Tacticus wires field in marathon Temperence Hill

ELMONT, N.Y. – A bit of a disappointment in marathon races on turf and synthetic in Europe, Tacticus has found a home in America as a marathon dirt horse.

One month after winning the $100,000 Birdstone Stakes at 1 3/4 miles at Saratoga, Tacticus went gate to wire Saturday in the $200,000 Temperence Hill Stakes at 1 5/8 miles at Belmont Park. Tacticus, a son of A.P. Indy owned by Flaxman Holdings, handily defeated 2014 Travers winner V. E. Day, who finished second by 1 1/2 lengths over Indycott. Slim Shadey finished last in the four-horse field.

The win gave trainer Graham Motion his second stakes victory of the young Belmont fall meet, having taken Friday’s $100,000 Christiecat with Miss Ella.

Taking the lead soon after the start under Joel Rosario, Tacticus set a measured pace of 25.55 seconds for the quarter, 51.62 for the half, 1:17.91 for six furlongs, 1:42.64 for a mile, and 2:07.33 for 1 1/4 miles, and he covered the 1 5/8 miles in 2:44.66 He returned $6.10 as the 2-1 second choice.

“It was a small field, he beat a nice horse in V. E. Day, and I love the way he did it,” Motion said. “With this horse, you can’t get too cute. He’s a galloper. He’ll gallop all day.”

Rosario said he was waiting to see if any of the other jockeys would send their horse to the front. When that didn’t happen, he was happy to put his horse on the lead.

“Nobody sent,” Rosario said. “He was there. He was happy. The farther he goes, the stronger he gets. He didn’t mind when a horse came to him. He just kept on going.”

For V. E. Day, it was his sixth consecutive loss since winning the 2014 Travers Stakes. V. E. Day usually does his best running when there is pace in the race.

“He’s supposed to beat these kind,” said trainer Jimmy Jerkens. “I don’t care what kind of pace there is.”

Motion said Tacticus will be pointed to the $200,000 Marathon on Oct. 30 at Keeneland.