Mott taking it one step at a time with Tacitus

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It was with a tempered enthusiasm gleaned from a lifelong existence in racing that Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott spoke about Tacitus and the Kentucky Derby the morning following the colt’s impressive victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.

Despite the fact Tacitus established himself as a leading contender for the $3 million Derby on May 4 by overcoming trouble on the first turn to win the Wood by 1 1/4 lengths, Mott knows there’s a ways to go between now and the first Saturday in May.

“I was thinking about it yesterday, maybe I felt like I should be more exuberant than I was,” Mott said Sunday by phone from South Florida. “However, I guess I’ve been doing this long enough, that was only a step in the direction we’re going. It was a good step, we’re not there yet. I’m trying to keep a lid on it and just take care of business and make the right moves from then until the next one.”

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Mott has yet to win the Derby, going winless in six runnings with eight starters, his first try coming 35 years ago with Taylor’s Special. Last year, Mott finished seventh in the Derby with Hofburg, who, like Tacitus, is owned by Juddmonte Farms.

While Mott said he felt confident in Hofburg’s Derby chances, Tacitus may be the best horse he’ll bring to the Derby to this point. He’s a son of Tapit – who finished ninth in the Derby after winning the 2004 Wood – and is the first foal out of the champion mare Close Hatches. After finishing fourth in his debut, Tacitus has reeled off three straight wins including the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby in March and the Wood on Saturday.

“I like the horse, I think he belongs, it’s a matter of staying healthy,” Mott said. “I don’t think we can start crowing too much. They have to stay healthy, they have to travel and everything that goes into it.”

Mott said Tacitus emerged from the Wood with a cut on his left leg as a result of some bumping and steadying that occurred going into the first turn. “All in all, he was pretty good,” Mott said.

Though Tacitus did have to overcome trouble early, he had a pretty smooth trip thereafter under Jose Ortiz. Mott said at one point down the backside he wondered if Tacitus had too much ground to make up.

“Leaving the half-mile pole, I was thinking I hope he can make up that ground, he was a good way back,” Mott said. “He kept coming, kept coming, and by the time he turned into the stretch he had already got to [the leaders]. Jose said it doesn’t really feel like he’s doing that much, but he’s covering a lot of ground.”

Tacitus ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.23 and earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure for the Wood Memorial effort.

Mott said Tacitus would likely ship to Louisville after next weekend’s races. Mott plans to run Country House in the Arkansas Derby and Elate in the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn. He’ll likely then have all three of those horses at Churchill.

Tax and Haikal, second and third, respectively, in the Wood will be pointed to the Kentucky Derby, their connections confirmed on Sunday.

Trainer Danny Gargan said he told Junior Alvarado to be aggressive with Tax and be in front at the quarter pole. Gargan said he knew Tax had to finish first or second in order to accrue the points necessary to make the Derby. Gargan believes the horse will be ridden more patiently in the Derby.

“I think he’s going to move forward off that race. We stayed here all winter, I missed some training, he wasn’t as fit as he could have been,” Gargan said. “That race will tighten him up, and we’ll get a good breeze into him before the next one. He’s the type of horse that likes to do his job.”

Gargan said he may only work Tax once between now and the Derby and that work will likely come at Churchill.

Haikal, coming off three consecutive victories around one turn, rallied from 13 1/2 lengths back to finish third, beaten four lengths. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said that Haikal ran his final three furlongs in 38.24 seconds, which was faster than any horse ran their final three-eighths in the three Kentucky Derby preps run Saturday (Roadster ran his final three furlongs in 38.27 in the Santa Anita Derby and Tacitus got his in 38.47 in the Wood. In the Blue Grass, Vekoma's final three-furlongs went in 39.38.)

“He needs an extra furlong,” McLaughlin joked, referring to all the speculation that Haikal was a one-turn specialist.

The bad news for Tacitus, Tax and Haikal is that the Wood Memorial has not produced a Kentucky Derby winner since 2003 when Wood runner-up Funny Cide beat Wood winner Empire Maker. Since then, 33 horses have come out of the Wood to run in the Derby with not a single top-three finish.