Betting The Horses

If Tempted to Tapit starts in the Kentucky Derby on May 1, it would be the first horse trained by Steve Klesaris to do so.  The gray gelding became a Derby hopeful on Martin Luther King Jr. Day when he won at Aqueduct by 11 ½ lengths.

The horse was sired by Tapit, winner of the Grade 1 Wood Memorial, a regular in across all horse betting lines and ninth-place finisher at the Kentucky Derby.  He is out of Tempting Note, a mare of 1996 Belmont Stakes winner Editor’s Note.  He was purchased for $18,000 by Midway Stable at the 2008 Keeneland September yearling sale.

Klesaris also comes from a multi-generational family involved with horse racing.  His father Peter Klesaris is also a trainer, and his brother Robert was a trainer before becoming a jokey’s agent. He saddled his first winner when he was 18 at Suffolk Downs in 1978.

Tempted to Tapit made three starts as a juvenile. He finished second place in two of those races.  Klesaris stated that the difference between his second-place finishes and his January 18 first-place finish was that he maintained his focus throughout the race.

He finished third in the Grade III $800,000 Sunland Park Derby last Sunday in New Mexico. In his first stake in February, Tempted to Tapit was second in the Grade III Risen Star at Fair Grounds.

With at least six Derby prep races to be run in the next two weeks, Tempted to Tapit is not among the top 20 3-year olds.  He is currently 27th in earnings with $156,000.  As a result, he will most likely not be contending for the Kentucky Derby.