Candy Ride (Arg) | Horse Racing Free Tips

Candy Man Rocket to Beat in Tampa Bay Derby

After recording a stalk-and-pounce victory in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. Feb. 6, Candy Man Rocket (Candy Ride {Arg}) will have 11 rivals standing in his way to double up in Saturday's GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby. The Tampa Bay Derby carries 50-20-10-5 qualifying points on the road to the GI Kentucky Derby.

The Frank Fletcher colorbearer previously romped by 9 1/4 lengths at second asking going six furlongs at Gulfstream Park Jan. 9. He received 85 Beyer Speed Figures in both efforts.

The Sam Davis was Candy Man Rocket's first start around two turns. The fifth-place finisher that day Known Agenda (Curlin) returned with a daylight optional claiming tally at Gulfstream Feb. 26.

Candy Man Rocket, the 2-1 morning-line favorite for the Tampa Bay Derby, worked a bullet four furlongs in :48 3/5 (1/36) at Payson Park Feb. 28. He is drawn in post three with Junior Alvarado aboard.

“The [Tampa Bay Derby] has been on our minds since he won the Sam F. Davis,” Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. “Any time you get a horse that runs well over that racetrack, you have to give it consideration.”

He continued, “It seems like he is doing equally as well now as he was before the Davis. He's got good natural speed away from the gate, which can always be an advantage for any horse, position-wise. The chances of getting a good trip might be better than they would for a deep closer, especially in a big field.”

After completing his juvenile campaign with two straight route wins in Kentucky, Hidden Stash (Constitution) rallied smartly from eighth after a ground-saving trip to finish third–beaten just 1 1/4 lengths–while making his stakes debut in the Sam Davis. The addition of more speed types in this full field should certainly play in his favor.

Helium (Ironicus) tries dirt for the first time in his sophomore debut. He was perfect from two tries for Mark Casse going seven furlongs over the Woodbine synthetic last term, most recently dominating six rivals in the Display S. Oct. 18.

Promise Keeper (Constitution), a well-beaten fourth behind Candy Man Rocket sprinting on debut, stretched to a mile with a sharp, front-running maiden victory for Todd Pletcher in the Gulfstream slop Feb. 6. He will have to work out a trip in his two-turn debut from post 11. Pletcher has won the Tampa Bay Derby a record five times and will also tighten the girth on Unbridled Honor (Honor Code), who took a big step forward to annex a local two-turn maiden special weight at third asking Feb. 6.

After saddling King Guillermo (Uncle Mo) to a shocking 49-1 victory in last year's Tampa Bay Derby following a third-place finish in the grassy Pulpit S., trainer Juan C. Avila will go turf-to-dirt once again with Jan. 30 wire-to-wire Gulfstream maiden winner King of Dreams (Air Force Blue).

Super Strong (Super Saver), winner of the Classico Agustin Mercado Revron S. first out in Puerto Rico Dec. 19, shows up in this ambitious spot for his U.S. debut. He worked a bullet five furlongs for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. in :59 3/5 (1/30) at Palm Meadows Feb. 13.

“He has trained well enough to give it a shot,” said Joseph, who will also saddle longshots Awesome Gerry (Liam's Map) and Moonlite Strike (Liam's Map). “It's hard to judge his form in Puerto Rico, but he acts like the distance will be no problem. We aren't giving up much experience to most of the other horses in the race. We definitely would like him to have another race in him, but we have to play the hand we're dealt.”

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First Mare In Foal To Champion Game Winner

Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}), the champion 2-year-old male of 2018, has had his first mare confirmed in foal, officials at Lane's End announced Thursday.

The Machmer Hall-owned Desire Street (Congrats) was the first mare reported in foal to the son of Indyan Giving (A.P. Indy). The 9-year-old is a half-sister to SW & GSP Abraham (Distorted Humor); GISP Beat the Benchmark (Speightstown); and to Groton Circle, who produced SW Supreme Aura to the cover of Candy Ride in 2015. Desire Street's second dam includes MGSW & GISP Miss Isella (Silver Charm); GII Arkansas Derby hero Sir Cherokee (Cherokee Run); MSW Guam Typhoon (Distorted Humor); and MGSP Lady Linda (Torrential).

Raced by Gary and Mary West and trained by Bob Baffert, Game Winner was a perfect four-for-four during his championship season, with victories in the GI Del Mar Futurity, GI American Pharoah S. and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He added a five-length score in the 2019 GIII Los Alamitos Derby and was retired with a record of 8-5-2-0 and earnings of $2,027,500.

Game Winner, one of three sons of Candy Ride at Lane's End, stands for a fee of $30,000.

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Impressive Maiden Winners Begin to Take ‘Charge’ in Stall Barn

As former stable star and popular GISW Tom's d'Etat (Smart Strike) gets his career at stud underway at WinStar Farm, a pair of flashy 3-year-old maiden winners and an emotional stakes victory have helped propel the 2021 season for veteran trainer Al Stall, Jr.

