Performer Puts On a Show in Aqueduct's Discovery

When trainer Shug McGaughey entered Performer in the $203,000 Discovery Stakes (G3), he viewed it as an audition for his 3-year-old colt who was tackling stakes competition for the first time after winning three consecutive races in the maiden and allowance ranks.

"I knew it was a step up and wanted to see how he does," the Hall of Fame trainer said.

What he saw was a command performance that promises to land Performer some leading roles in a few of next year's major races.

Challenged by grade 2 winner Tax at the top of the stretch, Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's son of Speightstown  fended off his more seasoned rival during a spirited stretch duel and prevailed by 1 1/4 lengths under Joel Rosario in the two-turn, 1 1/8-mile test Nov. 30 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

"He's getting better and better," McGaughey said about the winner of four of five starts. "This was a step up and he handled it. First time around two turns, first time he came over here to run. He had never run this far before, so I was very pleased with the whole thing."

Daisy Phipps Pulito of Phipps Stable, which bred Performer, was also delighted by the outcome in the second of three Saturday stakes at Aqueduct.

"Shug has done a tremendous job with him," she said about the half brother to the stakes-winning Breaking the Rules out of the A.P. Indy mare Protesting.

Yet sometimes the most meaningful comments come from your rivals, and Performer surely left a positive impression on Danny Gargan, who trains Tax.

"I thought for a second we had him," Gargan said, "but Shug's horse may be special."

Though the richest races of 2020 will be contested in the next four months, the time for Performer to take center stage again will most likely come in the spring here in America. 

"I've asked a bit of him the last two starts, facing older horses (in a Sept. 29 allowance optional claimer) and then graded horses around two turns. Now it's time to give him a break. This is what we pointed for after Saratoga. He's 4-0 as a 3-year-old, and I think that deserves a break," said McGaughey, who mentioned the Carter Handicap (G1) in April at Aqueduct as a possible early target for a colt who suffered his lone defeat in his debut at 2.

McGaughey also trains Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) and Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) winner Code of Honor for William S. Farish.

Performer, who paid $6.40 as the 2-1 second choice, contested the early pace with Good Friends II's Carlos L through a half-mile in :47.86, while Tax and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. were content to linger in fifth in the field of seven.

Leaving the quarter pole, Performer danced past Carlos L and braced for a strong challenge from Tax, who was making his first start since finishing seventh behind Code of Honor in the Travers. For a moment, it appeared as though the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) winner would surge past, but Performer continued to battle along the rail and edged clear in the final sixteenth to cover the nine furlongs in 1:50.36 on a fast track.

"He was there for me. The more I got into him, he was there. Any time a horse came to him, he was there and responded. He was real game. He wouldn't let (Tax) go by. That was pretty good," said Rosario, who won the Discovery for a fourth straight year and now has five wins in the stakes.

Gargan was satisfied with Tax's effort, especially after a three-month layoff, and believes the race will propel his 3-year-old gelding into the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) picture.

"I'm really proud of him. He was away 90 days, and Irad said he maybe got a little tired. When he got to (Performer), he wanted to play with him. He's got that in him," Gargan said. "This is a good start to get him back running. Maybe now we can come back in five, six, seven weeks and he'll be ready. We'll take him to Florida. The Pegasus is an option. There are some other options, and I still teeter with the grass at some point, but he's doing so well with this."

Owned by R. A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Hugh Lynch, and Corms Racing, Tax, the $1.35-to-1 favorite, was claimed by Gargan for $50,000 out of his second start. The son of Arch finished 9 1/4 lengths ahead of Michael Dubb, Coyle Boys Stable, and Bethlehem Stables' Grumps Little Tots, who was third.