June 5 at Belmont Park was a day full of graded stakes, but the most impressive horse of the day may have been a seven-furlong allowance winner Trappe Shot. The 3-year-old son of Tapit beat older horses with ease and professionalism as the 6-5 favorite in his four-length victory.

Tapit currently ranks fifth among all sires on the 2010 third-crop sire list.

The win was the third in four lifetime starts for Trappe Shot, whose only loss came in his debut last year at Saratoga. Since then, he won a pair of races at Gulfstream Park earlier this year. At Belmont, Trappe Shot seemed to be just loping along in third for the first half of the race, then went three wide for the lead when asked by Alan Garcia. Once he hit the lead, the race was in hand, as noted by the Daily Racing Form chartcaller: “...was successfully geared down about three strides past the sixteenth pole with the outcome no longer appearing to be in doubt”. The final time of 1:22 flat earned Trappe Shot a career best Beyer Speed Figure of 105, the fourth-highest of any 3-year-old in 2010.

The race made a big impression on his trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, who mentioned Trappe Shot's effort later in the day on the Belmont Stakes live telecast. The grand-looking chestnut colt will now be pointed for either the seven-furlong King’s Bishop S. (G1) or 10-furlong Travers S. (G1) - both to be run on August 28th at Saratoga.

Trappe Shot was highly regarded. At the 2009 Fasig-Tipton 2-year-old spring sale, he was the sales topper when he brought $850,000. Trappe Shot is out of Shopping, making him a half-brother to the Grade 1 winner and millionaire Miss Shop; the stakes winners Bought in Dixie and Shop Again; and graded stakes-placed Bulling. He has earned $82,050 for owner Mill House.