America’s Day At The Races Telecast Features Coast-To-Coast Derby Preps

America's Day at the Races, the acclaimed national telecast produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports, will air coverage both Saturday and Sunday showcasing live racing action from Aqueduct Racetrack, Oaklawn Park, Tampa Bay Downs, Santa Anita Park and Fair Grounds.

Presented by America's Best Racing and Claiborne Farm, America's Day at the Races will broadcast Saturday from 5-6 p.m. Eastern on FS2, while Sunday will feature coverage on FS2 from 1:30-6:30 p.m.

Saturday's show will offer coverage of a trio of exciting Kentucky Derby prep races, beginning with the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham as a talented eight-horse field line up in Race 9 at 5:07 p.m at Aqueduct. The one-turn mile will offer 50-20-10-5 qualifying points to the top-four finishers, with the Chad Brown-trained Highly Motivated enters off back-to-back wins following a runner-up debut effort behind stablemate Founder in August at Saratoga Race Course. Brown and owner Klaravich Stables will also send out Crowded Trade. The chestnut colt registered an 83 Beyer in his winning debut.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert entered graded stakes-placed Freedom Fighter after finishing a close second to stablemate Concert Tour in the Grade 2 San Vicente on February 6 at Santa Anita. Capo Cane, third in the Withers last out, and the Todd Pletcher-trained Atlantic Road will also comprise the field.

In Tampa, another 50-20-10-5-point “Road to the Kentucky Derby” prep will see a stocked 12-horse field compete in the Grade 2, $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby at 5:25 p.m.

Candy Man Rocket, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, won the Sam F. Davis on February 6 at Tampa and will return in the 1 1/16-mile race at the same track.

Other contenders in the race include the unbeaten Helium, trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, as well as Pletcher sending out Promise Keeper and Unbridled Honor, both last-out maiden winner. Conditioner Saffie Joseph Jr. also will saddle a pair of challengers in Moonlite Strike and Super Strong.

The third of the three 50-20-10-5 Kentucky Derby prep races on the day will be the Grade 2, $300,000 San Felipe in Santa Anita's Race 6 at 5:30 p.m. Baffert, who has dreams of a history-making seventh overall win in the “Run for the Roses,” will look to see if Life is Good can remain unbeaten. Stablemate Medina Spirit, who was the runner-up in the Sham and won the Robert B. Lewis, will give Baffert coast-to-coast challengers on the Derby trail.

Sunday's racing action will feature the $100,000 Biogio's Rose for New York-bred fillies and mares 4-year-olds and up at Aqueduct. Espresso Shot has won a stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack at ages 2, 3 and 4 and will look to register a win at the Big A for a fourth consecutive year she competes against five other contenders going a one-turn mile on Sunday. The Sunday broadcast will also feature live racing from Oaklawn, Tampa Bay Downs and Fair Grounds Race Course.

America's Day at the Races is also broadcast on NYRA's YouTube channel which boasts more than 65,000 subscribers. Fans can subscribe to NYRA's channel and set a reminder to watch the show on YouTube Live. NYRA's YouTube channel also hosts a plethora of race replays, special features, America's Day at the Races replays and more.

Free Equibase-provided past performances are available for races that are part of the America's Day at the Races broadcast and can be accessed at https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the winter meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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Candy Man Rocket ‘Deserving Favorite’ Of Full Field In Tampa Bay Derby

With the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve eight weeks away, time is running short for trainers entertaining visions of red roses and mint juleps. Saturday's Grade 2, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby will bring together 12 3-year-olds, most with much to prove if they are to continue to advance toward a date with destiny on May 1.

“Except for Bill Mott's horse (Candy Man Rocket, who won the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes here on Feb. 6), everyone is searching to see if they belong as a contender or are just a pretender,” said Saffie Joseph, Jr., who will send out three horses in the 41st annual Tampa Bay Downs showcase: Moonlite Strike, Super Strong and Awesome Gerry.

