Belmont Stakes clocker: Smooth final work for Tacitus

Belmont Park
Weather: Fog/Cloudy
Temperature: 65
Track: Fast

ELMONT, N.Y. – Tacitus’ final work prior to his third place finish in the Kentucky Derby certainly did not go as trainer Bill Mott had planned. Not after he and his workmate, eventual Derby winner Country House, inadvertantly hooked in at the half-mile pole with a Mike Trombetta-trained team that included fellow Derby contender Win Win Win, the trio barreling to the wire and then galloping out in tandem all the way around the clubhouse turn.

In contrast, Tacitus’ final work prior to Saturday’s Belmont Stakes couldn’t have been planned any better: a nicely orchestrated five-furlong breeze in company with stablemate Tide of the Sea over a fast main track shortly after the renovation break just before 9:00 a.m. here Sunday.

With the fog that hovered over the track earlier in the morning long gone, conditions were perfect by the time Tacitus broke off under jockey Jose Ortiz a couple of lengths behind his target from the five-eighths marker. Tacitus drafted in behind Tide of the Sea to the top of the stretch, the pair gradually picking up the pace with each succeeding furlong. Tacitus eased out to join his mate upon entering the stretch then readily drew well clear to the wire under the slightest hint of encouragement from Ortiz before galloping out with the same eagerness he displayed in his previous work here one week earlier.

Tacitus completed five furlongs in 1:00.31, his final three-eighths in an eye-catching 35.59 seconds, before easing up after six panels in 1:12.91. The Wood Memorial winner, a lackluster work horse at best all winter, has continued to flourish in the morning since the Derby and appears primed for his best effort yet in the final leg of the 2019 Triple Crown.

Master Fencer had his busiest morning since an eventful work of his own here last Wednesday, jogging once around the training track before switching over to the main to gallop an easy 1 1/8 miles in the light fog shortly before 7:00 a.m. Master Fencer appeared to be moving very soundly as he came through the stretch, a good sign indeed considering the scary looking stumble he took during the late stages of his seven-furlong breeze four days earlier.

Master Fencer is scheduled to have his final Belmont work, with jockey Julien Leparoux aboard, on Wednesday.