i am sick of Tacitus - Page 9 - Horse Racing Forum - PaceAdvantage.Com

Tom · 10-10-2020, 09:55 AM

At least he gets participation trophies for never really moving ahead and being a solid second tier stakes horse.

He is a nice horse if you play exactas or triples.

I liked Dollar Bill, too.

101 today?

Robert Fischer · 10-10-2020, 10:12 AM

Tacitus has been unlucky.
Today is the day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom

At least he gets participation trophies for never really moving ahead and being a solid second tier stakes horse.

He is a nice horse if you play exactas or triples.

I liked Dollar Bill, too.

101 today?

Robert Fischer · 10-10-2020, 11:22 AM

the pace scenario is mildly interesting here.

Some pressure to 'put Tacitus into the race', even though this is a BC prep, it's also a G1...

Tom · 10-10-2020, 04:53 PM

Well, he did beat two horses......

More bad news for Tacitus - Finger Lakes is not offering any stakes races this year.

Maybe next year.

classhandicapper · 10-10-2020, 05:29 PM

He is what he is over and over and over and over again.

He's a nice horse that we'd all love to own, but he doesn't have the reserve racing energy to be used during a race, maintain the battle, and still win a high quality race. He gets gassed much quicker than legitimate Grade 1 caliber horses when he's used.

The problem is qualitative.

When the figures look similar, great horses have enough in reserve to overcome racing against the pace, a bias, with ground loss, after being left etc.. and still finish well enough to beat all but other great horses. Good horses have enough in reserve to win when they are supposed to given the trips. Cheaper horses win when they get handed everything their own way.

He's not a Grade 1 older horse. Based on today's race he's probably not even a legitimate Grade 2 older horse. He hasn't made much if any progress since the spring/summer of last year.

jimmyb · 10-10-2020, 06:41 PM

No guts no glory.

Spalding No! · 10-10-2020, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

He's not a Grade 1 older horse. Based on today's race he's probably not even a legitimate Grade 2 older horse. He hasn't made much if any progress since the spring/summer of last year.

Rates an upset chance in the BC Classic if he gets blinkers off and is held off the pace.

The Classic is not looking like a strong renewal on current form this year. Most of the principals are coming off losses and/or "training up to the race". Not gonna trust in Improbable as the favorite especially at 10 furlongs.

Tacitus and Code of Honor will get lost in the shuffle with their rather low-key campaigns thus far, but they could very well get the setup they desperately need.

Especially if the the Godolphin run-off from Europe shows up to up-end the pace scenario.

airford1 · 10-10-2020, 07:08 PM

Please change his name to "Takabus"

dilanesp · 10-10-2020, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spalding No!

Rates an upset chance in the BC Classic if he gets blinkers off and is held off the pace.

The Classic is not looking like a strong renewal on current form this year. Most of the principals are coming off losses and/or "training up to the race". Not gonna trust in Improbable as the favorite especially at 10 furlongs.

Tacitus and Code of Honor will get lost in the shuffle with their rather low-key campaigns thus far, but they could very well get the setup they desperately need.

Especially if the the Godolphin run-off from Europe shows up to up-end the pace scenario.

dilanesp · 10-10-2020, 08:04 PM

What's the excuse this time? Doesn't like to run on the lead? Had to give weight to those 3 year olds? Got caught in a vise between horses?

And again, 3 to 5! You could capitalize Citibank with all the money that has been lost on this horse.

jimmyb · 10-10-2020, 09:14 PM

He ran from a fight. Nothing else to see other than a repeat at the BC.

Psychotic Parakeet · 10-10-2020, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by airford1

Please change his name to "Takabus"

He is basically another Hoppertunity-type of horse. Just collects paychecks and sometimes gets a lucky break to win when the stars and planets align perfectly.

Spalding No! · 10-10-2020, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dilanesp

What's the excuse this time? Doesn't like to run on the lead? Had to give weight to those 3 year olds? Got caught in a vise between horses?

