Tag: Triple Crown

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher is set to seek his sixth victory in the Grade 3, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby on Saturday in the 43rd edition of the 3-year-old showcase at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.

Pletcher, who last won the race in 2017 with Tapwrit, has entered two horses in the 1 1/16-mile Road to the Kentucky Derby prep race: Tapit Trice, a gray colt owned by Whisper Hill Farm, and Gainesway Stable, and Shesterkin, a dark bay owned by Robert V. LaPenta.

Tapit Trice and Shesterkin are part of a 12-horse field for the Tampa Bay Derby, which is the 11th race on a 12-race card. The Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby should go off around 5:15 p.m. ET. Post time for Saturday's first race is 11:55 a.m.

The Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby is one of five stakes worth a combined $1-million in purse money Saturday. Also on tap are the 25th running of the G2, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes, for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward at 1 1/8 miles on the turf course; the 40th edition of the G3, $200,000 Florida Oaks, for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the turf; the 32nd running of the G3, $100,000 Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes, for horses 4-and-upward at 1 1/16 miles on the main track; and the 17th running of the $75,000 Columbia Stakes, for 3-year-olds racing a mile on the turf.

The five stakes races comprise an additional 50-cent Pick 5 wagering opportunity on the seventh through 11th races..

The Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby awards 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner and 20, 15, 10 and 5 to the next four finishers.

Tapit Trice, who drew the No. 6 post position for the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, and Shesterkin, who drew the No. 9 post, finished 1-2 in an allowance/optional claiming race on Feb. 4 at Gulfstream Park, with Tapit Trice drawing off for an eight-length victory from his stablemate. Both horses worked out Saturday at Pletcher's Palm Beach Downs base in Delray Beach, with Tapit Trice breezing 4 furlongs in 49.34 seconds and Shesterkin being timed in a more leisurely 51.68.

Luis Saez again will ride Tapit Trice, while Edgard Zayas has been named on Shesterkin.

Here is the field for the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby in post position order, with horse, trainer and jockey listed:

1. Lord Miles, Saffie A. Joseph, Jr., Paco Lopez

2. Classic Car Wash, Mark Casse, Emisael Jaramillo

3. Classic Legacy, Bill Mott, Irad Ortiz, Jr.

4. Groveland, Eoin Harty, Daniel Centeno

5. Mikey Bananas, Tim Hamm, Pablo Morales

6. Tapit Trice, Todd Pletcher, Luis Saez

7. Freedom Road, Gregg Sacco, Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr.

8. Dreaming of Kona, Aldana Spieth, Scott Spieth

9. Shesterkin, Todd Pletcher, Edgard Zayas

10. Champions Dream, Mark Casse, Antonio Gallardo

11. Zydeceaux, Ramon Minguet, Samuel Marin

12. Prairie Hawk, Saffie A. Joseph, Jr., Samy Camacho

The post Pletcher Has Solid Duo In Quest For Sixth Tampa Bay Derby Triumph appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Due in large part to a 30-year relationship between Santa Anita Park and Japan's Oi Racecourse, Japanese-bred Mandarin Hero, who has won four out of his five career starts in Japan, will arrive in Los Angeles on March 29 and is scheduled to run at Santa Anita on Saturday, April 8, in the Grade 1, $750,000 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby.

Mandarin Hero, sired by Shanghai Bobby, won all four of his starts as a juvenile and finished second in his 3-year-old debut. Each of the colt's races has come on the dirt at Oi Racecourse on Japan's regional NAR circuit.

“My goal of running in the Santa Anita Derby has come true, and I am determined to achieve good results,” trainer Terunobu Fujita told the Thoroughbred Daily News. “After a good run in the Santa Anita Derby, I hope to run in the Kentucky Derby. I have the experience of an overseas tour [in Korea] and I will do my best to do everything in my power.”

“We're gratified to have this horse coming in for the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby,” said Pete Siberell, Santa Anita's Director of Community Services and Special Projects. “I've had the pleasure of visiting Oi Racecourse a number of times and thanks to the folks at U.S. Equine, we have enjoyed a 30-year relationship as sister tracks.

“Both Oi Racecourse and Santa Anita have sent horses to compete in major races over the years which has enabled both Japanese and American citizens to bet on them. We see racing trending in an international direction and we share Oi's desire to increase field size and promote wagering globally.”

The 86th running of the Santa Anita Derby, which has produced 20 winners of the Kentucky Derby, including 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, will be broadcast live on over-the-air NBC.

“Any time we can attract horses from abroad, it generates additional interest in a race of this magnitude,” said Jason Egan, Santa Anita Director of Racing and Racing Secretary. “Given Japan's recent successes in the Breeders' Cup World Championships and in other top-level events around world, it is extremely exciting to have Mandarin Hero compete here in the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby.

“We hope this serves to open the door further to additional international runners at Santa Anita in the future.”

For additional information on the April 8 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby, including dining and seating reservations, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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Champion juvenile colt Forte secured his place atop Week Six of the NTRA's Top 3-Year-Old Poll with a dominant 4 1/2-length win in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes. The Todd Pletcher-trained son of Violence completed 1 1/16 miles over Gulfstream's fast main track in 1:43.12. Last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, Forte has led every edition of the poll thus far.

In second position remains G3 Southwest winner Arabian Knight (formerly trained by Bob Baffert, recently transferred to former Baffert assistant Tim Yakteen). The son of Uncle Mo is expected to target either the Santa Anita Derby or the Arkansas Derby.

