greatest honour | Horse Racing Free Tips

Candy Man Rocket Headlines 43 Nominees To March 6 Tampa Bay Derby

Grade 1 Breeders' Cup winner Fire At Will, Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes winner Candy Man Rocket and highly regarded Greatest Honour are among a stellar collection of 43 3-year-old colts and geldings nominated for the Grade 2, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby on March 6 at Tampa Bay Downs.

The 41st running of the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby is the centerpiece of an outstanding Festival Day 41 Presented by Lambholm South card offering $1-million in stakes purse money, with four graded stakes and one listed stakes on tap.

Run on the main track at a distance of a mile-and-a-sixteenth, the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby is a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points race, with the first four finishers earning 50, 20, 10 and 5 points toward qualifying for the May 1 Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.

The Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby has produced two Kentucky Derby winners: 2007 Tampa Bay Derby winner Street Sense and 2010 Tampa Bay Derby third-place finisher Super Saver.

Fire at Will, owned by Three Diamonds Farm and trained by Michael Maker, hasn't raced since his victory on Nov. 6 in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf presented by Coolmore America at Keeneland. He is ranked among the top 2021 Triple Crown candidates, along with Essential Quality, Life Is Good and Greatest Honour.

Candy Man Rocket vaulted up the contender list with his impressive victory in the Sam F. Davis here on Feb. 6. He is owned by Frank Fletcher Racing Operations and trained by Bill Mott, who has won the Tampa Bay Derby twice.

Mott has also nominated breeder-owner Michael Shanley's colt Nova Rags, who won the Pasco Stakes here on Jan. 16 before finishing second to Candy Man Rocket in the Sam F. Davis.

Greatest Honour, who is trained by Claude “Shug” McGaughey, III, received excellent reviews for his dominant victory on Jan. 30 in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream. The colt is owned by Courtlandt Farms.

Among other Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby nominations of note are trainer Doug O'Neill's colt Hot Rod Charlie, second in November in the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance; trainer Victoria Oliver's Hidden Stash, third in the Sam F. Davis; Grade 2 winner Brooklyn Strong, a gelding trained by Daniel Velazquez; multiple graded-stakes placed colt Proxy, trained by Michael Stidham; and trainer Mark Casse's colt Gretzky the Great, who won the Grade 1 Summer Stakes in September at Woodbine.

Here are the links to the nominations and their past performances for the Grade 2, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby:

https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20210306-559609

https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20210306-559609

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Greatest Honour Has Final Tune-Up For Fountain Of Youth

Courtlandt Farms' Greatest Honour breezed an easy half-mile at Payson Park In Indiantown, Fla., on Sunday morning in preparation for a highly anticipated start in Saturday's $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park.

The 3-year-old Tapit colt who captured the Jan. 30 Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream by 5 ¾ lengths, was timed in 51.20 seconds in his final work for the 1 1/16-mile major prep for the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill n' Dale at Xalapa March 27. He worked in company with Or'effice on his outside.

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey is hoping that Greatest Honour will follow the example set by Orb, whom he saddled for victories in the Fountain of Youth, Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby (G1) in 2013.

Courtlandt Farms' homebred colt launched his career with a pair of strong closing third-place finishes in maiden special weight sprints at Saratoga and Belmont before losing a photo finish in his first trip around two turns at Aqueduct and completing his juvenile season with his 1 1/16-mile maiden breaker at Gulfstream.

McGaughey also sent Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's Performer to the track for a half-mile breeze in 49.40 seconds in preparation for a start in the $200,000 Gulfstream Park Mile (G2), one of nine stakes on Saturday's card. Performer is coming off a victory in the Fred W. Hooper in his 2021 debut at Gulfstream.

Rodolphe Brisset-trained Tarantino, who finished second behind Greatest Honour and 3 ¾ lengths clear of third-place finisher Prime Factor in the Holy Bull, breezed a half-mile in 49.45 seconds Sunday morning at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County.

Antonio Sano-trained Papetu, who finished fourth in the Holy Bull, breezed five furlongs in 1:01:20 Sunday morning at Gulfstream Park West in preparation for a return in the Fountain of Youth.

“It was very good,” said Sano, who saddled Gunnevera for a victory in the 2017 Fountain of Youth. “It was a very easy work.”

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Greatest Honour ‘No Pushover’ In Early Training, But Holy Bull Winner Definitely Moving Forward Now

Courtlandt Farms' Greatest Honour, who established himself as a prime 2021 Triple Crown prospect with a powerful victory in the Jan. 30 Holy Bull (G3), is scheduled to return in the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) Feb. 27 at Gulfstream Park.

The Shug McGaughey-trained son of Tapit is prominent on the list of 36 nominations for the 1 1/16-mile major prep for the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n Dale at Xalapa March 28 at Gulfstream Park.

Greatest Honour, who broke his maiden in his fourth career start Dec. 26 at Gulfstream, rallied from seventh in a field of nine to draw away by 5 ¾ lengths under Jose Ortiz in the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull.

“I had a lot of confidence that he'd run well, but I didn't know what that meant. I maybe was a little surprised how well he ran and how much he dominated those horses,” his Hall of Fame trainer said. “I was very pleased and pleased the way he came out of it.”

“Two turns is a big help. All of his races around two turns have been good,” McGaughey said. “I think he'll run as far as a horse wants to run.”

McGaughey, nevertheless, was impressed with how quickly he came to hand upon joining his stable last year.

