Blue Grass Stakes: Tapit Trice favored to take down a second Derby prep

LEXINGTON, Ky. – He already has Forte as the Kentucky Derby favorite, with Kingsbarns as a backup. Next up for Todd Pletcher is putting the finishing touches on another hot prospect, Tapit Trice, in lining up the troops for the first Saturday in May.

Pletcher will send out Tapit Trice as the morning-line favorite Saturday in the Keeneland spring showcase, the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes, looking to reinforce his Derby holdings. Tapit Trice, a rallying winner of the Tampa Bay Derby four weeks ago, already has virtually clinched a Kentucky Derby berth by earning 50 qualifying points with that visually impressive score at Tampa Bay Downs.

Tapit Trice, with Luis Saez riding from post 1, is the 5-2 program choice in a field of 11 that also includes Verifying, Blazing Sevens, and Raise Cain as top contenders.

The $1 million Blue Grass, a 200-point qualifier (100-40-30-20-10) for the May 6 Derby, shares the national spotlight Saturday with two other major preps, the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and the Santa Anita Derby. The Blue Grass and Santa Anita Derby will go live on NBC on a two-hour broadcast starting at 4 p.m. Eastern.

First post Saturday is 12:30 p.m., with the Blue Grass going at 5:15 as the ninth of 11 races.

Tapit Trice was terrific at Tampa when earning an 88 Beyer Speed Figure to validate his prior race, a Feb. 4 Gulfstream Park allowance romp with a 92 Beyer. Away a bit sluggishly to trail early in a field of 12, the gray Tapit colt began gathering momentum leaving the backstretch before swooping to victory with a wide rush, striding out beautifully for Saez in the final furlong.

“It was a big effort,” said Pletcher, “and he’s trained right along for us since then,” referring to two interim workouts at his Palm Beach Downs winter base.

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It may be worth noting that Pletcher’s two winners from his record 62 Kentucky Derby starters, Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017), both had prep races at Tampa.

Pletcher said shortly after the Tampa Derby that the Blue Grass would serve as the final stepping-stone to Churchill Downs, partly because the colt’s co-owners live near Keeneland. Racing for the partnership of Antony Beck, whose Gainesway Stable bred him, and the Whisper Hill Farm of Mandy Pope, he’ll once again carry the Whisper Hill fuschia and yellow silks Saturday.

Pletcher won the Florida Derby last Saturday with Forte, further solidifying Derby favoritism for the reigning divisional champion. Two weeks ago, Pletcher won the Louisiana Derby with Kingsbarns.

Tapit Trice will be looking for plenty of pace ahead of him while saving ground and settling into a smooth early rhythm in the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass. Major Blue (post 9, David Cabrera) figures to sail off early as a longshot front-runner, with Verifying among those giving closest chase.

Verifying (post 3, Tyler Gaffalione) might rate the best chance at outrunning Tapit Trice. The son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify earned a field-high 97 Beyer in a Jan. 14 allowance romp at Oaklawn Park, then was fourth as the favorite in the Feb. 25 Rebel in the Oaklawn slop in which “he found traffic after they turned for home, and I’m not too sure he liked the mud anyway,” said his trainer, Brad Cox.

Blazing Sevens (post 8, Irad Ortiz Jr.) will be equipped with blinkers for the first time when looking to rebound off a dismal 3-year-old debut in the March 4 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream. Winner of the Grade 1 Champagne last fall, the Good Magic colt was beaten 26 lengths after mild early trouble.

“He’s seemed to respond pretty well to the blinkers in his training, although you can never really be sure about that kind of thing until you run them,” said his trainer, Chad Brown, who won the Blue Grass in 2018 with Good Magic and last year with Zandon. “I think the last race was just a throwout. I’ve seen him train very good since then, so hopefully we can get back on track here.”

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Raise Cain (post 10, Joel Rosario), trained locally by Ben Colebrook, will be out to show that his 7 1/2-length upset at 23-1 in the March 4 Gotham in the Aqueduct mud was no fluke.

Rounding out the field are Classic Car Wash, the Tampa Derby runner-up; a second Colebrook trainee, Scoobie Quando; the Kenny McPeek trio of Hayes Strike, Sun Thunder, and Mendelssohns March; and Clear the Air, who will scratch from the Wood after being cross-entered.

The 99th Blue Grass is the last of five straight graded stakes and the final leg in several multi-race wagers, including a 50-cent pick five that starts with the Grade 3 Commonwealth (race 5). The other stakes are the Grade 2 Appalachian (race 6), Grade 1 Madison (race 7), and Grade 2 Shakertown (race 8).

Clouds (but no rain) and a high of 63 are in the Saturday forecast.

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