Kentucky Derby 2019 Radar: Close Hatches’ first foal strikes

Tacitus, the first foal out of multiple Grade 1 winner and 2014 champion older female Close Hatches, appeared green but talented in breaking his maiden on Saturday in Aqueduct’s fifth race. Looking like a horse that should enjoy going farther than the one-turn mile, he’s on the 2019 Kentucky Derby Radar as a result.

The Juddmonte Farms homebred colt, by Tapit, earned quite a schooling under jockey Jose Ortiz. He sat four-wide between horses up the back stretch, taking dirt from the leaders, then hook out for a sweeping three-wide move through the turn.

Bill Mott-trained Tacitus made easy work of a pair rivals to draw even with the front-running duo. While Skyline Surprise faded from contention, Erlich proved game in the stretch. Tacitus dispatched that one by a narrow margin in the end, hanging a bit in the final furlong.

Erlich set a moderate pace, cutting fractions of 23.45 and 46.91 before Tacitus moved into contention. The final time was 1:38.69.

Tacitus debuted Oct. 4 at Belmont Park in what still appears to be quite the strong maiden race, producing another Derby Radar prospect, the Todd Pletcher-trained King for a Day. This recent batch of New York graduates could point to the Remsen Stakes (G2) on Dec. 1 at the Big A.

Tacitus isn’t Mott’s only 2-year-old colt of note. Mucho, an impressive Saratoga maiden winner, also finished second in the Hopeful Stakes (G1) before shut down to freshen up for his sophomore campaign.

Aqueduct’s third race, a maiden special weight at seven furlongs, also produced a runner to watch. Kiaran McLaughlin-trained Haikal, the half-brother of the late Grade 1 winner Takaful, came from far back showing a nice kick in the stretch to finish second by just a neck. Look for him to move forward next time, too.

Checking the Derby Radar boxes for Tacitus:

Broke maiden on major circuit

Connections with Derby experience

Sire known for two-turn runners