tampa bay downs | Horse Racing Free Tips

Alittleloveandluck a Dual-Surface Threat in Florida Oaks

With a near 100% chance of precipitation in greater Tampa, Saturday's GIII Florida Oaks is at the mercy of Mother Nature, but whether the race remains on the grass or is transferred to the main track, the Mike Dini-owned and -trained Alittleloveandluck (Arrogate) stands an excellent shot of getting her picture taken post-race.

The gray tried open company in her first three appearances, rounding out the triple in a one-mile Parx maiden in October before besting her fellow Florida-breds by a nose in a sythetic-track test at Gulfstream Nov. 12. Up late to take the grassy Ginger Brew S. Jan. 1–in which she had next-out GIII Sweetest Chant S. heroine Opalina (Optimizer) back in third–Alittleloveandluck was second–albeit well-beaten–behind the promising Nest (Curlin) in the Feb. 12 Suncoast S. over the local main track.

Domain Expertise (Kitten's Joy) gave trainer Chad Brown a second Florida Oaks last year and the conditioner has a pair of entrants to try to put them back-to-back. Spicer (Quality Road), a debut third at Belmont Oct. 9, was a convincing 3 3/4-length maiden winner–with Ambitieuse (Medaglia d'Oro) third–at Aqueduct Nov. 19 and adds Lasix for this potential return to action. Brown also saddles French import Dolce Zel (Fr) (Zelzal {Fr}), well-beaten in her Dieppe debut last July, but a latest 24-1 winner of a ParisLongchamp maiden for Alessandro and Giuseppe Botti Oct. 14. The bay would almost certainly come out of the race if removed from the turf.

Ambitieuse progressed from her debut third to graduate when tried over the Gulfstream Tapeta Dec. 29 and finished full of run when going down by three-parts of a length in the Sweetest Chant. Bred on the same cross that has produced MGISW Elate and a similar one to multiple champion Songbird, Ambitieuse is also a candidate to contest a main-track Oaks.

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Classic Causeway Looks To Hold Serve in Tampa Bay Derby

Currently ranked number one on the TDN Triple Crown Top 12, Kentucky West Racing LLC & the Clarke M. Cooper Family Living Trust's Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) will attempt to further cement his position as a chief protagonist of the 2022 sophomore crop when he jumps a warm favorite in Saturday's GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby on what projects a pretty wet afternoon on Florida's Suncoast.

One of three from the final crop of the 'Iron Horse' and one of two in the race, the blaze-faced chestnut made the most of a late start to his freshman campaign with an eye-catching debut score at Saratoga in September and was third from a horror draw when favored at 19-10 in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland the following month. A clear runner-up–with GIII Holy Bull S. hero White Abarrio (Race Day) second–in what has become a key running of the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill Nov. 27, Classic Causeway made all the running in this track's GIII Sam F. Davis S. Feb. 12, controlling the pace while stuck down inside of a longshot rival before charging home 3 3/4 lengths to the good of New York-bred Shipsational (Midshipman).

“He came out of the [Sam F. Davis] very well, he's carrying good weight and he has great energy, so we're counting our blessings,” trainer Brian Lynch said. “He seemed to really like the racetrack, so we thought the smart thing was to take him back over there and have a crack at the Tampa Bay Derby.”

The last to complete the Davis/Derby double was Destin–a son of Giant's Causeway–in 2016, while the stallion's Carpe Diem took the 2015 Derby. Giant's Causeway is also the broodmare sire of 2013 Tampa Derby hero Verrazano (More Than Ready).

Giant Game (Giant's Causeway), third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, but well beaten in the Holy Bull, resurfaces here after being scratched out of last weekend's GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S.

Perfect in a pair of juvenile appearances, WinStar Farm and Siena Farm's Major General (Constitution) makes his 3-year-old bow Saturday. The $420,000 Keeneland September grad narrowly bested a group of Saratoga maidens on debut Aug. 21 and made it two straight with a neck success in the GIII Iroquois S. in Louisville Sept. 18. The dark bay tries two turns for the first time here.

The well-tried Strike Hard (Flashback) won a Gulfstream allowance going the one-turn mile Dec. 5, earning 4-5 favoritism for the Jan. 1 Mucho Macho Man S. over the same track and trip. Beaten four lengths into second by Fountain of Youth hero Simplification (Not This Time) on that occasion, he endured a difficult wide trip in the Davis and although he failed to make up any ground in the final furlong, clawed his way past three rivals to finish fourth. He's slightly better drawn here and gets a significant jockey upgrade from Leonel Reyes to Luis Saez.

