AQUEDUCT - WOOD

MEMORIAL (GRADE 2)

BILL Mott doesn’t get Derby Fever. The team at Juddmonte Farms doesn’t really either, even after coming close with runner-ups Aptitude in 2000 and Empire Maker in 2003. Mott and Juddmonte still found themselves squarely on the Derby Trail this winter and spring with a trio of highly-rated prospects in Hidden Scroll, Country House and Tacitus. Then all of a sudden they didn’t.

Hidden Scroll didn’t duplicate his flashy late January maiden win in two subsequent starts and Country House might not have enough points to get into the Derby field after a fourth in the Louisiana Derby. That left Tacitus to carry the hopes to Louisville and he delivered with a victory in the $750,000 Wood Memorial.

The homebred son of Tapit out of the brilliant mare Close Hatches overcame a bump at the start, trouble on the first turn, to put up a second straight professional performance.

“It’s not a surprise, but you always hope they show up,” Mott said. “He’s a young horse and you never know what’s going to happen in any race. Some horses would have been discouraged with what happened on the first turn. They could have backed out of it or decide they didn’t want any part of it after getting roughed up like that.

“He does take after his dam. She was ready from the word ‘go.’ She was one that was very aggressive and very fast. She was good up to a mile, a mile and an eighth. This horse, with the Tapit genes, seems like he’s willing to go on, but he also seems to have enough speed to get him up and involved early in a race. He’s certainly not a speed horse, but he has tactical speed and we know he’s got talent and we know he’s willing to overcome a little adversity.”

The Derby field also gained a little international flavor over the weekend with news that Katsumi and Yasuyo Yoshizawa’s Master Fencer, who competed on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby series for trainer Koichi Tsunoda, accepted an invitation to compete in the May 4th race.