Grade III winner Bandbox has been retired from racing and the son of leading sire Tapit will enter his first season at stud in 2015 at Northview Stallion Station, in Chesapeake City, Md., according to an announcement from the farm.
His stud fee will be $2,500 live foal, and he is now available for inspection at the farm.
Six-year-old Bandbox won the seven-furlong General George Handicap (gr. III) at Laurel Park in February by four lengths. Out of the Grand Slam mare Empty the Bases, the gray retired with a 5-4-1 mark in 15 starts with earnings of $390,345.
"We're extremely excited to stand Bandbox here in Maryland and, as far as we know, he is the first graded stakes winner by Tapit to stand outside of Kentucky," said Richard Golden, president/CEO of Northview Stallions.
Raced by Ellen Charles' Hillwood Stable and trained by Rodney Jenkins, New York-bred Bandbox won his first three starts at 2, including a 9 1/2-length runaway win in the Charles Town Juvenile Stakes. He also took the Sleepy Hollow Stakes at Belmont Park as the heavy favorite.
As a 3-year-old Bandbox ran second in Laurel's Miracle Wood Stakes before winning the Private Terms.
Tapit is currently the leading sire with $9.7 million in earnings and has nine graded stakes winners this year, including Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner Tonalist , Longines Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) and Mother Goose Stakes (gr. I) winner Untapable, and Besilu Stables Florida Derby (gr. I) winner Constitution .
Lifetime breeding rights to Bandbox are $10,000, payable over four years with two seasons each year for the first five years. Shares are also available for $10,000, payable over four years at $2,500 each year with two seasons each year for the first five years.
Bandbox won the 2014 General George Handicap.
Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club