Monday Morning Mig: Tapwrit’s Tampa Bay Derby

March 13th, 2016 by Richard Migliore

Tapwrit moved into second place on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with his win in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby on Saturday. (SV Photography)

Retired jockey Richard Migliore, who works as a racing analyst for the New York Racing Association, offers his expertise from the perspective of a professional rider in a new regular feature for America's Best Racing — Monday Morning Mig. A winner of 4,450 career races and the 1981 Eclipse Award as outstanding apprentice will review key races on the Triple Crown trail and the road to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, providing his thoughts leading into the race, insights about what happened during the running of the race and key takeaways from the outcome.

This week, Migliore takes a closer look at the March 11 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs.

1. The Post Positions: Post positions didn't seem to be a major factor in this year's running of the Tampa Bay Derby, with one exception. Wild Shot drew post position 9 and projected to get a wide trip with his tactical speed.

2. The Start: The complexion of the race was altered when Beasley bobbled at the break, mitigating his natural speed. Wild Shot, who normally shows speed, was rated and found the rail by the first turn.

3. The Big Move: Jockey Jose Ortiz on the eventual winner Tapwrit was able to save ground with his long-striding colt, and then threaded his way through traffic and got to the outside for the winning move.

4. The Big Miss: Through no fault of his rider, Beasley lost his best chance when breaking poorly and not being able to utilize his abundant speed.

5. The Finish: Tapwrit was a strong and deserving winner. The runner up State of Honor has potential but needs to settle a bit more. The third-place finisher Wild Shot can move forward with a better post position.

6. The Takeaway: The winner Tapwrit appears to be a legitimate Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands contender. He has the pedigree as well as the right trainer and rider. In the Tampa Bay Derby he showed the ability to make a long, sustained run, leading me to believe a mile and a quarter is well within his scope.