Tacitus works in blinkers for Travers

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Tacitus, second in both the Belmont Stakes and Jim Dandy, may be equipped with blinkers when he runs in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 24.

On Friday, Tacitus, equipped with blinkers, worked a halfmile in 49.96 seconds over the Oklahoma training track, starting about two lengths behind Tide of the Sea and finishing on even terms. Tacitus got his last quarter in 24.32 seconds.

“Just watching, he looked good. He was doing everything pretty much within himself,” trainer Bill Mott said. “We didn’t get into him or anything. The rider felt he seemed a little more focused.”

Mott said he wanted to work Tacitus again in blinkers before committing to using them in the Travers.

Mott said Tacitus has always lacked a little bit of focus but with maturity has gotten better. Tacitus had a very wide trip when second to Sir Winston in the Belmont Stakes and stumbled badly when second to Tax in the Jim Dandy.

“Not having blinkers had nothing to do with him falling on his face in the Jim Dandy or having a five-wide trip in the Belmont,” Mott said.

Catholic Boy breezes half-mile

Catholic Boy, last year’s Travers winner, returned to Saratoga’s main track Friday morning for an easy half-mile workout in 52.06 seconds under jockey Javier Castellano as he prepares for his next start.

Friday’s work was Catholic Boy’s first move since he finished second to Preservationist in the Grade 2 Suburban Stakes at Belmont Park on July 6. Catholic Boy came out of that race with some cuts on his left leg that needed to heal. Trainer Jonathan Thomas said Catholic Boy walked and jogged for a two-week period after the race.

“They weren’t terrible, but they were in a place where if he was training he would have reopened them,” Thomas said of the cuts. “Definitely wanted him to have an easy breeze, and I thought he moved well and he wanted to jump up and gallop out. That was actually the best part of the work.”

While the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward Stakes on Aug. 31 is possible for Catholic Boy, Thomas also is flirting with the idea of going back to the turf in a race like the Woodbine Mile on Sept. 14. Catholic Boy is 5 for 6 on turf.

“We’re on a schedule for the Woodward, but at the same time we’re not pushing him that way,” Thomas said. “He’s going to either take us that way or not.”

Point of Honor in slow work

Though Point of Honor worked significantly slower than expected Friday morning, trainer George Weaver did not seem too concerned as he prepares his filly for the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama Stakes next Saturday.

Point of Honor, runner-up to Guarana in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks here on July 21, worked five furlongs in 1:05.82 early Friday morning over the Oklahoma training track. Javier Castellano was aboard for the move, which went in splits of 14.00, 27.40, and 40.64, so she got her last quarter in 25.18.

“Javier asked her to pick it up down the lane and she was responsive,” Weaver said. “Javier seemed to be happy with her. I’m going to rely on the feedback from him. She does not need to work fast and I didn’t expect her to work fast. Probably was thinking she might go a little better than 1:05, but essentially her first eighth was 14 and change and the rest of it was good.”

Weaver noted that Point of Honor had a slow half-mile work in 50 seconds before she won the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan in May.

Point of Honor is likely to be second choice in the Alabama behind Mother Goose winner Dunbar Road. Others pointing to the Albama include Afleet Destiny, Champagne Anyone, Lady Apple, Street Band, Ulele, and possibly Classic Fit.

Barrera’s death mourned

The New York racing community is mourning the loss of Carmen Barrera, the New York Racing Association’s longtime director of horsemen’s relations, who died unexpectedly Thursday. She was 60.

Barrera began working at NYRA in 1978, the same year Laz Barrera, her uncle, won the Triple Crown with Affirmed. Carmen Barrera was the daughter of Luis Barrera, who won the 1981 Belmont with Summing, a memory she fondly reflected on in a NYRA interview last year.

“I was so proud of my dad that day. Summing ended Pleasant Colony’s Triple Crown bid and George Martens rode a great race,” she said. “The Belmont was the Triple Crown race my father had wanted to win because it was our home track.”

Many at Saratoga on Thursday walked around the track in disbelief.

“For someone who hasn’t saddled a horse, or won a race as a jockey or trainer, her impact on racing is legendary,” prominent owner Mike Repole said. “She was a New York Racing Association icon. She was the perfect person for the position that she does; she had an incredible balance of being the sweetest lady in the world and being super tough when she had to be. She was entertaining and liked to laugh. I’m in a fog today. We lost a NYRA legend. This place just won’t be the same.”

Repole said he was notified about Barrera’s passing from Alysse Jacobs, who for the last 10 years worked as Barrera’s assistant. She was inundated with visitors, messages, and phone calls Thursday.

“I always knew how much she meant to people, but seeing everybody coming in here and calling, it went well beyond the scope of what I knew,” Jacobs said.

Michael Del Guidice, the chairman of NYRA’s board of directors, in a press release said: “Carmen Barrera was a helping hand and guiding light for countless horsemen, guests and employees for the last four decades. Carmen was a special part of the fabric of racing in New York, and she will be missed deeply.”

Magic Dance done for year

Magic Dance, third in the Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes here on Aug.4, will not race again this year due to bone bruising, trainer Steve Asmussen said Friday.

Magic Dance, who won her first two starts, including the Debutante at Churchill, stumbled badly at the break of the Adirondack.

“She reached up and hit the back of her left ankle,” Asmussen said. “She is going to get time off at Three Chimneys.”