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Runhappy Travers: Now In Mott Barn, South Bend Works In Company With Tacitus

South Bend, a recent addition to the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, worked five furlongs in company with 4-year-old multiple graded-stakes winner Tacitus Sunday on the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Campaigned by Sagamore Farm through his first 11 starts, including a victory in the Street Sense last fall at Churchill Downs and Grade 3 placings on both turf and dirt, South Bend was acquired by a partnership group that includes Gary Barber, Adam Wachtel, Peter Deutsch and Leonard Schleifer of Pantofel Stable.

South Bend, starting a length back of the veteran Tacitus, was clocked five-eighths in 1:00.70 and finished up on even terms with Tacitus, who stopped the clock in 1:01.15.

Mott said South Bend, an Algorithms bay, worked well in his final breeze in preparation for a start in Saturday's G1 Runhappy Travers.

“He went well. He went with Tacitus and they breezed nicely and finished up together,” said Mott. “He made up a length to the finish. We had him go out a little stronger. He's a nice horse and pretty easy to train.”

Mott said Jose Ortiz, co-leading rider at the Spa, will have the call on South Bend for the 1 1/4-mile Mid-Summer Derby, the centerpiece of the Saratoga meet being contested for the 151st time but first as a point qualifier for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby September 5 with 100-40-20-10 qualifying points on offer for the top-four finishers.

Mott said Juddmonte Farms homebred Tacitus, by Tapit and out of champion Close Hatches, continues to work well toward the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward, a 1 1/4-mile test for 3-year-olds and up on September 5.

“He's good. He's been on a regular breeze schedule,” said Mott.

Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, R.A. Hill Stable and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's 6-year-old Canadian-bred Channel Maker ran third in Saturday's Grade 2 Bowling Green. The multiple Grade 1-winning chestnut was making his third appearance in the Bowling Green having won it in 2018 and finishing third a year ago.

“He came out of it good. He's a war horse,” said Mott.

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Mott: Maturity, Blinkers Contribute To Improvement By Suburban Winner Tacitus

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott enjoyed a successful Saturday afternoon in taking two of the five graded stakes carded for Runhappy Met Mile Day at Belmont Park.

Mott sent out Frank's Rockette and now three-time graded stakes winning multimillionaire Tacitus to respective victories in the Grade 3 Victory Ride and Grade 2 Suburban. He reported that both of his graded stakes heroes exited their triumphs in good order.

“They both ran really well and really hard, but the good thing is they look great this morning,” Mott said.

Owned by Juddmonte Farms, Tacitus registered a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for the 8 3/4-length victory under Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez, which ended a seven-race slump for the 4-year-old Tapit gray. During his sophomore campaign last year, Tacitus won the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs and Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct en route to placings in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.

Mott made an equipment change with Tacitus for the Suburban, adding blinkers.

“It seemed to help quite a bit. The maturity and the blinkers all kind of seemed to come together,” Mott said.

Mott said Tacitus would target “one or the other” between the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney at nine furlongs on August 1 or the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward at ten furlongs at Saratoga on Sept. 5.

Named after an ancient Roman senator, the Kentucky homebred Tacitus is out of 2014 Champion Older Filly Close Hatches and is a direct descendant of 1982 Broodmare of the Year Best In Show.

Mott reported that the Grade 1, $300,000 Longines Test on August 8 at Saratoga is an option for Frank's Rockette.

“We had talked about that as a plan, it will be based on how she comes out of this. It will take two or three days,” said owner Frank Fletcher. “She had been training really well and was at the top of her game and that's always the Test. She'll face some of these same horses again and more.”

Fletcher knew that Saturday's race would be no easy task for his Into Mischief filly.

“I have a lot of respect for the other horses in the race. I knew it was going to be tough, but she had to fight,” Fletcher said. “She came out of the gate a little slow for her, and she was not on the lead, had to fight to get her head in front and it appeared to be that she was in constant pressure the whole way. That's what I was scared of and worried about. There was never a chance for her or the other horses to catch a breath. She was running her heart out from the time she stepped out of the gate.”

Fletcher watched the Victory Ride from his home in Little Rock, Ark., alongside his family as well as his 5-year-old longhaired German Shepherd Rocket, who is the namesake behind all of Fletcher's horses.

“He was in there with us when we were watching. He goes crazy when we all go crazy. He was barking a lot,” Fletcher said. “We were like 5-year-old children running around hugging each other. We had a steak dinner to celebrate. We wish we could have been there.”

Frank's Rockette, a Kentucky homebred, is out of the graded stakes winning Indian Charlie broodmare Rocket Twentyone, who won the Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Lassie in 2011.

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Tacitus Overpowers The Competition In Belmont’s Suburban

Juddmonte Farms' Tacitus rewarded the patience of Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott with a smashing return to the winner's circle in the 134th running of Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Suburban for older horses over the Belmont Park main track.

The 1 1/4-mile event rounded out an action-packed program of five graded stakes on Runhappy Met Mile Day at beautiful Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., which was spearheaded by a wire-to-wire triumph from Vekoma in the Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile.

Tacitus, a gray or roan son of multiple champion-producing stallion Tapit, arrived at the Suburban off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap on May 2, where he chased a leisurely pace over a speed-favoring track and made a four-wide move at the top of the stretch, closing enough ground to get fourth. Guided by Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who piloted E Dubai to a 2002 Suburban score, Tacitus broke sharply from his inside post and took back off a tepid pace set by 57-1 longshot Parsimony, who produced an opening quarter-mile in 24.68 seconds with eight-time stakes winner Mr. Buff just to his outside in second over the fast main track.

