Tappy's One Poised for Winter Cup Success

For a horse who's won five of his past six starts, Tappy's One (Proisir) started his race career with little fanfare, having been passed-in off a low reserve at Karaka. According to loveracing.nz, the son of former leading Gai Waterhouse-trained 3YO Proisir (Choisir) was relatively unwanted at the sales, leaving owner Ian Taplin with a sinking feeling about the colt he held in high regard at the 2018 sale. That was until Trevor McKee, co-trainer of champion Sunline (Desert Sun) approached him to enquire about the reserve, resulting a few minutes later in a 50/50 partnership. Now, Tappy's One goes into Saturday's Gr3 Winning Edge Presentations Winter Cup (1600m) as a winner of five of his last six starts, among them success in the Amberley Cup (1600m) at Riccarton and last month's Oamaru Cup (1600m). Should Tappy's One win the Winter Cup, he will earn a $36,000 bonus for winning the double, courtesy of the Oamaru Jockey Club. Prophetically, Taplin and his father Sid raced Gr1 Bayer Classic (1600m) winner Bunker out of the stable of McKee and his son Stephen, and Tappy's One traces his roots back to the same family of the McKee-trained 1994 Winter Cup winner Red Baron and another Guineas performer for the stable, Petanque. When Trevor McKee died in 2019, his estate took over his half share in Tappy's One, who had his first nine starts out of son Stephen McKee's Auckland stable before transferring in 2020 to the Taplins at Isla Bank, about halfway between Winton and Riverton in Southland.