the oldest auction company of its kind in North America. The company has offices in Lexington, Kentucky, Elkton, Maryla ...
Kentucky October Yearling Sale where longtime partners Randy Hartley and Dean De Renzo bought him for $140,000. Hartley and De Renzo then pinhooked Taiba to the 2021 Fasig-Tipton
The Fasig-Tipton Company, Inc. is an American auction house for Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses. Founded in 1898, it is the oldest auction company of its kind in North America. The company has offices in Lexington, Kentucky, Elkton, Maryla ...
Gulfstream Sale of select two-year-olds in training, selling him for $1.7 million to agent Gary Young for Zedan Racing Stables.[
Taiba was initially trained by ]Bob Baffert
Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakne ...
but after his maiden win his owners considered the horse a possibility to run in the Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
they moved the horse to Tim Yakteen for his second start in the Santa Anita Derby
The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is currently run at a distance of miles on the dirt and carries a purse of $400,000. It is on ...
so as to obtain qualification points to garner a start in the event. Yakteen took over the training of Taiba, not long before their previous trainer, Bob Baffert, began serving a 90-day suspension stemming from Medina Spirit
Medina Spirit (April 5, 2018 – December 6, 2021) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who finished first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified. He came second in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic and third in the 2021 Preakness ...
's positive test after last year's Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
. Churchill Downs in 2021 announced that no horses in Baffert's care would be eligible to earn points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby
The Road to the Kentucky Derby is a points system by which horses qualify for a position in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby. It features dozens of stakes races for 2 and 3-year-old Thoroughbreds – the number and specific races have chang ...
.
After completing in the Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
, in June Taiba returned to Bob Baffert's stable.
Career
2022: Three-year-old season
Taiba made his debut on March 5 in a Maiden
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
Special Weight event over 6 furlongs at Santa Anita. Starting as the 1/2 odds-on favorite, he dueled for command up the backstretch, vying with Mauritius and Magicnthemoonlight while along the rail on the turn, then inched ahead with a quarter-mile remaining, shaking free at the top of the stretch and powering away to a -length
Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...
victory in a fast time of 1:09.97.
One month later, owner Amr Zedan, jumped the colt from his six-furlong maiden victory to the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby
The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is currently run at a distance of miles on the dirt and carries a purse of $400,000. It is on ...
event over the -mile distance. Trainer Tim Yakteen said a few days before the race that it was "going to be a bit of an ask" for the chestnut colt to win. Yakteen also said that Taiba had been training forwardly and that "he has impressed very much in the morning." Veteran jockey Mike Smith picked up the mount after John Velazquez chose to ride stablemate Messier. Taiba started well and was in range of leaders Forbidden Kingdom and Messier early, then ranged up three wide to challenge in the stretch. Taiba caught Messier approaching the final sixteenth and drew off for the win, stopping the timer in 1:48.46. With the win, Taiba gained enough qualification points to start in the Kentucky Derby.[
In the ]Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
, Taiba was no factor and finished twelfth in a field of twenty, beaten by nearly 18 lengths to longshot Rich Strike
Rich Strike ( foaled April 25, 2019) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 2022 Kentucky Derby, racing at 80–1 odds.
Rich Strike is the second-biggest longshot to have won the Kentucky Derby after Donerail (91–1 odds) in 1913 ...
.[
After a ten-week break, Taiba started in the Grade 1 ]Haskell Stakes
The Haskell Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run over a distance of miles on the dirt held annually in July at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. The event is a signature event at Monmouth P ...
at Monmouth Park
Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with ...
. He battled with Arkansas Derby
The Arkansas Derby is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in April at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is currently a Grade I race run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles (9 furlongs) on dirt.
In 2004, t ...
winner Cyberknife through the straight to come up short by a head in a track-record time of 1:46.24 for the -mile distance. Trainer Bob Baffert said, "Mike (Smith) had him in a spot to win and we just came up short. Cyberknife got a great trip. (Taiba) was stuck down there and he was not happy being stuck behind horses. I was really worried at about the three-eighths pole. Mike said that when he got him out in the clear, he just kicked in."
After resting the colt on the West Coast, Baffert brought him out on September 24 to Parx Racing
Parx Casino and Racing (formerly Philadelphia Park Racetrack and Casino) is a thoroughbred horse racing venue and the largest casino gaming complex in Pennsylvania. Parx is located in Bensalem Township in Bucks County, northeast of the city of Ph ...
near Philadelphia for the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby
The Pennsylvania Derby is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Parx Racing and Casino (formerly known as Keystone Race Track, then from 1986 through 2010 as Philadelphia Park) each year. The track's premiere event is open to horses, age three, a ...
against a field of three-year-olds that included Cyberknife, GI Blue Grass Stakes
The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is a horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The race is run ...
winner Zandon, and recently third in the GI Travers Stakes
The Travers Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Mid-Summer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds according to internation ...
and GII West Virginia Derby
The West Virginia Derby is an American Grade III stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred race horses run over a distance of miles on the dirt at Mountaineer Race Track in Chester, West Virginia in August. The purse for the event is US$500,0 ...
winner Skippylongstockin. As the 7/5 favorite, Taiba posted a three-length victory over Zandon with Cyberknife in third, nearly four more lengths away, in a time of 1:48.67. After winning the event for the fourth time, Baffert said, "It was a tough race, a good field. The main thing is that he ran his race. Lately he has been very willing. I can see the improvement. Today was his day. I really think he is starting to figure it out."
Taiba finished third to Flightline in the 2022 Breeders' Cup Classic
The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October o ...
at Keeneland Racecourse.
On opening day of the Santa Anita Park's 2022–23 Winter-Sprint meeting, Taiba ran in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes
The Malibu Stakes is a race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses of either gender held each December at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The race is at a distance of seven furlongs '' and is the first leg of Santa Anita Park's Strub Seri ...
. Starting as the 2/5 odds-on favorite in the seven furlong sprint for three-year-olds, Taiba ridden by jockey Mike E. Smith
Michael Earl Smith (born August 10, 1965) is an American jockey who has been one of the leading riders in U.S. Thoroughbred racing since the early 1990s, was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2003, and has won the ...
started weell and followed leader Forbidden Kingdom. When Taiba reached the top of the stretch, it appeared that maybe he wouldn't have the punch he needed, but that was an illusion. Taiba kicked in, pulling alongside Forbidden Kingdom, and then drew away to score by lengths in 1:21.75. Forbidden Kingdom finished three-quarters of a length in front of third-place Hoist the Gold.
Statistics
An (*) asterisk after the odds means Taiba was the post-time favorite.
Pedigree
References
{{reflist, 2
2019 racehorse births
Racehorses bred in Kentucky
Racehorses trained in the United States
Thoroughbred family 8-j
American Grade 1 Stakes winners