“Trying to fill the shoes of horses like Blame and Tom's d'Etat are awfully tough,” said Stall, who trained the former to a heart-stopping victory over Zenyatta in the 2010 GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

“When horses like that leave the barn to go to Claiborne Farm and WinStar Farm, you're very happy for the horse that they're going to such a nice place with a potentially good career ahead of them. As far as the void goes, you just keep on getting up every morning and hope that one of the younger horses steps up or an older horse develops late. Hopefully, these two or some others can help fill the void that was left in the barn.”

One of “these two”–Carribean Caper (f, 3, Speightstown–Checkupfromzneckup, by Dixie Union)–kicked off Saturday's loaded, 13-race GII Risen Star S. program at Fair Grounds with a geared-down, eight-length, tour-de-force to earn the 'TDN Rising Star' nod at first asking in the six-furlong opener (video).

The Columbine Stable colorbearer, a $250,000 Keeneland September graduate, was always traveling smartly pressing the early leader after breaking on top, took over as they straightened for home and ran up the score under confident handling in the stretch to win for fun. She earned a very strong 87 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

Breeder WinStar Farm paid $825,000 for the stakes-placed Checkupfromzneckup carrying Carribean Caper in utero at the 2017 Keeneland November Sale.

Carribean Caper hails from the extended female family of Broodmare of the Year Weekend Surprise, the dam of the legendary A.P. Indy, Classic winner Summer Squall, et al.

“We always liked her,” Stall said. “She had a respiratory issue at the end of 2020–she was ready to run a month and a half ago or so–but we had to back off and just really try to maintain her. She was really ready to run Saturday and broke so sharp and just laid perfectly and galloped away from them. She was pretty professional, which didn't surprise us because she acted that way all along.”

A first-level allowance contest for straight 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs on Keeneland's opening day program Apr. 2 could be next.

“She ran awfully fast and we'll give her some time to get over that,” Stall said. “Nothing too dramatic like a stakes race [for her next start]. She's very smart and does everything right. First, we'll just get a little bit more of a foundation underneath her, with hopefully another sprint with a gradual stretchout. Then, we'll see where things land after that.”

He continued, “There's a chance she'll carry her speed. She reminded me of grass from the beginning–I was actually thinking of 5 1/2 [furlongs on grass for her debut]–but I figured she had a really good chance to win on dirt, too. There's a lot of things to look forward to with her.”

The future also looks bright for He's In Charge (c, 3, Candy Ride–Brazen Persuasion, by Indian Charlie), who lit up the tote board at 28-1 with a 91 Beyer Speed Figure at second asking in New Orleans Jan. 30 (video).

Campaigned in partnership by Paul Braverman, Timothy Pinch, Parkland Thoroughbreds and Newport Stables, the $180,000 Keeneland September yearling showed some early interest and faded to eighth–beaten 20 3/4 lengths–in one start at two for trainer Ethan West over the all-weather at Turfway Dec. 11. He's In Charge lived up to his name while adding Lasix in his six-furlong dirt debut for Stall.

The rail-drawn Florida-bred sat just off a hot pace in fourth, was locked and loaded awaiting racing room on the far turn and scraped paint in the stretch with a smart inside run to win going away by 3 1/4 expanding lengths.

His speedy dam Brazen Persuasion, winner of the 2013 GIII Schuylerville S. at Saratoga and a half-sister to recent Ladies H. victress Thankful (American Pharoah) for Todd Pletcher, brought $700,000 from breeder Bridlewood Farm at the 2015 Keeneland November sale.

“He got down to us and he was in good shape–I'm guessing that he just didn't like the Tapeta,” Stall said.

“When we got him, he looked like a nice horse all the way around on dirt. The first couple of breezes, he was all there, and the last couple of breezes, he was really all there. We gave him a little chance in that race–we didn't think 91 Beyer and 1:09 and change [final time] and all that. But we thought he would run a pretty good race.

Stall continued, “His mother was a fast mare that Steve Asmussen had early in her career and I also trained her later. He's also a good athlete, so hopefully the top side will take him a little further. We'd like to find a one other than here at Fair Grounds in the next book for him. He came out of the race in good shape and he's going to have a little breeze this weekend.”

“We're excited about both of them,” Stall said of Carribean Caper and He's In Charge.

It hit awfully close to home as the Stall-trained 5-year-old mare Dalika (Ger) (Pastorius {Ger}) delivered in Saturday's Albert M. Stall Memorial S.

The race, of course, is named in honor of Stall's father, the former longtime chairman of the Louisiana Racing Commission and member of the Fair Grounds Hall of Fame who passed away in 2017.

There were few dry eyes in the winner's circle after the result was finally declared official following a stewards' inquiry and a jockey's objection.

“It was great, and being from here, we had the whole family in town,” Stall said.

“We took the picture, then when [Fair Grounds analyst] Joe Kristufek put that camera in front of me, that's when the emotions just exploded. That makes you feel like you're alive though, rather than just being a robot getting up every day training horses. It was really nice and couldn't have been better. Fairytale as it gets, right?”

