(Tacitus before this year’s KY Derby / Photo by Holly M. Smith)

Every day, we scour the work tabs at racetracks all over the country.  We are looking for workouts that may be of interest and helpful to you — as both race fans and handicappers.  Some of the horses we will be tracking, you will know.  Some of them, you may not know — as of yet.  We will keep a keen eye and stopwatch to see who may be working well:

  1. Tacitus, the sometimes brilliant and often-times unlucky 3YO son of Tapit, worked at Saratoga this morning. The Tapit colt, who nearly went to his nose leaving the gate for the G2 Jim Dandy Stakes and still managed to close for a strong second, worked this morning at “The Spa.” Went an easy half mile for trainer Bill Mott in :49.96. that was the 15th best time out of 33 to go the distance. Will likely show up next in the G1 Travers Stakes, and will be a tough out, for sure. But sure to be bet heavily, as well. Dilemma?
  2. Strike Power, a mysterious 4YO colt trained by Mark Hennig, can flash brilliant speed. He has it. In abundance. Doesn’t win or run as much as I would like, and I’m sure as much as his trainer would like, especially. But he has the core. Worked a half at Saratoga today, going the distance in :49.45 breezing. That was 4th best of the 52. Look for a better out next time for this one. I’m still on board. It’s there.
  3. Catholic Boy, a 4YO son of More Than Ready and one of the best older horses in training today, worked at Saratoga this morning, as well. Went a half mile in :52.12. That was 45th best of 49 to go over the dirt track early on. The ridgling is a G1 winner over both grass and dirt. Future? Could go either way, but I think he still could make a great Breeders’ Cup Classic winner. Talent is there.