Tacitus looks good in drill for Belmont Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – While the focus of the racing world was on Baltimore on Saturday, trainer Bill Mott was on Long Island, and his Kentucky Derby winner was in Louisville. Mott seemed perfectly content with that.

Mott was at Belmont to oversee the workouts for several of his horses, most notably Wood Memorial winner Tacitus, who breezed a half-mile in 48.41 seconds as he prepares for the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes on June 8.

Tacitus, the third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, worked in company with the older stakes winner Multiplier. Tacitus began the move about a length back and tracked Multiplier through a quarter of 24.65 seconds. Though floated a path or two wide turning for home, Tacitus was basically on even terms through a final quarter of 23.76 while finishing a head back at the wire. Belmont’s main track was very quick Saturday morning.

Tacitus galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.39 and six furlongs in 1:14.58.

“He did it well, on the bridle. It was good,” Mott said. “He’s never been a good work horse as far as brilliant.”

But Tacitus is getting better. Mott liked the way he worked prior to the Kentucky Derby, a breeze in which he worked with Country House and then was joined by Win Win Win and his workmate to make it look almost like a race.

He was extremely pleased with Tacitus’s effort in the Kentucky Derby “considering where he had to come from.”

Tacitus was 16th of 19 after the opening half-mile of the Derby.

Tacitus arrived at Belmont on Wednesday from Kentucky. Mott said that his Kentucky-based assistant, Kenny McCarthy, was pretty impressed with how Tacitus came out of the Derby.

“Kenny, he usually doesn’t say much, but he said, ‘This son of a gun is sharp,’ ” Mott said. “He was almost like, ‘If you want go to the Preakness …’ Had he won the Derby, I guess he’d be down there today.”

Country House, after the stewards disqualified Maximum Security from first, did win the Derby. But he did not come out of the race healthy and was sent to the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., where he was treated with antibiotics, given a tracheal wash and had his blood checked frequently. Though still on antibiotics, Country House returned to Mott’s Churchill barn on Wednesday.

Mott said Country House will walk under tack once or twice a day at Churchill, and when he’s deemed ready to resume training, Country House will likely be shipped to Saratoga to prepare for a summer campaign.

“If we don’t have any setbacks, he could be ready for Saratoga,” Mott said.

At Saratoga, the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy is run July 27, followed by the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 24.

Mott steered clear of the controversy surrounding the Derby with the disqualification of Maximum Security and subsequent lawsuit filed by that horse’s owners. He simply looks forward to the day when he run Country House again.

“We don’t have to prove a thing,” Mott said. “He showed up on Derby Day. We didn’t cross the line first, but he showed up, and we were thrilled to death when he finished second.”

Thrilled even further when he was promoted to first.