The horse is utterly useless with blinkers. Tacitus is meant to come off the place and Mott jumped the gun adding them for the Suburban after Jose Lezcano and John Velasquez got the horse to settle and finish in his first 2 starts of the year. This coming after all the damage done during Blinker Fiasco Part 1 in 2019 (see Travers + JCGC).

Even when Mott added them back, John Velasquez was smart enough not to follow the trainer's lead and wisely put a vice grip on the horse out of the gate in the Suburban, who in turn settled and responded with a classic "third-off-the-layoff" peak performance. The same can't be said for Jose Ortiz as he and Mott have been caught up worried about other people's horses in the small, paceless fields he's met in his last pair.

Since Mott is still at the helm, and inexplicably still thinks the blinkers are a good idea, I'm not going to hold my breath that he will take them off again. And he won't get John Velasquez back with Authentic in line for the Classic.

That said, plenty of bridesmaid types and Grade 2-types have won the BC Classic. Wild Again, Skywalker, Arcangues, Alphabet Soup, Cat Thief, Volponi, Pleasantly Perfect, Drosselmeyer, and Vino Rosso all fit that bill. Had Ferdinand not had a well orchestrated build-up to the 1987 BC in well-spaced, sub-tier races (Cabrillo, Goodwood), I'm sure we could get a few on this board to call him a bridesmaid, too.

classhandicapper · 10-11-2020, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spalding No!

Rates an upset chance in the BC Classic if he gets blinkers off and is held off the pace.

The Classic is not looking like a strong renewal on current form this year. Most of the principals are coming off losses and/or "training up to the race". Not gonna trust in Improbable as the favorite especially at 10 furlongs.

Tacitus and Code of Honor will get lost in the shuffle with their rather low-key campaigns thus far, but they could very well get the setup they desperately need.

Especially if the the Godolphin run-off from Europe shows up to up-end the pace scenario.

I agree that Tacitus is probably better off making one run from off pace and hoping the race falls apart, but I'd way rather have Code of Honor in that scenario than Tacitus. Code of Honor made a couple of nice runs against the flow this year. If he gets a favorable setup instead of being against it, he could run a big one. He's one I am already considering using. Tacitus beat a listed stakes field masquerading as a Grade 2 and lost yesterday in a Grade 2/3 masquerading as the JCGC.

I'd need a BIG price to use Tacitus, but that doesn't seem likely given the public still loves him. Then again, I'm wrong way more often than I'm right just like everyone else and I respect your opinion a lot.

Spalding No! · 10-11-2020, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

I agree that Tacitus is probably better off making one run from off pace and hoping the race falls apart, but I'd way rather have Code of Honor in that scenario than Tacitus. Code of Honor made a couple of nice runs against the flow this year. If he gets a favorable setup instead of being against it, he could run a big one. He's one I am already considering using. Tacitus beat a listed stakes field masquerading as a Grade 2 and lost yesterday in a Grade 2/3 masquerading as the JCGC.

I agree. At this early stage, Code of Honor would be the horse that appears to be an appealing 'live longshot'. Not sure why he didn't make a dent in the BC last year and he has no big effort in a Grade 1 this year so his overall class is still in question, but he's always been a bit spotty on form.

Quote:

I'd need a BIG price to use Tacitus, but that doesn't seem likely given the public still loves him. Then again, I'm wrong way more often than I'm right just like everyone else and I respect your opinion a lot.

I think you'll finally see a big number on Tacitus (if he even starts to begin with). The appeal of the Suburban score will have surely worn especially for a race like the Classic which will have a large field of horses with better paper form (as opposed to the small suspect fields he's been facing in his NY starts).

Again for me he would have to have blinkers off to even remotely consider him and it's not set in stone that there will be a very strong, contentious pace. I haven't really followed the form closely but it seems Global Campaign, By My Standards, Maximum Security and Art Collector aren't necessarily committed front runners and even Authentic was able to settle off another horse in the Preakness.