“Candy Man Rocket is a deserving favorite. A lot of the others have shown glimpses of ability, but I think they would have to run their best race ever to win,” Joseph said. “It seems like there are a lot of horses in there with two or three starts, so it looks like it is wide-open.”

The mile-and-a-sixteenth Lambbholm South Tampa Bay Derby, scheduled on the main dirt track as the 11th race on a 12-race card, is one of five Festival Day 41 Presented by Lambholm South stakes worth a combined $1-million in purse money. The race is also a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points affair, with 50, 20, 10 and 5 points awarded to the first four finishers toward securing a spot in the starting gate at Churchill Downs.

The other stakes on the card include the Grade 2, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes for older fillies and mares at a mile-and-an-eighth on the turf, scheduled as the ninth race; the Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the grass, scheduled as the 10th race; the Grade 3, $100,000 Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes for horses 4-years-old-and-upward at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the dirt, slated as the fifth race; and the $75,000 Columbia Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile on the turf, scheduled as the seventh.

Post time for the first of Saturday's 12 races is 12:17 p.m.

Here is the full field for the Grade II, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby in post position order, with trainer, jockey and morning-line odds:

1. My Liberty, Maria Ines Mejia, Tomas Mejia, 30-1; 2. Super Strong, Saffie Joseph, Jr., Antonio Gallardo, 8-1; 3. Candy Man Rocket, Bill Mott, Junior Alvarado, 2-1; 4. King of Dreams, Juan Carlos Avila, Samy Camacho, 20-1; 5. Boca Boy, Cheryl Winebaugh, Angel Arroyo, 15-1; 6. Awesome Gerry, Saffie Joseph, Jr., Hector Diaz, Jr., 15-1; 7. Moonlite Strike, Saffie Joseph, Jr., Daniel Centeno, 20-1; 8. Hidden Stash, Victoria Oliver, Rafael Bejarano, 4-1; 9. Unbridled Honor, Todd Pletcher, Julien Leparoux, 20-1; 10. Helium, Mark Casse, Jose Ferrer, 6-1; 11. Promise Keeper, Todd Pletcher, Luis Saez, 8-1; 12. Sittin On Go, Dale Romans, Roberto Alvarado, Jr., 20-1.

On Sunday, Mott said Candy Man Rocket “looked as smooth as silk” while breezing 4 furlongs at Payson Park Training Center in Indiantown in preparation for the race. Neither that assessment nor his 2-for-3 record, which includes a 9 ¼-length maiden victory on Jan. 9 at Gulfstream, deterred the connections of 11 others from competing.

Candy Man Rocket will break from the No. 3 post while again being ridden by Junior Alvarado.

Joseph has secured the services of three of the top four jockeys in the Tampa Bay Downs standings for his entrants. Daniel Centeno, who has won the Tampa Bay Derby twice, will ride Moonlite Strike from the No. 7 post, while Super Strong will break from the No. 2 post under Antonio Gallardo. Hector Diaz, Jr., will ride Awesome Gerry from the No. 6 post.

Super Strong, in some ways, is the most intriguing of the three. He is a son of Super Saver, who finished third in the 2010 Tampa Bay Derby, then went on to win the Kentucky Derby. Super Strong's only career start, on Dec. 19, resulted in an impressive come-from-behind victory in the Grade 1, 7-furlong Classico Agustin Mercado Revron Stakes on a sloppy track at Camarero in Puerto Rico.

Both Super Strong and Moonlite Strike are owned by Marc Tacher's Sonata Stable. Tacher transferred Super Strong to Joseph's Palm Meadows Training Center Beach in Boynton Beach in mid-January.

“He has trained well enough to give it a shot,” Joseph said. “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.”

Joining Candy Man Rocket and Super Strong as a graded-stakes winner in the race is trainer Dale Romans's Sittin On Go, who will break from the outside No. 12 post with Roberto Alvarado, Jr., in the irons. Sittin On Go won the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes Presented by Ford on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs, then was a non-threatening ninth in the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance on Nov. 6 at Keeneland.

A pair of subsequent off-the-board finishes against top-level competition finds Sittin On Go with more questions than answers as Saturday nears.

