Tacitus rallies to Tampa Bay Derby triumph

OLDSMAR, Fla. – What a difference a week makes. After seeing Hidden Scroll get burned on a fast pace the previous Saturday, trainer Bill Mott found himself in the Tampa Bay Downs winner’s circle when Tacitus, a Juddmonte Farms homebred, rallied off hot fractions Saturday to win the 39th running of the Grade 2, $355,000 Tampa Bay Derby.

Mott and Juddmonte officials had been disappointed by the results of the March 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park, where Hidden Scroll led most of the way before fading to fourth as the favorite. This time, the pace scenario flipped in their favor, as Tacitus came from seventh of 11 3-year-olds to win by 1 1/4 lengths over Outshine.

Tacitus, a gray Tapit colt ridden by Jose Ortiz, was making his first start since winning a Nov. 4 maiden race at Aqueduct and just his third start overall. He paid $19.80 as fifth choice when finishing the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:41.90 over a fast track.

Tacitus is now a certainty to make the 20-horse cut for the May 4 Kentucky Derby by virtue of earning 50 eligibility points with his breakthrough score in Tampa’s annual showcase event.

“We’ve always liked this horse and thought he could be a horse that would be on the (Kentucky) Derby trail,” said Mott, who was on hand from his Payson Park winter base.

Because the colt is so lightly raced, Mott said he “definitely” will race once more before heading to Churchill Downs for the Derby.

Before an ontrack crowd of 10,275, Zenden flew to the early lead from his outside post and proceeded in splits of 22.79 and 45.85, with Well Defined in close pursuit. Outshine raced a few lengths behind them in third on the backstretch, with a sizable break back to the others, including Tacitus in sixth.

Passing the three-eighths pole, as Well Defined started to tire, Zenden, a 19-1 shot, continued resolutely, getting six furlongs in 1:09.57. It was shortly thereafter that Ortiz made a critical move, maneuvering his mount between Admire and Dunph, and Tacitus began gaining furiously while racing just a couple of paths off the rail.

Down the backstretch, Tacitus “was climbing a little bit, but once he got through between those horses, he really got some confidence and got some momentum,” Mott said.

With about 100 yards left, Zenden was passed simultaneously on the outside by Outshine and the inside by Tacitus, with the latter going better of the two. Win Win Win, the 7-5 favorite, was another 1 1/4 lengths behind Outshine when nailing Zenden in the last few jumps for third.

Tacitus “broke very well (from post 10) and gave me a lot of choices by the first turn,” Ortiz said. “He’s a little green still, but we got a rail trip and it opened up for us. He’s a big horse and when he made the lead, he didn’t keep going. He kind of waited a little bit. He does everything so easy and I don’t know if he’s given me 100 percent yet – I don’t think so.”

Joel Rosario, who rode Hidden Scroll in the Fountain of Youth for Juddmonte and Mott, was aboard Outshine for trainer Todd Pletcher.

“He ran big,” Rosario said. “I thought for a second we were going to get it, but then the other horse got through on the inside.”

The early leaders “were going a pretty good pace,” he added. “We were just sitting there, and then I had to start to ride my horse. But yes, he was good today.”

For Mott, who in 1998 became the youngest trainer (age 45) enshrined in the Hall of Fame, it was his second Tampa Bay Derby win, following Zede in 1997. Besides Tacitus and Hidden Scroll, he also has Country House as a top contender for the Kentucky Derby, a race the trainer has not won with eight prior starters.

As the Derby approaches, Tacitus seems likely to become a favorite of serious racing fans who remember his dam, Close Hatches, the Juddmonte homebred who was voted the 2014 Eclipse Award for top filly or mare dirt runner.

The $2 exacta (10-6) paid $129.20, the $1 trifecta (10-6-7) returned $231, and the 10-cent superfecta (10-6-7-11) was worth $236.62.

All-sources handle for a 12-race card that included four other stakes besides the Tampa Bay Derby was $13,956,020, just shy of the track record set last year on the corresponding date.