1977 stallion Fappiano was a tall, handsome, masculine individual who was said to bear a strong resemblance to his maternal grandsire Dr. Fager. He had a beautifully angled, deep shoulder but was pigeon-toed and had offset knees. He won $370k. He made 17 starts with a 10-3-1 record. His wins include Morven S. (NTR), Discovery H. (G3), Metropolitan H. (G1). At age two, Fappiano went undefeated in four starts. Among those wins was the Morven Stakes with future Hall of Fame jockey, Angel Cordero Jr. On December 20, cold weather had frozen the track but in spite of the conditions Fappiano broke the Meadowlands track record for six furlongs with a time of 1:08 ⅗ . Fappiano went on to win several important races through 1980 and 1981, including the Grade I Metropolitan Handicap. He was bred and owned by John A. Nerud, trained by Jan H. Nerud, jockeyed by Angel Cordero Jr. Fappiano might never have come into existence except for the persistence of John Nerud, who talked Mr. Prospector's then-owner Abram “Butch” Savin into allowing the stallion to cover Killaloe in June in spite of Savin's antipathy for late foals. In turn, Fappiano's racing earnings and appreciation in value as a stallion made Nerud a wealthy man. Fappiano was named after sportswriter Giuseppe Carmine Fappiano (aka Joseph C. Nichols).

As A Stallion

Fappiano was syndicated for a reported $300,000/share. From the first crop, Tasso was bred in Florida by Timothy Sams and his business partner Gerald Robins. Both men owned five shares ($3 mil combined) in Fappiano. He entered stud in Florida at Tartan Farms, then moved to Lanes End in July 1987. Some of his offspring include Cryptoclearance ($3.3 mil), Defensive Play ($1.6 mil), Tappiano ($1.3 mil), and Tasso ($1.2 mil). Fappiano was the grandsire of two different horses that combined to win all three U.S. Triple Crown races in the same year when Real Quiet won the 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, and Victory Gallop won the 1998 Belmont Stakes. Through Unbridled, Fappiano is the great-great-grandsire of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh. Fappiano was injured on 6/17/1990. After removing a cast from his right hind leg; he foundered in his left hind foot. The prognosis was hopeless and Fappiano was humanely euthanized September 3, 1990 at Lanes End Farm.