Fierce Wind blows by the field in the $200,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes
Dreaming of Anna noses Lear's Princess in the Grade III Endeavour Breeders' Cup
Vaulcluse wins the $75,000 Suncoast Stakes
All photos by Tom Cooley
OLDSMAR, Fla. (February 16, 2008) A crowd of 6,168 racing fans attended today’s Festival Preview Day at Tampa Bay Downs for the $200,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes for three-year-olds running 1 1/16 miles, the Grade III $150,000 Endeavour Breeders’ Cup for fillies and mares four years old and up running 1 1/16 miles on the lawn, and the $75,000 Suncoast Stakes for fillies three years old going 1 mile 40 yards over the main track.
Fierce Wind captured the 28th running of the Sam F. Davis in the stakes record time of 1:44.13; the three-year-old son of Dixie Union is owned by Four Roses Thoroughbreds, conditioned by Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito, ridden by Cornelio Velasquez and was bred in Kentucky by W. S. Farish, Hilbert Thoroughbreds and Menard Thoroughbreds.
Fierce Wind broke alertly, stalked the pace and moved into the lead at the top of the stretch to win by a half a length. Big Truck was second and Smooth Air completed the trifecta, which paid $384.80 for a $2 wager.
Tim Poole, assistant to Fierce Wind’s trainer Nick Zito, said of Fierce Wind’s victory, “Two turns is always a plus when you’ve got tactical speed. You’ve got a horse that can get to the first turn and get position. Cornelio (Velasquez) did an excellent job of getting him there today. I was a little concerned with him where he was going around that first turn; (he) got outside the horses where he wanted to be, and when the horses moved up (and) turned around the backside, he got in behind them just right (and) was where he needed to be. Obviously he was the horse today. This is that time of year when they all start coming out of the woodwork – (we) start to separate the men from the boys, and this is one of those stepping stones; he took a step in the right direction today. Hopefully we can stay on that path towards the ultimate goal – you all know where that is”
"He’s always been a horse that’s had ability,” continued Poole. “And like anything else, when horses start to get good, that’s when you run them. You don’t try to get them to push an issue, try to make a horse do something they’re not up to doing. Nick’s great at taking his time with horses, and we’ve got owners that are fantastic with doing what needs to be done for their horse to get there.”
Reinsman Cornelio Velasquez said of his mount’s victory, “The first time I rode him at Calder, I told them that he’s a nice horse; he ran big at Calder. The next time he ran at Gulfstream, he won, and I thought the horse is a nice horse- he’ll run all day. I think he was waiting for the other horses (today). When the other horses tried to pass us, my horse responded like a big horse. He’s a very nice horse, I think. (In this race) I stayed in good position, and watched for Garret Gomez’s horse, but he stopped at the quarter pole. The other horse (Big Truck) came at the end, but I had a lot of horse.”
In the Grade III $150,000 Endeavour Breeders’ Cup, Dreaming of Anna nosed Lear’s Princess after the two Grade I winners dueled throughout the home stretch. Dreaming of Anna took home her fourth Graded stakes win today for owner Frank C. Calabrese and trainer Wayne Catalano; Jockey Cornelio Velasquez had the call for the four-year-old daughter of Rahy.
Owner Frank C. Calabrese said that Dreaming of Anna was eager to return to the racetrack after her layoff. “I wanted her to take a rest and put her on the farm. She stayed there two or three weeks, and she didn’t like it. She wouldn’t stay; she hated it. So we took her back, put her in training, and this is what happened,” he continued. “The jockey said she needed another race, but she won anyway. We’re aiming for (another) Breeders’ Cup.”
Conditioner Wayne Catalano said of his trainee’s win, “That was about what we expected, just hoping it wasn’t be that close. But that’s horse racing. They just don’t give you these kinds of races. You gotta earn them. And we’re all searching for a spot. There’s no races for her, me, and all these mares like this. You want to come off the bench and go a mile and a sixteenth, and they don’t have a race. That’s why we’re all here.”
Catalano said that he was sure that Dreaming of Anna was fit after exercising the filly himself. “Well, here’s the thing. I told everybody I’m going to work her another time myself before I make the final decision. And when she worked 59 and change with me on her I was very happy with it. I thought, ‘Wow. OK. Let’s go.’”
Jockey Cornelio Velasquez of Dreaming of Anna, “She hadn’t run in a long time, but she’s a nice filly, but the filly that was second (Lear’s Princess), she’s a nice filly - she beat the filly that won the Belmont Stakes, she’s a strong filly. But my filly, I had a lot of horse and she finished very good. She ran very good. She went easily to the lead but at the quarter pole I asked her and I had a lot of horse. She did ok- she’s a nice filly. I was riding her past the wire and I didn’t know who won, but she had a big run today. But I still think she needed the race.”
The $75,000 Suncoast stakes for fillies three years old was won today by Vaulcluse, who was bred in Ontario, Canada by owner Eugene Melnyk. Vaulcluse is trained by Thomas Albertrani and was booted home by rider Eibar Coa. My Baby Baby placed and No Use Denying finished third. Vaulcluse stalked the pace, moving to the lead at the in the stretch and fending off a challenge from My Baby Baby to win the Suncoast by a length in the track record-setting time of 1:39.36.
Winning jockey Eibar Coa said of Vaulcluse’s win, “Before this race, we thought she was a nice little horse, and she really proved it today. Coming from a layoff, that was a big performance and breaking a record is not an easy thing to do. I kind of love the way she did it today, just coming from behind. I wanted to be a little bit closer; that was my plan, but I was very happy with (the race),” he continued. “From the 3/8 (pole), I knew I was the winner. I just wanted to make sure that she did it the right way, you know, I wanted her to switch leads and do the right thing, and after she switched and she took over, I knew I had it. I just wanted to make sure that she was happy to win it. She never doubted and the way she was in the race, it gave me a lot of confidence and that’s the way I rode her”
Thomas Albertrani, who conditions the daughter of A. P. Indy, said, “We didn’t have a chance to run on the fast track [in her first two starts] but the way she ran today, it was very surprising. This filly, she’s just getting better I think” said trainer Tom Albertrani of the filly’s win. “We could come back here for the (Florida) Oaks.“ Albertrani said that he is sure that Vaulcluse can run longer distances. “Definitely; I mean, the farther the better. Actually a mile and 40 today was probably going to be a little too short for her. But we needed a spot to bring her back, she’s been idle the past couple months and we needed to get her on the track and get her racing. We think a lot about her, and hopefully she’ll turn out to be a nice filly for the (Kentucky) Oaks later on.”
Finish lines… Trainer Tim Ritchie conditioned two horses to victory today, scoring his first win with Miss Goodnight. Ritchie co-owns the four-year-old Johannesburg filly with CJZ Racing Stable; Rosemary Homeister, Jr. was in the irons. Ritchie visited the Winner’s Circle next with Mabou, a five-year-old gelded son of Dynaformer who is owned by Bean Counter Stable and was ridden to victory by Jose Lezcano.
Racing resumes tomorrow, February 17 with an eleven race card. The Silks Poker Room is open daily from 12:30 PM through 12:30 AM, and The Downs Golf Practice Facility is open on Mondays from 10:00 AM through 10:00 PM and on Tuesdays through Sundays from 8:30 AM through 10:00 PM.