Tampa Bay Downs Expecting Full Field For Derby Prep Sam F. Davis

Tampa Bay Downs joins the Triple Crown trail Saturday with the 42nd running of the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points race for 3-year-olds competing at a distance of 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

A full field of 12 is expected for the Sam F. Davis, one of four dirt stakes on a Festival Preview Day card offering $550,000 in stakes purse money. Also scheduled are the $150,000 Suncoast Stakes, a “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” points race for 3-year-old fillies at a mile and 40 yards; the $100,000 Pelican Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for horses 4-years-old-and-upward; and the $50,000 Minaret Stakes, for fillies and mares 4-and-upward at 6 furlongs.

For the Sam F. Davis entrants, the race marks the first major test to determine if they are worthy of staying on the path to Louisville for the May 7 Run for the Roses. The Sam F. Davis awards points to the first four finishers on a 10-4-2-1 scale toward qualifying for the Kentucky Derby, which is limited to 20 starters.

The Sam F. Davis is also the main prep race for the Grade 2, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, one of five stakes races – four graded – on the track's March 12 Festival Day card. The Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby awards 50 points to the winner on the “Road to the Kentucky Derby,” with the next three finishers earning 20, 10 and 5 points.

Entries for Festival Preview Day will be taken Wednesday in the Tampa Bay Downs Racing Office.

Probables for the Sam F. Davis include Red Oak Stable's Florida-bred colt Make It Big, who was 3-for-3 as a 2-year-old for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. Make It Big won the Remington Springboard Mile Stakes on Dec. 17 at Remington Park in his most recent start.

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse is expected to enter both Conrad Farms's colt Golden Glider and Breeze Easy, LLC's colt Volcanic. Golden Glider won a mile-and-40-yard allowance/optional claiming race on Jan. 7 at Tampa Bay Downs to improve to 2-for-2, while Volcanic broke his maiden on Jan. 8 going a mile at Gulfstream Park.

Other Sam F. Davis probables include Albaugh Family Stables, LLC's colt Howling Time, a stakes winner from the barn of Dale Romans; the Brian Lynch-trained colt Classic Causeway, who finished third last year in the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity and second in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes; Kitten Mischief, from the barn of trainer Jonathan Thomas; two-time stakes winner Shipsational, trained by Edward R. Barker; and Trademark, a gelding who won his last two starts of 2021 at Churchill Downs, trained by Victoria Oliver.

Like the Sam F. Davis, the Suncoast Stakes awards qualifying points for the May 6 Kentucky Oaks for fillies on a 10-4-2-1 scale. The field for the Kentucky Oaks is limited to 14 starters.

Among the Suncoast probables is the Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House-owned Nest, who won the Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes on Dec. 4 at Aqueduct. She is trained by Todd Pletcher.

Also expected to try the Suncoast are the Mike Dini-owned and trained Florida-bred Alittleloveandluck, winner of the Ginger Brew Stakes on the turf on Jan. 1 at Gulfstream in her most recent start; Freedom Rose, from the barn of Michael Campbell; Peaceful Surprise, who broke her maiden here on Jan. 14 for trainer Christophe Clement; and trainer Alnaz Ali's Princess Elin.

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Nominations Plentiful For Inaugural Turf Champions Day Stakes At Tampa Bay Downs

The highly acclaimed Tampa Bay Downs turf course will grab the spotlight on Feb. 5 during the track's inaugural Turf Champions Day, which features a pair of Grade 3 stakes for older horses.

Part of the track's Festival Preview Day showcase in recent years, both the $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes for horses 4-years-old-and-upward and the $175,000 Endeavour Stakes for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward will be run on the grass at a distance of 1 1/16 miles. Track officials believe allowing both races to stand alone on a high-caliber stakes card will enhance the Oldsmar oval's burgeoning turf racing program.

Peter Berube, the track's vice president and general manager, said moving both races up a week on the calendar should benefit both the turf and main track stakes programs.

“When you look at some of the recent winners of the Endeavour and the Tampa Bay Stakes – horses such as Tepin, Zagora and World Approval – as well as winning trainers like Claude McGaughey, Todd Pletcher, Mark Casse, Chad Brown and Graham Motion, it becomes obvious that our turf course is considered one of the safest and most consistent in the sport,” Berube said.