Todd Pletcher, who has sent out a record five winners of the Tampa Bay Derby, has two colts in this year's renewal. Promise Keeper, who will break from the No. 11 post under Luis Saez, broke his maiden in his second start on Feb. 6 at Gulfstream, drawing away to a 5-length victory in a 1-mile maiden special weight contest on a sloppy track.

Pletcher's other entrant is Unbridled Honor, who will break from the No. 9 post under Julien Leparoux. Unbridled Honor is 1-for-3, breaking his maiden at Tampa Bay Downs in a mile-and-40-yard maiden special weight race on Feb. 6.

The conditioner knows about winning the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby with lightly raced colts. His 2013 winner, Verrazano, was making his third career start; 2015 winner Carpe Diem was making his fourth start; and Pletcher's 2016 and 2017 winners, Destin and Tapwrit, their fifth starts.

Two horses that seem certain to take a fair share of wagering dollars are the third and fourth-place finishers in the Sam F. Davis, Hidden Stash and Boca Boy. Hidden Stash, who is trained by Victoria Oliver, will be reunited with jockey Rafael Bejarano, who rode him to his two career victories last fall at Keeneland and Churchill Downs. They break from the No. 8 post.

Boca Boy, the Sam F. Davis pace-setter, is the only Florida-bred and the only gelding in the race. The son of Prospective is trained by Cheryl Winebaugh and will be ridden by Angel Arroyo.

Ken Winebaugh, the assistant to wife Cheryl, said today that Boca Boy rebounded in fine fettle from his Sam F. Davis effort and that he expects another good performance. Arroyo, who rode Boca Boy in his first three starts, last rode him when he finished second in August in the Proud Man Stakes on the turf at Gulfstream.

“I think he got a little tired in the Sam F. Davis, but he didn't quit. This horse has plenty of heart,” Ken Winebaugh said. “I don't think he has to be in front. He laid off the pace in the Proud Man and went to the lead (before getting caught by Hot Blooded).”

While agreeing with the consensus that Candy Man Rocket is the horse to beat, Winebaugh thinks the Sam F. Davis form could hold up. “I think those three horses from the Sam F. Davis will be the toughest. I don't see any newcomers who scare me too much,” he said.

Like any Florida-bred worth his salt, Boca Boy could benefit from rain that is forecast for Saturday. He has won twice on a sloppy track at Gulfstream, including a victory on Sept. 26 in the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association Florida Sire In Reality Stakes.

As a state-bred, Boca Boy is eligible for the race's $50,000 FTBOA money for registered Florida-breds. The last Florida-bred to win the Tampa Bay Derby was Watch Me Go in 2011.

Saturday's race appears similar to last year's Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby from the standpoint of the favorite being the Sam F. Davis winner – in 2020, Sole Volante. While the gelding ran well for a second-place finish, he could not catch 49-1 shot King Guillermo and Samy Camacho, who turned it on through the stretch for a 4 ¾-length victory.

King Guillermo's connections – Camacho, owner Victor Martinez's Victoria's Ranch and trainer Juan Carlos Avila – are back for another try with King of Dreams, who broke his maiden in his second start on Jan. 30 in a mile-and-a-sixteenth turf race at Gulfstream. King Guillermo had finished third in the Pulpit Stakes on the grass at Gulfstream in his previous start.

King of Dreams and Camacho will break from the No. 4 post. King Guillermo, who finished second in a division of last year's Grade I Arkansas Derby but has not won since the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, is entered in Saturday's Grade I Santa Anita Handicap.

Did you know that the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby field contains two unbeaten horses? Beside Super Strong, there is Helium, who won both of his starts last fall racing 7 furlongs on the synthetic Tapeta surface at Woodbine. Mark Casse, who won the 2012 Tampa Bay Derby with Prospective, is the trainer.

Off since his Display Stakes victory in October, Helium will break from the No. 10 post under Jose Ferrer.

In a Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby that seems as wide-open as any in the race's history, one shouldn't overlook My Liberty, assigned 30-1 morning-line odds. He is trained by Maria Ines Mejia and will break from the No. 1 post under jockey Tomas Mejia (no relation).

