Tachypous
Tachypous was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. As a two-year-old in 1976 he showed early promise and recovered from illness to defeat a strong field in the Middle Park Stakes. In the following year he failed to win but produced his best performance when finishing second in the 2000 Guineas. Apart from his two wins he was placed in the Richmond Stakes, Greenham Stakes and St James's Palace Stakes. He made no impact as a breeding stallion.
Background
Tachypous was a "rangy, most attractive" bay horse with white socks on his hind feet bred by his owner George Cambanis. He was sired by Hotfoot who won the Coronation Stakes and finished second in both the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the Prince of Wales's Stakes. The best of his other progeny included Hot Grove and Count Pahlen. Tachypous's dam Stilvi was bought by Cambanis as a yearling and became a top-class racehorse, winning the King George Stakes and Duke of York Stakes before becoming an outstanding broodmare. After Tachypous she went on to produce Tromos, Tyrnavos and Tolmi. The colt, whose name means "swift-foot" in Greek, was sent into training with Bruce Hobbs at his Palace House stables in Newmarket. He was ridden in most of his races by Geoff Lewis.Racing career
1976: two-year-old season
On his racecourse debut Tachypous contested the Astley Maiden Stakes over five furlongs at Newmarket Racecourse in May. He drifted in the betting market from 3/1 out to 15/2 and finished eighth. In the Berkshire Stakes over the same distance at Newbury Racecourse three weeks later he faced four opponents, three of whom had already won a race. He recorded his first success he took the lead approaching the final furlong and accelerated away from his rivals to win by five lengths. Tachypous was then moved up in class and distance and started favourite for the Coventry Stakes over six furlongs at Royal Ascot in June but ran very poorly and finished unplaced behind Cawston's Clown. He was subsequently found to be suffering from a viral infection which affected many of the horses in the Hobbs stable. He had not fully recovered when he ran in the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse at the end of July but produced a much better effort, finishing third to J O Tobin and Priors Walk.After an absence of over two months, Tachypous returned for the Middle Park Stakes over six furlongs at Newmarket in October. Despite his lack of a recent run he had been performing impressively in training and was made the 5/1 joint favourite alongside the Michael Stoute-trained Etienne Gerard. The other runners included Nebbiolo, Mandrake Major Adviser and Water Boy as well as the Hobbs-trained Anax who had won the Mill Reef Stakes but was reported to be significantly inferior to his stablemate. Tachypous appeared to be struggling in the early stages but began to make rapid progress in the last quarter mile. He took the lead 100 yards from the finish and won by a length from Nebbiolo with Mandrake Major third ahead of Adviser and Anax.