Tap It to Win will likely be supplemented to Belmont Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – A new and serious player for the $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 20 may have emerged Thursday when Tap It to Win rolled to a five-length victory in a first-level allowance race at Belmont Park.

Tap It to Win ran 1 1/16 miles in a fast time of 1:39.76, which was just .54 off the Belmont Park track record of 1:39.22 set by Transparent in 2014. Tap It to Win was assigned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure.

Tap It to Win, a son of Tapit owned by Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation and trained by Mark Casse, is not Triple Crown nominated. However, it would cost only $15,000 to supplement to the Belmont Stakes – a change this year from $50,000 – and Casse indicated they would supplement. This year, the Belmont has been shortened to 1 1/8 miles, around one turn, from its usual 1 1/2 miles, owing to the disruption of racing schedules caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have to obviously see how he comes out of it and trains, but I don’t see why we wouldn’t give the Belmont a try,” Casse said by phone Friday from Florida. “One thing about it, a lot of horses as we know don’t get over Belmont very good – that’s not an issue with him. I just think you run them when they’re good. That’s what Woody [Stephens] did, that’s what Allen Jerkens did. I don’t claim to be anywhere in those two guys’ category but I do try and listen to the greatest in the game and I would say those two fall in that category.”

:: Belmont Stakes news, contenders, and more

Casse, who won last year’s Belmont with Sir Winston, has not been shy about running a good horse back on short rest. Last year, Got Stormy won the Grade 1 Fourstardave one week after she set a Saratoga turf course record in a listed stakes. In 2018, Shamrock Rose, a 3-year-old filly, won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint two weeks after she won the Raven Run.

Tap It to Win gave glimpses of talent when he won a six-furlong maiden race at Saratoga last year on Travers Day, running along the rail on a day when the outside part of the track was better.

Tap It to Win finished last in two subsequent starts. Casse said Tap It to Win got worked up before the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, then encountered trouble into the first turn. Twenty-two days later, Tap It to Win finished last in the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill. Downs. Casse explained that Tap It to Win hit his sesamoid so hard coming out of the gate that doctors had to surgically take a piece of his sesamoid out.

Casse said the time off from the surgery helped Tap It to Win mentally as well.

“He came back and he was a different horse,” Casse said.

Casse brought Tap It to Win back in a Florida-bred allowance going six furlongs at Gulfstream Park on May 9, a race he won by 1 1/2 lengths.

Casse said Thursday’s race was a great opportunity to find out if, as he suspected, Tap It to Win could go long.

“I told Mrs. Weber, I told the entire Live Oak crew you guys might think I’m crazy, but I’m still not convinced” he won’t run a distance of ground, Casse said. “Obviously, the time was extremely fast. I thought that was an extremely talented group and he kind of just ran them off their feet.”

In other Belmont Stakes news, trainer Todd Pletcher’s trio of potential contenders – Dr Post, Farmington Road, and Gouverneur Morris – all put in workouts Friday at Palm Beach Downs in Florida. All three are scheduled to ship to New York on Monday.

Dr Post and Farmington Road went five furlongs together in 1:01.27 and were asked to gallop out an additional three furlongs past the wire. The workout, which is accessible on XBTV.com, was conducted over a wet track.

Gouverneur Morris worked on the inside of an unidentified workmate, who basically was easing up at the eighth pole. Gouverneur Morris was timed for five furlongs in 59.95 seconds and galloped out an additional three furlongs.

Barry Irwin, whose Team Valor International is part-owner of Gouverneur Morris, said a decision on whether Gouverneur Morris will run in the Belmont will be made after a workout next Friday at Belmont Park.

Irwin said he is also monitoring the complexion of the field, saying that if Maxfield runs in the Belmont, Gouverneur Morris would likely be rerouted to the Blue Grass Stakes on July 11. Irwin said he is also monitoring what race Charlatan runs in next.