OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Tapit Trice began his 4-year-old campaign with a performance that signaled he could be a factor in the older male dirt division. Then came the Jockey Club Gold Cup in which, after sitting what appeared to be a beautiful trip, he didn’t go on and finished a disappointing fourth. On Saturday, Tapit Trice rebounded from that dull performance with a winning effort in the Grade 2 Woodward at Aqueduct that likely put him back in the picture for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 2. Trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday he hadn’t any substantive conversations with the connections of Tapit Trice - Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm owns the gray son of Tapit - but he believes the Classic is back in play. “He’s never ducked anybody his entire career, and he knocked on the door in some of the really big ones,” Pletcher said. “When he’s on, he certainly fits with the best of the division. If we go to Del Mar and he likes the track that would give him a chance. We wanted to see him come back with a good performance.” Tapit Trice, third in last year’s Belmont Stakes and Travers, came off an 11-month layoff with a 5 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup in July. Highland Falls, the horse Tapit Trice beat in the Monmouth Cup, beat him in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. “He ran a giant race at Monmouth; to run a race like that at a mile and an eighth first off the layoff ... maybe it took more out of him than we thought,” Pletcher said, when trying to reconcile the Jockey Club performance. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Tapit Trice would likely give Pletcher at least a second Classic starter. He already has dual Grade 1 winner Fierceness pointing to that race. Crupi, a well-beaten third in the Woodward, is also not out of Classic consideration, Pletcher said. Tapit Trice won the Woodward having to rally from last under Dylan Davis. Tapit Trice steadied at the five-sixteenths, then had to alter course in the stretch. When he got in the clear, Tapit Trice leveled off nicely and ran by Skippylongstocking, who finished second. “I didn’t like the way it started for him, that wasn’t the position we talked about being in,” Pletcher said. “He kept going and kept closing when it counted.” Tapit Trice earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure for his Woodward victory, the fourth graded stakes victory of his career. As far as Crupi is concerned, Pletcher said he is inclined to draw a line through the Woodward, believing he didn’t appear to handle the off track. Meanwhile, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said both the Classic and the Dirt Mile are in play for Skippylongstocking. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.