This week's big mover was Practical Move, an impressive winner of the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park. The Tim Yakteen-trained son of Practical Joke had previously won the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity, and was making his first start of the year in the San Felipe.

G3 Lecomte winner Instant Coffee sits in fourth (Brad Cox); G2 Rebel winner Confidence Game is fifth (Keith Desormeaux); G2 Risen Star winner Angel of Empire is sixth (Cox); G3 Holy Bull winner and G2 Fountain of Youth runner-up Rocket Can is seventh (Bill Mott), unraced in 2023, Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Cave Rock is eighth (Baffert); G3 Withers winner Hit Show is ninth (Cox); and impressive allowance winner Tapit Trice is tenth (Pletcher).

The 3-Year-Old poll represents horses competing up and through the Triple Crown.

TOP THREE-YEAR OLD POLL

The biggest change in Week Six of the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll was the position of Stilleto Boy, whose 14-1 victory in the Big 'Cap for trainer Ed Moger, Jr. boosted him from 24th to fourth in the poll.

Pegasus World Cup winner Art Collector remains atop the bunch. The Bill Mott trainee kicked off his 6-year-old season with the biggest win of his career, drawing away to win the Grade 1, $3 million Pegasus World Cup by 4 1/2 lengths. Art Collector, sired by Bernardini, now owns 11 wins from 21 starts with earnings over $4 million.

Bob Baffert trainee Country Grammer, who came up just short of a victory in the $20 million Saudi Cup for a second year in a row, retained second position. Elite Power, Breeders' Cup winner and Champion Sprinter, also proved a powerful force in Saudi Arabia when he captured the Riyadh Dirt Sprint under Frankie Dettori. As a result, the Mott trainee was voted into third in this week's poll. Another Mott-trained stablemate, Cody's Wish, remains in fifth with his most recent start a win in last year's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL

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Eoin Harty has had high expectations for his Godolphin-owned homebred colt Groveland since he began training him before his first career start last fall at Gulfstream.

“He has always acted like he was a little bit special,” Harty said of the son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense. “He has all the qualities you look for in a nice horse, and he has a wonderful disposition, which is probably his main strength.”

For all of his strong points, though, Groveland showed Harty a new aspect of his developing game in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 11: a determination to overcome adversity in his desire to win.

After getting shut off by pace-setter Zydeceaux just as he was launching a major move at the three-eighths pole, forcing jockey Daniel Centeno to hit the brakes, Groveland re-rallied to throw a scare into the eventual winner, Litigate, and rider Luis Saez.

Although unable to run down Litigate, Groveland was an impressive second at odds of 21-1, a length-and-a-half ahead of Classic Car Wash.

“If you had told me at the top of the stretch he'd be fourth, I would have been happy. If you had told me he would hit the board, I'd have been ecstatic. And if you told me he'd be second, I'd be delighted,” Harty said Friday morning from Santa Anita in California. “I went through a whole range of emotions in the last three-eighths of a mile.”

Harty is preparing Groveland – and himself – for another trip on the emotional roller coaster of big-time racing in the Grade 3, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby on March 11. The mile-and-a-sixteenth main track contest is a 100-point “Road to the Kentucky Derby” race, with the winner receiving 50 points toward a guaranteed spot in the Run for the Roses starting gate on May 6 at Churchill Downs.

The Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby is part of a $1-million Festival Day 43 stakes bonanza which includes the Grade 2, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes on the turf; the Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks on the turf; the Grade 3, $100,000 Challenger on the main track; and the $75,000 Columbia Stakes on the turf.

While the makeup of the field for the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby is largely unknown, trainer Todd Pletcher has indicated he is pointing Litigate to the G2 Louisiana Derby on March 25 at Fair Grounds.

Groveland, who has made four of his five starts at Tampa Bay Downs, breezed five furlongs Tuesday in 1:01 4/5 with Centeno aboard.

“I let him gallop out a good three-quarters (of a mile), because I want to make sure he is plenty fit for next Saturday,” said Harty, who is planning one more work next week. “He won't be short of work if he gets beat.”

Harty credits exercise rider Jeanna Nicosia for playing a big role in Groveland's development.

“She gallops him and is a real key to my success overall,” he said.

While laden with promise and a pedigree to match (he's out of a Medaglia d'Oro mare, Lucknow), Groveland still has only one victory from five starts, with two seconds and two thirds.

“The best-laid plans of mice and men can go out the window when the gate opens,” Harty said.

Now, 16 years have passed since Street Sense used a victory in the Tampa Bay Derby as a springboard to his slice of racing immortality in Louisville. Harty – who trained Street Sense's sire Street Cry as a 2-year-old when the future Dubai World Cup winner finished third in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Juvenile – senses the pieces coming together for a trip to Churchill Downs in May.

“The fact that he is a nice horse is not a surprise to anyone who knows the family,” said Harty, who started three horses in the Kentucky Derby from 2008-2010 and was an assistant to Bob Baffert for victories by Silver Charm in 1997 and Real Quiet in 1998. “If we are fortunate enough to get to the Kentucky Derby with this horse, I won't have any reservations about him getting the (mile-and-a-quarter) distance.”

The post ‘He Has Always Acted Like He Was A Little Bit Special’: Harty Excited About Tampa Bay Derby Hopeful Groveland appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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