Tap to It can take step toward stakes with allowance win

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Tap to It, who has started just twice since finishing sixth in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, will return locally to face seven other fillies and mares in Friday’s $50,000 main event, to be decided at seven furlongs under entry-level allowance conditions.

Trained by Ralph Nicks for Whisper Hill Farm, Tap to It was Grade 1 placed in just her second start when beaten a length by the odds-on Rachel’s Valentina in the 2015 Spinaway at Saratoga. That performance earned her a trip to the Breeders’ Cup, where a slow start compromised her chances in the Juvenile Fillies.

Tap to It made her only start at 3 the following February here, finishing fifth as the odds-on favorite in the Margate overnight stakes. She would not run again for 21 months, returning to finish second – once again after a slow beginning – in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance dash Nov. 11 at Churchill Downs. Nicks said a bleeding issue was the reason for the long gap between starts.

“She came back to me right after her last race and she’s doing really well,” Nicks said. “She’s grown up a lot, filled out a lot, her attitude is good. I would think she’d move forward off her last race and have a good effort on Sunday. Obviously, we’d like to get her back to stakes company at some point, but she needs to earn her way there.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher’s pair of the stakes-placed No Sweat and lightly raced Spice Lady may prove Tap to It’s two main obstacles in a field that also includes Helen Virginia, Doritz, Ventina, Last Kiss, and My Cousin Martha.