It is not often that you see Hall of Famer Bill Mott send a maiden winner to a graded stakes and it did not work out for him last weekend when Juddmonte's 'TDN Rising Star' Hidden Scroll (Hard Spun) finished fourth as the favorite in the GII Xpressbet.com Fountain of Youth S. However, fellow Juddmonte homebred Tacitus (Tapit) made amends for his stablemate with a late-running victory in stakes record-setting time in the GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby Saturday, officially putting himself on the GI Kentucky Derby trail.
Fourth in his 1 1/16-mile unveiling at Belmont Oct. 4, Tacitus donned cap and gown by a neck next out going a mile at Aqueduct Nov. 10. Running on Lasix for the first time in this class hike, the son of champion Close Hatches (First Defence) broke a step slower than the rest, but quickly got his hooves beneath him and moved up to mid-pack, running off the fence as Zenden (Fed Biz) led GIII Sam F. Davis S. victor Well Defined (With Distinction) through early fractions of :22.79 and :45.85. Tucked in to save ground by Jose Ortiz, the 8-1 shot split horses to improve his position turning for home and slipped past the tiring pacesetter in the final sixteenth to score. Outshine (Malibu Moon) charged at Tacitus late, but it proved to be too late and he had to settle for second over Win Win Win (Hat Trick {Jpn}).
“We've always liked this horse and thought he could be a horse that would be on the Derby trail,” Mott said. “I liked him a lot better today at the 3/8ths pole than I did at the 5/8ths pole, because it looked like when he was trying to get between horses, I couldn't tell if he was maybe fighting with the racetrack. He was climbing a little bit, but once he got through between those horses, he really got some confidence and got some momentum. Jose said he actually finished with something left. He got to the lead and maybe started to dog it a little bit, but I thought it was a very good race and a very good education for him.”
“When the nine-horse [Dunph (Temple City)] went out, I decided to go in and follow the one [Admire (Cairo Prince)] because I thought he had a good chance to win,” Ortiz said. “I took a lot [of dirt], but the dirt doesn't stick as much here as some other tracks, so I think it was good for my horse. He's a little green still, but we got a rail trip and it opened up for us. He's a big horse and when he made the lead, he didn't keep going; he kind of waited a little bit. He does everything so easy and I don't know if he's given me 100% yet–I don't think so.”
Pedigree Notes:
Tacitus is the first foal out of Juddmonte and Mott's 2014 Eclipse winner Close Hatches, a five-time Grade I winner and runner-up to Beholder (Henny Hughes) in the 2013 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, who earned over $2.7 million on the racetrack. The 9-year-old mare has a 2-year-old filly named Atheer (Malibu Moon) and a yearling colt by Tapit. The full-sister to SW & MGISP Lockdown produced a Curlin colt Feb. 21, which is the same day she foaled Tacitus in 2016. The gray colt is the 115th black-type winner and 72nd graded victor for his top sire Tapit and is bred similarly to champion Unique Bella.
Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs
LAMBHOLM SOUTH TAMPA BAY DERBY-GII, $355,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 3-9, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:41.90, ft.
1–TACITUS, 117, c, 3, by Tapit&hid=28277">Tapit
1st Dam: Close Hatches (Ch. Older Mare, MGISW,
$2,707,300), by First Defence
2nd Dam: Rising Tornado, by Storm Cat
3rd Dam: Silver Star (GB), by Zafonic
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN.
O/B-Juddmonte Farms Inc (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Jose L.
Ortiz. $210,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $253,000. Click for
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+++
*Triple Plus*.
2–Outshine, 118, c, 3, Malibu Moon–Life Lesson, by Unbridled's
Song. ($260,000 Wlg '16 KEENOV; $625,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP).
O-Let's Go Stable & Richard Schibell; B-T. F. VanMeter & Ricky
Stivers (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $70,000.
3–Win Win Win, 117, c, 3, Hat Trick (Jpn)–Miss Smarty Pants,
by Smarty Jones. O-Live Oak Plantation; B-Live Oak Stud (FL);
T-Michael J. Trombetta. $40,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 1 1/4, HF. Odds: 8.90, 6.20, 1.40.
Also Ran: Zenden, Sir Winston, Dunph, Admire, Well Defined, The Right Path, Dream Maker, Lord Dragon. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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