“By offering both races on a day when they will be the most lucrative turf stakes anywhere in the nation, we are hopeful of widespread exposure for both the turf and the main track, as well as the facility and our overall quality of racing,” Berube added.

Nominations for both races closed Saturday in the Tampa Bay Downs racing office, with the 36th running of the Tampa Bay Stakes attracting 37 horses and the 23rd running of the Endeavour drawing 32.

Moving the two races ahead on the stakes calendar also allows trainers of the Endeavour starters additional time to prepare for the Grade 2, $250,000 Hillsborough Stakes for fillies and mares, part of the track's March 12 Festival Day card highlighted by the 42nd running of the Grade 2, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby.

The Oldsmar oval's restructured Festival Preview Day card on Feb. 12, meanwhile, now consists of the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes for 3-year-olds, which awards qualifying points to the first four finishers on the “Road to the Kentucky Derby;” the $150,000 Suncoast Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, a “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” points race; the $100,000 Pelican Stakes for horses 4-and-upward sprinting six furlongs; and the $50,000 Minaret Stakes for fillies and mares 4-and-upward at six furlongs.

The list of Tampa Bay Stakes nominees is headed by Lawana L. and Robert E. Low's 5-year-old horse Colonel Liam, who won a pair of Grade 1 turf stakes last year. The lightly raced (6-for-9) career millionaire is trained by Todd Pletcher.

Get Smokin, who won last year's Tampa Bay Stakes out of the barn of trainer Thomas Bush and is now trained by Mark Casse, is also nominated, along with a number of accomplished campaigners.

That group includes millionaire and multiple-Grade 2 winner Cross Border, an 8-year-old trained by Mike Maker; Devamani, an 8-year-old multiple graded-stakes winning gelding trained by Chad Brown who was second in the Tampa Bay Stakes two years ago; Maker's multiple graded-stakes winner Field Pass, an earner of more than $900,000; Pletcher's 6-year-old gelding Largent, who may be rounding into form after spending most of 2021 on the sidelines; and Sole Volante, trainer Patrick Biancone's 5-year-old gelding who won the 2020 Sam F. Davis Stakes and was runner-up in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby.

Here is a link to the entire list of Tampa Bay Stakes nominees, followed by a link to their past performances:

https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20220205-573143

https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20220205-573143

Owners Lawana and Robert Low and trainer Pletcher also have one of the top Endeavour Stakes nominees in the popular 5-year-old mare Sweet Melania, a multiple graded-stakes winner who captured the Grade 3 Suwanee River Stakes at Gulfstream in her most recent start and finished third in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

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One of the more intriguing Endeavour nominees is 4-year-old filly Lady Speightspeare, who won the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes as a 2-year-old and the Grade 2 Bessarabian at 3, both at Woodbine. She is trained by Roger Attfield.

Other leading nominees include Pletcher's consistent multiple graded-stakes winner, Always Shopping; Brown's unbeaten (3-for-3) 4-year-old filly, Bleecker Street; Gift List, 4-year-old Grade 2 winner who has never been out of the money in eight starts, trained by Brian Lynch; and Wakanaka, a 4-year-old Irish-bred who was 6-for-8 in Italy, trained by Bill Mott.

Here is a link to the entire list of Endeavour Stakes nominees, followed by a link to their past performances:

https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20220205-573141

https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20220205-573141

Thoroughbred racing continues Wednesday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:15 p.m. Tampa Bay Downs races on a Wednesday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule, with the exception of Easter Sunday, April 17, when the track is closed.

Otherwise, the Oldsmar oval is open every day for simulcast wagering, no-limits poker action and tournament play in The Silks Poker Room and golf fun and instruction at The Downs Golf Practice Facility.

The post Nominations Plentiful For Inaugural Turf Champions Day Stakes At Tampa Bay Downs appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Tampa Preview Day Tickets Available

Tampa Bay Downs is offering limited general admission for its upcoming Festival Preview Day 41 Presented by Lambholm South. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Florida track will limit the number of spectators on the day to 2,500. Tickets are available online at www.tampabaydowns.com.

To be held Feb. 6, the Festival Preview Day card will feature the GIII Sam F. Davis S. and the Suncoast S.

Horsemen, box-seat holders and season-ticket holders do not need to purchase tickets, but will need to present their passes at the gate.

The post Tampa Preview Day Tickets Available appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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