My Liberty broke his maiden sprinting 7 furlongs here on Feb. 12 and has the potential to set all his backers free by pulling the upset.

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Candy Man Rocket ‘Smooth As Silk’ In Final Prep For Tampa Bay Derby

Candy Man Rocket, who burst onto the scene as a legitimate Triple Crown candidate by winning the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes here on Feb. 6, and Grade 3 2-year-old winner Sittin On Go are expected to head a large field in Saturday's Grade 2, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby.

The 41st annual Tampa Bay Downs showcase is one of five stakes races scheduled on the Festival Day 41 Presented by Lambholm South card. The mile-and-a-sixteenth race for 3-year-olds on the main dirt track is a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points race, with the top four finishers earning 50, 20, 10 and 5 points toward qualifying for a spot in the Run for the Roses starting gate at Churchill Downs on May 1.

As is always the case this time of year, the majority of attention will shift to the 3-year-old Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve hopefuls.

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott – who won the 2019 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby with Tacitus and that year's Kentucky Derby with Country House, with Tacitus finishing third – sent Candy Man Rocket out for a 4-furlong breeze Sunday at his Payson Park Training Center base in Indiantown, Fla., where the Frank Fletcher Racing Operations-owned colt turned in a time of 48 3/5 seconds, the best of 36 workouts at the half-mile distance.

“He was on his own, he went well and I'm very pleased with him. He looked as smooth as silk,” Mott said via telephone. “He is a good work horse anyway, but I liked the way he did it. The (Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby) has been on our minds since he won the Sam F. Davis. Any time you get a horse that runs well over that racetrack, you have to give it consideration.”

While Kentucky Derby qualifying points can be very crucial, Mott knows the important thing at this stage is to continue to build on the colt's foundation for a possible try at a mile-and-a-quarter at Churchill Downs.

“It seems like he is doing equally as well now as he was before the Davis,” Mott said. “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.”

Junior Alvarado will again come up from Gulfstream Park to ride Candy Man Rocket.

Mott said the owner, Frank Fletcher, is excited about Candy Man Rocket's chances to be the first horse to complete the Sam F. Davis-Tampa Bay Derby double since Destin in 2016.

“He is someone who is enthusiastic about his horses, loves the game and is happy just to have a horse in a race like this,” Mott said.

The trainer said he is still debating the next start for his Sam F. Davis runner-up, breeder-owner Michael Shanley's Nova Rags, who won the Pasco Stakes here on Jan. 16. Mott said the March 13 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn, the March 20 TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds and the March 27 Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa are all under consideration.

Sittin On Go, who won the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes last September at Churchill Downs, is expected to make his first start since a sixth-place finish on Jan. 30 in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Albaugh Family Stables-owned colt is trained by Dale Romans.

Also expected to compete in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby are the third and fourth-place finishers in the Sam F. Davis, Hidden Stash and the gelding Boca Boy. Hidden Stash is owned by BBN Racing and trained by Victoria Oliver and Boca Boy is owned by Kenneth E. Fishbein and trained by Cheryl Winebaugh.

Trainer Todd Pletcher, who has won the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby a record five times, including three in a row from 2015-2017, is expected to return with Woodford Thoroughbreds and WinStar Farm's Promise Keeper. The colt broke his maiden on Feb. 6 at Gulfstream in his second start, winning a mile maiden special weight race by 5 lengths on a sloppy track.

Pletcher is also expected to enter Whisper Hill Farm's Unbridled Honor, who broke his maiden here on the Sam F. Davis undercard going a mile-and-40 yards.

King of Dreams, who broke his maiden at Gulfstream on Jan. 30, is expected to start for owner Victoria's Ranch and trainer Juan Carlos Avila, the same connections who won last year's Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby with 49-1 shot King Guillermo. Victoria's Ranch is the stable name for retired major league slugger Victor Martinez.