Parsimony and Mr. Buff raced alongside one another and extended their advantage to two lengths through a half-mile in 48.36 seconds with Tacitus in fourth just to the inside of Moretti. Around the far turn, Tacitus began making up ground under no urging from Velazquez and made a three-wide move through three-quarters in 1:10.82.

At the quarter-pole, Mr. Buff gave way while Parsimony was under an all-out drive by jockey Kendrick Carmouche. Velazquez remained cool, calm and collected aboard Tacitus who effortlessly went by the pacesetter around the three-sixteenths pole and glided home to a 8 ¾-length score in a final time of 1:59.51. Moretti closed to get second, a neck to the better of Parsimony in third.

Just Whistle, Mr. Buff and 2019 Belmont Stakes winner Sir Winston completed the order of finish. Forewarned was a late scratch in the post parade.

“He was going comfortable the whole way,” said Velazquez, who notched a fifth stakes victory this meet aboard Tacitus. “We had a little pressure in the first part of the race and little by little we kept reaching back and reaching back. I just wanted to be a little further back. Once we passed the five-eighths pole, I put my hands down and he got into a great rhythm. From there on, I knew he was comfortable, and in a position to win.”

The Suburban was a first trip to the winner's circle for Tacitus since taking the Grade 2 Wood Memorial in April 2019 at Aqueduct. He followed that victory with five straight placings against graded stakes company, including a third in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and runner-up finishes in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, Grade 2 Jim Dandy and Grade 1 Runhappy Travers. Tacitus also owns a graded stakes triumph in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby last March at Tampa Bay Downs.

In his 4-year-old debut, Tacitus ran fifth in the inaugural edition of the Group 1 Saudi Cup on February 29 at King Abdulaziz Racecourse.

“We've put a lot into this horse,” said Mott, who previously won the Suburban with Wekiva Springs (1996) and Flat Out (2013). “We took him to some big races, and he's run some good races. We took him halfway around the world earlier this year looking for something like that [winning effort] in Saudi and in Dubai before they canceled the race [Dubai World Cup].”

Perhaps it was a change of equipment that made a difference for Tacitus, who raced with blinkers on for Saturday's race.

“It seems to make him level off a little more and stay in the bridle a little more,” Mott said.

The win marked a second stakes triumph on Runhappy Met Mile Day for Mott and Velazquez, who teamed up earlier on the card with Frank's Rockette to a victory in the Grade 3 Victory Ride.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano had no complaints regarding his trip aboard runner-up Moretti.

“Beautiful trip. That's just where we wanted to be; behind the two speeds. The race set up beautifully. We were just second-best today. Tacitus is a great horse,” Castellano said.

Returning $4.20 for a $2 win bet, Tacitus banked $110,000 in victory while enhancing his lifetime earnings to $2,817,500.

Named after an ancient Roman senator, the Kentucky homebred Tacitus is out of 2014 Champion Older Filly Close Hatches and is a direct descendant of 1982 Broodmare of the Year Best In Show.

Live racing returns on Sunday afternoon with a 10-race card. First post is 1:15 p.m. Eastern.

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Sir Winston Tries to Regain Belmont Glory in Suburban

Last season’s GI Belmont S. winner Sir Winston (Awesome Again) will attempt to return to the scene of his most important victory and try to add Saturday’s GII Suburban S. to his resume. Runner up in the GIII Peter Pan S. prior to his win in the third jewel of the Triple Crown, the Tracy Farmer hombred was sidelined because of a left front ankle injury last summer. Resurfacing with a forgettable 12th after a troubled trip in a soggy renewal of the one-mile Woodchopper S. over the Fair Grounds turf Dec. 28, he bounced back to win an Aqueduct allowance over a mile Jan. 31. Most recently, the chestnut finished second in the slop in the 11-furlong Flat Out S. June 11.

“It was a lot to ask of him,” said Casse of his latest start. “There was no speed in the race and the sloppy track probably didn’t help us either. He got a little tired, but he showed gameness to even run second. I think he’ll run really well.”

Casse said the colt breezed a half-mile in :50.78 seconds June 26 on Big Sandy.

“I think he got a lot out of it,” said Casse regarding the Flat Out. “My biggest concern is that he got too much out of it. He came back and worked well. He’s a happy horse and he loves Belmont.”

Tacitus (Tapit) has proven to be an enigma, seemingly poised to take it to the next level but never quite making the transition. Out of the Grade I-winning mare Close Hatches (First Defense), the Juddmonte hombred earned a pair of graded victories early last season–the GII Tampa Bay Derby and GII Wood Memorial- before finishing fourth, but later being elevated to third via the DQ of Maximum Security (New Year’s Day)–in the GI Kentucky Derby and second in the Belmont S. Runner up in Saratoga’s GII Jim Dandy S. and Travers S., he rounded out the season with a third in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. Fifth in the Saudi Cup in February, the roan was slated to run in the Dubai World Cup but was re-routed after that program was canceled due to COVID-19 and most recently finished fourth in the GII Oaklawn H. May 2. The front-running Mr. Buff (Friend or Foe) accounted for five of nine races in 2019, including five stakes victories, four of those against state-bred company. Winner of Aqueduct’s Jazil S. against open company last term, he successfully defended his title in the Jan. 25 renewal of the race before adding a 20-length score in the Haynesfield S. for Empire breds Feb. 22. Moretti (Medaglia d’Oro), who finished second in his first two starts of the season, won his two latest, including the Flat Out S. most recently. Javier Castellano, responsible for both recent wins, gets the call Saturday.

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