Tap to It sticking with plan
ELMONT, N.Y. – By electing not to run Tap to It in between her second-place finish in the Grade 1 Spinaway on Sept. 5 and the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 31, trainer Ralph Nicks needs the filly to get in some solid training during the morning.
On Wednesday, Tap to It put in a very solid-looking workout, drilling seven furlongs in 1:23.86 over Belmont Park’s main track under jockey Joel Rosario.
Working shortly after the midmorning renovation break, Tap to It appeared to just be galloping when she broke off at the seven-furlong pole, yet she went her opening three furlongs in 35.84 seconds. She continued to put up solid fractions of 47.34 seconds for a half-mile and 58.94 for five furlongs before getting her final quarter in 24.92 seconds. She galloped out a mile in 1:37.19.
“Doesn’t she look like she’s going slower?” Nicks said afterward. “She’s just got such a big, smooth stride to her. She went well. I was very happy with it. I was thinking 1:25 time-wise, if time matters. The main thing is we went a good seven-eighths, galloped out a mile, because we’re seven weeks between races.”
Nicks decided to cram a lot in during a short period of time at Saratoga after Tap to It won her debut by two lengths Aug. 16. If he had run her in the Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs after that, it would have meant trying two turns off a six-furlong race. If he had elected to run her in the Frizette Stakes at Belmont or the Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland, it would have meant having only four weeks to the Breeders’ Cup.
By running her in the seven-furlong Spinaway and then training her up to the Breeders’ Cup, Nicks said, “It ought to give us plenty of time to get ready and a huge amount of time to get over the [Spinaway] and get ready for the next one. She ran huge in the Spinaway.”
Nicks has Tap to It tentatively scheduled to ship to Kentucky next week. But he is so happy with the way Tap to It is training at Belmont that he might elect to keep her here longer and get one more work into her before shipping to Keeneland.
“Soundness-wise, she’s going real good over this racetrack,” Nicks said.