HALLANDALE BEACH - Whisper Hill Farm’s Charge It is scheduled to make his long-awaited return to action in today’s Race 8 feature, a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream Park.

    The 4-year-old son of Tapit has been away from the races since he rolled to a 23-length victory in the July 2 Dwyer at Belmont Park that left racing fans wanting to see much more of the abundantly- talented colt.

    The wait is over. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Charge It is scheduled to meet six rivals in his comeback in the $87,000 feature.

    “He’s doing really well. He’s come back and trained the way you’d expect him to,” Pletcher said. “We’re happy to have him back and to get the season underway."

    Charge It graduated by 8 ½ lengths at Gulfstream in his second career start last February before overcoming a starting gate issue to finish second behind White Abarrio in the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby in April. The Pletcher trainee finished off the board in the Kentucky Derby, in which he encountered some road traffic, before rebounding with his spectacular showing in the Dwyer.

    “It was frustrating because it was looking like he was putting it all together, but it was one of those things that he needed some time because he grabbed a quarter in the Dwyer and we just couldn’t get it healed up to continue racing and training,” Pletcher said. “Hopefully, the time off has done him well and he has a big year ahead of him.”

 Luis Saez has the mount on Charge It.

Tapit Trice 3YO Stakes-Bound after Impressive Win

    Whisper Hill Farm’s Tapit Trice stamped himself as a 3-year-old to watch Saturday, when the son off Tapit scored an impressive eight-length victory in a mile optional claiming allowance on the undercard of the $250,000 Holy Bull.

    “He’s a colt we’ve had high hopes for all along,” Pletcher said. “He improved from his first to second start and improved again today. The exciting thing about him is the further he goes, the better he’ll get.”

    Tapit Trice broke somewhat slowly from his No. 1 post position before being angled to the outside by Saez. The long-striding gray colt raced mid-pack while four-wide along the backstretch before being asked for some run leaving the backstretch. Tapit Trice responded with a sustained run to overtake stablemate Shesterkin, the 4-5 favorite ridden by Irad Ortiz, in mid-stretch and drew off to score comfortably.

    Tapit Trice ran a mile in 1:36.44 while looking very much like a colt with a big future.

     “Everything’s in play. It’ll be a stake [next]. We’ll huddle up and talk it over,” Pletcher said.

    Tapit Trice debuted with a third-place finish in a mile maiden special weight race at Aqueduct on Nov. 6 before graduating there at a mile over slop Dec. 17. He was bought at the 2021 Keeneland September sale for $1.3 million.

    Pletcher-trained Shesterkin finished second, four lengths ahead of Live is Life. Pletcher also finished one-two in the $175,000 Sweetest Chant with Cairo Consort and Alpha Bella.

Rainbow 6 Pool Guaranteed 

    The 20-cent Rainbow 6 gross jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $250,000 today. The multi-race wager went unsolved Saturday for the fourth day following last Sunday’s mandatory payout of an $828,941 carryover pool that generated a Rainbow 6 handle of $6,265,823. 

Who’s Hot: Pletcher saddled three winners Saturday, scoring with King’s Fortune ($14.40) in Race 5, Tapit Trice ($4.60) in Race 8 and Major Dude ($4.80) in Race 9.

    Irad Ortiz Jr., who rode a Gulfstream record-tying seven winners Friday, scored with King’s Fortune ($14.40) in Race 5 and Major Dude ($4.80) in Race 9.

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