Fifth in the Haskell Stakes (G1) last year as a 3-year-old, Tapit Trice returned to the Jersey Shore bigger and better as a 4-year-old, thundering home a 5 1/4-length winner of the $404,000 Monmouth Cup Stakes (G3) July 20.
The 1 1/8-mile Monmouth Cup was the launching pad for Tapit Trice's 2024 campaign, having been unraced since a third-place effort in the 2023 Travers Stakes (G1). A $1.3 million yearling owned in partnership by breeder Gainesway Farm and Whisper Hill Farm and trained by Todd Pletcher, the eleven-month layoff mattered not to Tapit Trice when the starting gate opened.
"When you ride for a trainer (like Todd Pletcher) you don't worry about a layoff or anything else," said jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. "If they bring a horse from a layoff to a stakes race it's because they are ready. I always ride them like they are ready to go.
Racing in the clear in third down the backstretch, Tapit Trice waited in the wings while pacesetters Counterspy and Surface to Air carved out splits of :24.14 and :49.15. Ortiz let out a notch on the gray/roan, and clicking past the six-furlong marker in 1:13.35, Tapit Trice took control with a quarter-mile left to run. The Tapit colt strode powerfully past the Monmouth Park grandstand, stopping the timer in 1:50.46 over a fast main track.
"We're very happy. It's been a little frustrating with him," said Pletcher. "We gave him some time off after the Travers by design last year and we were hoping to get back Kentucky Derby week at Churchill but we had a little setback. That delayed everything. We're happy to get him back. He was in good form today. That was a good performance."
Favored Highland Falls was no match for the winner, and was second by three-quarters of a length over Counterspy in third.
Tapit Trice ($7.60), a winner of last year's Blue Grass Stakes (G1), took his earnings to $1,453,650 with his third graded lifetime score.
Video: Monmouth Cup S. (G3)
Beaute Cachee's Class Prevails in Matchmaker Stakes
Frankie Dettori's internationally acclaimed riding skills were on full display in the Matchmaker Stakes (G3T), as the jockey guided grade 1 winner Beaute Cachee to victory in a front-running performance over the Monmouth Park turf.
Hard-sent from the outer post in the field of seven fillies and mares, Dettori and a willing mount in Beaute Cachee traversed through leisurely early fractions of :25.16, :50.66, and 1:15.38. Rounding the bend with plenty left in reserve, Beaute Cachee dueled a stubborn Sacred Wish down the lane to prevail by a neck at the wire.
The third choice on the betting board behind her two stablemates, Delahaye and Maman Joon, Beaute Cachee ($11.20) completed the 1 1/8 miles on a firm turf course in a final time of 1:49.63.
Sacred Wish was second, three-quarters of a length over Delahaye, who got up for third to give trainer Chad Brown a 1-3 finish in the $300,000 Matchmaker. Beaute Cachee marked the trainer's unprecedented eighth win in the grade 3 contest.
Beaute Cachee, a 5-year-old daughter of Literato, is enjoying her best season yet for owners Louis Lazzinnaro, Madaket Stables, Michael J. Caruso, and Michael Dubb. The mare led at every pole to defeat the highly touted Godolphin runner English Rose in the April 13 Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland in her first start of the year, setting the stage for an ambitious 2024 campaign. She was victorious over the Monmouth turf last year when landing the listed Violet Stakes.
Video: WinStar Matchmaker S. (G3T)