Mark Casse, who sent out Prospective to win the 2012 Tampa Bay Derby, is expected to enter D. J. Stable's Helium. The colt was 2-for-2 as a 2-year-old, winning the 7-furlong Display Stakes on Oct. 18 on the all-weather synthetic Tapeta track at Woodbine in Toronto.

Other likely Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby entrants include trainer Shawn H. Davis's Hello Hot Rod, a winner of three of four lifetime starts, including the Jimmy Winkfield Stakes on Jan. 31 at Aqueduct; Moonlite Strike, trainer Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.'s colt who is 2-for-4; Joseph's Super Strong, whose lone start on Dec. 19 at Camarero resulted in a victory in the Grade 1 Classico Agustin Mercado Revron Stakes; and My Liberty, a maiden winner from the barn of Maria Ines Mejia.

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Trainer Jose Delgado Feels ‘Very Blessed’ By ‘Real Honest’ Stakes Winner The Critical Way

Since he began training The Critical Way in June, Jose H. Delgado has been impressed by how the now-7-year-old gelding brings his 'A' game to the races.

“He doesn't need to prove anything in the morning. My job is just to keep him happy – that's it,” Delgado said Thursday, a day after The Critical Way won Tampa Bay Downs' $100,000, five-furlong Turf Dash Stakes by a half-length from Grade 2 winner Imprimis.

The victory clinched the Salt Rock Tavern Trainer of the Month Award for Delgado.

Throughout June and the first week of July, Delgado worked out The Critical Way four times on a weekly basis. But after he returned to competition on Aug. 9 at Monmouth Park for his first start in almost 6 months, Delgado began spacing his workouts at least three weeks apart, with no official workouts between July 25 and Sept. 26.

It seems no coincidence a freshened The Critical Way won the $80,000 Marshall Jenney Handicap for Pennsylvania-breds going 5 furlongs on the turf on Sept. 7 at Parx Racing in gate-to-wire fashion, giving Delgado his first career stakes victory. Then, it was back to a relative life of leisure for the son of Tizway: one official workout before a game second-place finish on Oct. 3 in the Virgil Buddy Raines Stakes at Monmouth.

“I slowed down his training because most of the time, he's only racing 5 furlongs,” said Delgado, who trains The Critical Way for Randal Gindi's Monster Racing Stables. “He has a big heart, and he's been real honest with me and given me everything he has when he's running. He sprints from the gate like a Quarter Horse, and when he gets the lead he keeps going. He was under pressure the whole time and still had that little kick at the end.”

About a half-hour later, Delgado won the next race, a $6,250 claiming contest, with 6-year-old gelding War Giant, who is owned by the Carole Star Stables concern of his father-in-law, Bob Apicelli. That gave Delgado nine winners during the Trainer of the Month judging period, the most of any candidate.

Delgado has been making a big impression at Tampa Bay Downs, where he trails only Gerald Bennett, 37-27, in the trainer standings. Depriving Bennett of a sixth consecutive title seems like a long shot, but Delgado is happy to be mentioned in the conversation.

Delgado plans to return to Monmouth in May. His wife Robyn and their three children – son Sebastian, 8, and twin 4-year-old daughters Carole and Isabella – live minutes from the racetrack in Oceanport, N.J., where Robyn teaches second-graders.

Although he misses his family dearly, Delgado doesn't want to trade places with Robyn.

“I give my wife a lot of respect. I think it's a lot more difficult to raise kids than train horses,” Delgado said, laughing. “Horses don't talk back, and they do what you ask.”

The ex-jockey, who rode more than 300 winners before hanging up his tack, enjoys trying to discover the keys to turning around claiming horses, attempting to help them regain their previous form.

“They get to the point where they may be going downhill, and you have to help them get their confidence back so they can do the job again,” Delgado said.

When the subject of the Tampa Bay Downs owners title comes up in a telephone conversation (Carole Star Stables leads the standings with 14 victories), you can sense Delgado's eyes light up.

“I would be really happy and excited if that happened. We're having a heck of a meet, and everything is working the right way,” said Delgado. “My crew does a great job taking care of the horses. Hopefully, we will keep getting lucky.

“Whatever happens, I feel very blessed.”

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