New shooters include Happy Boy Rocket (Runhappy), a good-looking allowance winner going two turns in Hallandale Jan. 29; Money Supply (Practical Joke), who Beyered 91 in breaking his maiden at first asking going six furlongs over this strip Feb. 12; and Belgrade (Hard Spun), who topped the horses-of-racing-age section at Keeneland January on a bid of $700,000 and exits a determined entry-level allowance score over six furlongs Feb. 19.

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Pricey KEEJAN Purchase Belgrade Up in Time at Tampa

1st-Tampa Bay Downs, $28,600, Alw (NW1X)/Opt. Clm ($75,000), 2-19, 3yo, 7f, 1:24.10, ft, head.
BELGRADE (c, 3, Hard Spun–Miss Prytania, by Eskendereya), a $700,000 KEEJAN purchase earlier this year off the heels of a six-length debut graduation for owner Randy Bradshaw and trainer Brendan Walsh in a maiden special weight reserved for horses that sold or RNA'd for $45,000 or less at auction at Fair Grounds Dec. 18, delivered as the 1-2 favorite after some anxious moments in his first start for his new connections at Tampa Saturday. Off to a stumbling beginning from his rail draw, Belgrade trailed the field of six in the early stages. Racing in some traffic while under a snug hold following a :23.29 opening quarter, he rolled up into the clear four deep to challenge for command on the far turn, and kept on coming in the stretch with a sustained rally to wear down Morgan Point (Jess's Dream) by a head. The winner's dam, a half-sister to GI Belmont S. third Medal Count (Dynaformer), has a Practical Joke filly of 2020 ($150,000 KEENOV purchase by OXO Equine) and Accelerate colt of 2021 in the pipeline. She was bred to Army Mule for 2022. Sales history: $45,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL; $700,000 3yo '22 KEEJAN. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $35,400. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Carl F. & Yurie Pascarella; B-J. R. Ward Stables LLC (KY); T-H. Graham Motion.

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At 84, Reynaldo Nobles is Back in the Game

For Reynaldo Nobles, it was nice to have something to do. His jobs over the last few years included working as a security guard at Palm Meadows and as school crossing guard. But even as he got into his early eighties, he never gave up on the idea of training horses again.

His dream became a reality last month at Tampa Bay Downs. Now 84 and more than eight years after he had run his last horse, Nobles was back in the entries and back in the winner's circle. The win was delivered by a $10,000 claimer named Indian Buzz (Creative Cause), who is owned by Nobles's daughter, Jennifer.

“This is his motivation and it keeps him going every day,” Jennifer Nobles said. “It keeps him so happy. He still watches horse racing every day. Just to be a part of it again has been a dream come true.”

Nobles, a native of Cuba, started his first horse in the U.S. in 1971 and won a training title at Gulfstream in 1983. He got his big break when Robert Brennan hired him to be his private trainer. He trained Deputy Minster during the latter part of his career and was the trainer of Dehere. A sensation as a 2-year-old, Dehere was named juvenile champion in 1993 after winning the GIII Sanford S, the GII Saratoga Special S., the GI Hopeful and the GI Champagne.

Brennan's legal problems, which included his conviction in 2001 on money laundering and bankruptcy fraud, meant the end of his Due Process Stable. For Nobles, the days of training quality stakes horses were over. He won only six races in 2004 and stepped away from the game for seven years. He launched a comeback in 2011 and had his best year in 23 years when sending out 36 winners in 2013. But health problem caught up with him.

“I had a little problem with arthritis and it was getting bad so I decided to stop,” he said.

Nobles still has physical issues that might have stood in his way of a comeback, but his daughter figured out a way to work around them. Her teenage son, Anthony, 19, got involved in racing and started working as a hotwalker and a groom. He could do the heavy lifting for his grandfather and Nobles could teach his grandson the business.

“Anthony has pretty much grown up with the horses,” Jennifer Nobles said. “So I figured it's now time for us to start a family business. He helps my dad. My dad can't walk as good as he used to. It's a little bit harder for him to get back and forth, but with my son now helping him it's a lot easier.”

Jennifer Nobles has owned Indian Buzz for about a year and had been using Tony Wilson as her trainer. With the timing right for her father to take over, Nobles was listed as the trainer for the Jan. 23 race, which Indian Buzz won by three-quarters of a length.

“To do this along with my grandson really makes me feel good,” said Nobles, who lives with his daughter and grandson in Tampa. “It feels very good to be able to work with the horses again.”

Nobles was a Monmouth Park mainstay for years and the plan is for him to return to the Jersey Shore track this summer. His daughter said she will be on the lookout for a few more horses for him to train.

“My father is so excited to be back,” Jennifer Nobles said. “This is so good for him.”

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