“One of the things about him is that he's a big colt with a distance pedigree, so for him to get to the races at Saratoga shows what an athletic-type horse he is,” McGaughey said. “That's a big feather in his cap. One of the things that impresses me is when I saw him in March at Courtlandt Farms and if you told me that he was going to run right off the bat at Saratoga, he didn't give me that impression. He looked more like a late-fall horse.”

Not that getting Greatest Honour to the races came without challenges.

“He's no pushover by any means. He had some things about him in his training that we had to get out of him. Being by Tapit, they can be a little difficult at times and he wasn't an exception to that rule,” McGaughey said. “But once we got him going in a forward position, he's taken everything really well. It's interesting how well he acts on race day and in the paddock and those types of things.”

McGaughey is hoping that Greatest Honour will follow in the hoofprints of Orb, whom he saddled for victories in the Fountain of Youth, Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby (G1) in 2013.

Three Diamonds Farms' Fire At Will is among the most accomplished Fountain of Youth nominees, having captured the Nov. 6 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) at Keeneland in his most recent start. The Mike Maker-trained son of Declaration of War also captured the Pilgrim (G2) on turf at Belmont but broke his maiden in the off-the-turf With Anticipation at Saratoga in his second career start. Fire At Will is scheduled to make his second career start on dirt in the Fountain of Youth.

Godolphin LLC has a pair of nominees for the Fountain of Youth – Brad Cox-trained Essential Quality, last year's 2-year-old champion who is not scheduled to run, and Brendan Walsh-trained Prevalence, a dazzling 8 ½-length debut winner at Gulfstream who being considered for a return in the 75th running of the race.

Trainer Doug O'Neill has two on the list of FOY nominees – Roadrunner Racing and partners' Hot Rod Charlie, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up who finished a close third most recently in the Robert Lewis (G3) at Santa Anita; and ERJ Racing LLC and partners' The Great One, the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) runner-up who broke his maiden Jan.23 at Santa Anita.

SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC and partners' Tarantino and WinStar Farm LLC and CHC Inc.'s Prime Factor, who finished second and third, respectively, in the Holy Bull, are also notable names on the FOY nominations list.

Rodolphe Brisset-trained Tarantino, pressed the pace before finishing second in his first start on dirt. The son of Pioneerof the Nile finished 3 ¾ lengths ahead of Todd Pletcher-trained Prime Factor who raced evenly to finish third in his first start since capturing his debut by 8 ¾ lengths at Gulfstream Dec. 12.

Pletcher-trained Promise Keeper and Unbridled Honor are also FOY nominees. WinStar Farm LLC and Woodford Thoroughbreds' Promise Keeper, a son of Constitution, romped to a debut victory by five lengths in his second career start at Gulfstream Feb. 6; Whisper Hill Farm LLC's Unbridled Honor, a son of Honor Code, broke his maiden last time out at Tampa Bay Downs around two turns.

Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Stables LLC and partners' Drain the Clock, who is coming off a 6 ¼-length victory in the Swale (G3) and a 7 ½-length score in the Limehouse at Gulfstream for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is likely to return in either the Fountain of Youth or Gotham at Aqueduct.

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After Missing Remsen, Key Race Winner Speaker’s Corner Back in Training

Now that's a key race.

Subsequent runaway Smarty Jones S. winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Caddo River (Hard Spun) and authoritative GIII Holy Bull S. hero Greatest Honour (Tapit) were both defeated in second and third, respectively, in a salty, seven-furlong maiden special weight at Belmont Park last fall Oct. 11 (video).

But what happened to the impressive winner that day, the highly regarded Godolphin homebred Speaker's Corner (Street Sense–Tyburn Brook, by Bernardini)?

“After a minor setback, he is back jogging and hacking at Payson Park with Bill Mott,” Godolphin President Jimmy Bell said. “We're very pleased with his progress and are looking forward to his return. He's back in full training and will allow his fitness to dictate when and where he will make his 3-year-old debut.”

The buzz of the Saratoga backstretch prior to debuting with a promising third-place finish as the 3-5 favorite following a slow start on closing day (Second Chances), Speaker's Corner ran to the hype second out.

He turned in a powerful, wide rally from fifth following a hot pace in his maiden breaker, clocking his final eighth in a field-best :12.54, good for an 80 Beyer Speed Figure.

The field of eight also included Original (Quality Road), recent third-place finisher in the grassy GIII Kitten's Joy S. at Gulfstream Park.

Speaker's Corner was being aimed at the GII Remsen S. at Aqueduct Dec. 5–he last breezed a bullet five furlongs at Belmont Nov. 25–prior to heading to the sidelines.

“We always talk about key races, and I like to think his maiden race might have been the most formful and telling of all 2-year-old races run last year,” Bell said. “Caddo River ran off the screen in the Smarty Jones and Greatest Honour was most professional in his Holy Bull score. We're very hopeful that Speaker's Corner can add to the impressive accomplishments already performed by those two.”

Speaker's Corner is out of an unraced daughter of GI Breeders' Cup Distaff heroine Round Pond (Awesome Again), a $5.75-million purchase by Sheikh Mohammed's operation at the 2007 Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

This same Street Sense over Bernardini cross is also responsible for Godolphin's unbeaten GISW Maxfield, entered in Saturday's GIII Mineshaft S. at Fair Grounds, as well as last term's GIII Indiana/Oklahoma Derby winner Shared Sense.

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