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Candy Ride Colt Tops Mott One-Two in Sam Davis

Candy Man Rocket (Candy Ride {Arg}), a blowout maiden winner at second asking at Gulfstream Jan. 9, led home a one-two finish for the Hall of Fame Bill Mott barn with a press-and-pounce, one-length score while making his two-turn debut in Saturday's GIII Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa Bay Downs.

Pasco S. winner Nova Rags (Union Rags) followed home his stablemate and just edged out the somewhat green Hidden Stash (Constitution) for second.

The Sam F. Davis carries 10-4-2-1 qualifying points on the Road to the GI Kentucky Derby.

The 3-1 second-choice forced the issue on the outside through fractions of :23.35 and :46.94 after exiting from post nine, and made his move to strike the front at the top of the stretch as Nova Rags began to sneak through an opening on the inside with a run of this own.

Candy Man Rocket was always going the better of the two, however. He enjoyed a 2 1/2-length advantage at the stretch call, and kept on finding down the lane to get the money.

Favored Known Agenda (Curlin), exiting a well-beaten third over sloppy going in the GII Remsen S. Dec. 5 and some very live maiden races last term for Todd Pletcher, got going too late from far back to finish fifth.

“[Candy Man Rocket] has some tactical speed and he put Junior [Alvarado] in a great spot,” said Riley Mott, assistant and son of winning trainer Bill Mott.

“He got into a real nice comfort zone down the backside and Junior let him out a notch going to the three-eighths pole, and at that point, there wasn't a whole lot coming from behind. He hit the front a little bit early, which was concerning–he's still inexperienced and sometimes when they get to the front too early, they tend to wander. Junior kept him to the task and he really ran on well and passed the two-turn test.”

As for what's next for the top two, Riley Mott added, “We have to see how the horses come back. Nova Rags has had two races in three weeks, and to bring him back in four [for the GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby], we just have to look at the calendar and see what the options are. As far as Candy Man Rocket, he went over the track today, but we have to see how they come back.”

Seventh after showing some early interest in his sloppy, sprint debut at Churchill Nov. 22, Candy Man Rocket cruised by 9 1/4 lengths going six furlongs at Gulfstream last time Jan. 9, good for an 85 Beyer Speed Figure.

Candy Man Rocket brought $250,000 from Frank Fletcher at last year's postponed OBS Spring Sale after breezing a quarter in :21.

The Arkansas-based businessman also campaigns the MGSW & MGISP 'TDN Rising Star' homebred Frank's Rockette (Into Mischief), a winner in her 2021 comebacker in the American Beauty S. at Oaklawn last month.

Pedigree Notes:

It's been a long time since a leading sire list didn't include Candy Ride (Arg), who acquired his 49th graded winner and 96th black-type winner with Candy Man Rocket's first stakes score Saturday. Out of the Forestry mare Kenny Lane, Candy Man Rocket's third dam is a half-sister to champion Althea (Alydar), making Broodmare of the Year Courtly Dee (Never Bend) his fourth dam. The dynasty established by Courtly Dee included top sires Arch (Kris S.) and Green Desert (Danzig), as well as more recent stars like champion Covfefe (Into Mischief) and Breeders' Cup winner Bayern (Offlee Wild). Kenny Lane produced the colt Notacry (Orb) in 2019, who sold for $10,000 at Keeneland January in 2020, and a filly by Tonalist in 2020. She was bred back to Tonalist again for this spring. Kenny Lane brought $55,000 from Robert S. Evans in foal to Quality Road at the 2016 Keeneland November Sale.

Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs
SAM F. DAVIS S.-GIII, $200,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 2-6, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:44.30, ft.
1–CANDY MAN ROCKET, 118, c, 3, by Candy Ride (Arg)
1st Dam: Kenny Lane, by Forestry
2nd Dam: Vantive, by Mr. Prospector
3rd Dam: Embellished, by Seattle Slew
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($190,000 RNA Wlg '18 KEENOV; $70,000 RNA Ylg '19 KEESEP; $250,000 2yo '20 OBSAPR). O-Frank Fletcher Racing Operations Inc; B-R S Evans (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $120,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $144,824. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Nova Rags, 118, c, 3, Union Rags–Wishful Splendor, by Smart Strike. ($275,000 RNA Ylg '19 KEESEP). O/B-Michael P Shanley (KY); T-William I Mott. $40,000.
3–Hidden Stash, 118, c, 3, Constitution–Making Mark Money, by Smart Strike. ($50,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-BBN Racing LLC; B-Rhineshire Farm LLC (KY); T-Victoria H Oliver. $20,000.
Margins: 1, NK, 2 3/4. Odds: 3.10, 8.30, 8.50.
Also Ran: Boca Boy, Known Agenda, Lucky Law (Ire), Joe Man Joe, Ricochet, Smiley Sobotka, Last Investment, Millean, Runway Magic. Scratched: Tiz Tact Toe.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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