Tapit Today's strategy pays off with Athenia triumph

ELMONT, N.Y. - Conceding ground isn’t often the preferred plan of attack in a graded stakes race. But when it came to Tapit Today in Sunday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Athenia at Belmont Park, keeping the 5-year-old mare wide and in the clear was the recipe her connections felt could make her a winner.

Taking advantage of her outside post position, Jose Ortiz kept Tapit Today an up-close third and three-wide down the backside, confronted the leaders turning for home and gradually edged clear in the final furlong to a one-length victory over Mitchell Road. It was another length back to She’s Got You.
Feel Glorious was fourth, followed by Call Me Love, the 5-2 favorite, Altea, Sweet Bye and Bye, and Story Time.

The win was the fourth from 10 starts for Tapit Today, a 5-year-old daughter of Tapit owned by William Lawrence and Bradley Thoroughbreds and trained by Chad Brown. It was the fourth victory in the last five years in the Athenia for Brown, and his fifth overall.

:: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Belmont Clocker Report

The win also capped a three-win afternoon for the team of Brown and Ortiz, who head into the final week of the Belmont fall meet atop the trainer and jockey standings, respectively.

Tapit Today had two thirds and one fourth in three consecutive Grade 3 stakes entering the Athenia. Brown felt she may have been trip compromised in a few of those races.

“It seems like she’s a horse who runs a little better out in the clear, she can be a little temperamental,” Brown said. “Normally in a race like this, a mile and a sixteenth with a funny gate placement, you wouldn’t want an outside post. With her it may actually benefit her to be in the clear today. She sort of resents being covered up.”

Down the backstretch, Ortiz had Tapit Today outside of Call Me Love and Sweet Bye and Bye, all three in pursuit of Mitchell Road, who under Luis Saez set fractions of 24.89 seconds for the quarter, 50.37 for the half-mile and 1:13.11 for six furlongs.

Ortiz hadn’t asked Tapit Today yet when she confronted Mitchell Road turning for home. It took until the eighth pole for Tapit Today to wrest the lead from Mitchell Road, but she edged clear in the final furlong. Tapit Today covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.56 and returned $13.60 to win.

“I looked at her replay and she runs good when she’s stalking in the clear,” Ortiz said. “I didn’t try to be a hero; she had an outside post. I did ride her like the best [horse] and tried to control the race a little bit if I had enough horse, and I did.”

Tapit Today is catalogued to be sold at the Keeneland November sale, but Lawrence, via text, indicated she will most likely be pulled from the sale and will continue to race next year.