Pasco Stakes winner Naughty Rascal, graded-stakes winners Disco Time and Poster and impressive Gulfstream Park maiden winner Grande are among 35 3-year-olds nominated to the 45th running of the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, which will be run on Saturday, Feb. 8 at Tampa Bay Downs.
The Festival Preview Day 45 nominations were released Tuesday. This afternoon, the Tampa Bay Downs Racing Office released the entries for Saturday’s Turf Champions Day card, highlighted by the Grade III, $175,000 Endeavour Stakes for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward and the Grade III, $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes for males 4-years-old-and-upward. Both races will be contested on the turf course at a distance of a mile-and-a-sixteenth.
Meanwhile, in today’s action, no bettor hit the late 50-cent Pick-5 wager, creating a carryover pool of $46,569 into Friday’s late Pick-5.
The Endeavour is the sixth race on a 10-race card Saturday beginning at 12:15 p.m. There are 10 entered in the Endeavour, with trainer Chad Brown appearing to have a nice hand in his attempt to win the race for a fifth time. Brown’s entries are Saffron Moon, a 6-year-old mare who will be ridden by 2024 Eclipse Award Outstanding Jockey Flavien Prat, and 5-year-old Venencia, who will be ridden by leading Oldsmar jockey Samy Camacho.
Both are lightly-raced horses whose form suggests they are at or near their primes, with Saffron Moon 3-for-9 lifetime and the French-bred Venencia 2-for-6. In addition to the winner’s share of the purse money, a victory would represent the first graded-stakes triumph for each horse, enhancing either’s value as a broodmare.
Another south Florida-based trainer, Christophe Clement, also has two Endeavour entries, Irish-bred 4-year-old filly See You Around and Great Britain 5-year-old mare Breath Away. Eric Cancel has been named to ride See You Around and Oldsmar jockey Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr., will be on Breath Away.
Clement’s only Endeavour Stakes victory came in 2004 with Madeira Mist.
Trainer Saffie A. Joseph, Jr., is also sending two horses north for the race. Be My Sunshine is a 5-year-old mare who has not won in her previous six starts but finished second in last year’s Endeavour to Walkathon. She will be ridden by Leonel Reyes. Joseph’s other entry, 5-year-old Libban, will have Edwin Gonzalez in the irons.
Joseph is seeking to earn his first Endeavour trophy.
Here is the full field for the Endeavour in post position order, along with their jockeys and trainers:
- See You Around, Eric Cancel, Christophe Clement; 2. Infinite Diamond, David Egan, Patrick Biancone; 3. Be My Sunshine, Leonel Reyes, Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.; 4. Saffron Moon, Flavien Prat, Chad Brown; 5. Breath Away, Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr., Christophe Clement; 6. Venencia, Samy Camacho, Chad Brown; 7. Libban, Edwin Gonzalez, Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.; 8. Austere, Declan Cannon, Brendan Walsh; 9. Ocean Club, Pablo Morales, Jack Sisterson; 10. Damaso, Daniel Centeno, Kathleen O’Connell.
Prat, whose 2024 haul of 16 Grade I victories included the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic with Sierra Leone, the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf on Moira and the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes presented by Baccarat on National Treasure, will ride Running Bee for Brown in the Tampa Bay Stakes, which is the ninth race Saturday. The 6-year-old Running Bee finished second in last year’s Tampa Bay Stakes to Never Explain.
Brown is seeking his first Tampa Bay Stakes triumph with Running Bee, who won the Grade III Monmouth Stakes last spring.
Perhaps the most intriguing Tampa Bay Stakes entrant is 5-year-old gelding Paros, who has won his last five starts, four on the grass. He was claimed in the second of those victories on July 24 at Saratoga for $40,000 by trainer Michael Maker for current owner Paradise Farms Corp.
Paros’s most recent victory came on Dec. 14 at Turfway Park in the Prairie Bayou Stakes on an all-weather track in what was his first-ever try in stakes competition. Tampa Bay Downs jockey Antonio Gallardo will attempt to add a new chapter to this horse’s climb from the high-level claiming ranks to graded-stakes winner.
Here is the full field for the Tampa Bay Stakes in post position order, along with their jockeys and trainers:
- Lorenz, Leonel Reyes, Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.; 2. Running Bee, Flavien Prat, Chad Brown; 3. Paros, Antonio Gallardo, Michael Maker; 4. Northern Invader, Edwin Gonzalez, Cherie DeVaux; 5. Eldest Son, David Egan, Nolan Ramsey; 6. Card Trick, Daniel Centeno, William Downing; 7. Irish Aces, Declan Cannon, Brendan Walsh; 8. Fidelightcayut, Cipriano Gil, Juan Carlos Avila; 9. Possiblemente, Jesus Castanon, Darien Rodriguez; 10. Ninja Star, Israel Rodriguez, Kevin Rice.
Back to next week’s stakes cornucopia and the mile-and-a-sixteenth Sam F. Davis Stakes, which awards points to the top five finishers toward qualifying for the Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs, is one of four stakes scheduled on a quality-laden Festival Preview Day 45 card.
The other Feb. 8 stakes are the 45th running of the $150,000, mile-and-40-yard Suncoast Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, which awards points to the top five toward qualifying for the May 2 Kentucky Oaks; the 41st edition of the $125,000, 6-furlong Pelican Stakes for horses 4-years-old-and-upward; and the 44th running of the $100,000, 6-furlong Minaret Stakes for fillies and mares 4-and-upward.
The Suncoast has attracted 31 nominations, while the Pelican and Minaret drew 19 and 18, respectively. The Pelican nominees include Grade I winner Book’em Danno, a 4-year-old gelding owned by Atlantic Six Racing and trained by Derek Ryan who won last year’s Pasco Stakes by 12 ½ lengths to launch a magical campaign for the New Jersey-bred.
Naughty Rascal, who was elevated to victory in the 7-furlong Pasco on Jan. 11 upon the disqualification of Owen Almighty to fifth place for interfering with Rookie Card on the turn, is 4-for-6 with a second and a third for owners Mr Pug, LLC and J.P.G. 2, LLC and trainer Gerald Bennett. He has won races on the dirt and turf at distances ranging from 5 furlongs to a mile.
Disco Time is a perfect 3-for-3, beginning his 3-year-old campaign on Jan. 18 at Fair Grounds in New Orleans with a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the Grade III Lecomte Stakes on a sloppy track. He is owned by his breeder Juddmonte and trained by Brad Cox, who has nominated six horses to the Sam F. Davis.
Another strong nominee is the Godolphin-bred-and-owned Poster, an Eoin Harty-trainee who improved to 3-for-3 on Dec. 7 at Aqueduct with a victory in the Grade II, mile-and-an-eighth Remsen Stakes. That was his first start on the dirt after two turf victories.
Grande, who is owned by Repole Stable and trained by Todd Pletcher, kicked off his career with a 1-mile triumph at Gulfstream on Jan. 11. He is one of three horses nominated to the race from the barn of Pletcher, who has won the Sam F. Davis a record seven times.
Owen Almighty, owned by Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing, LLC and trained by Brian Lynch, lost little luster despite his Pasco setback after powering past Naughty Rascal late. Already a stakes winner, he finished second in the Grade III, 1-mile Iroquois Stakes as a 2-year-old in September at Churchill Downs.
Other top Sam F. Davis nominees include Aviator Gui, owned by his breeder Three Chimneys Farm and trained by Chad Brown, who was second by a nose to Poster in the Remsen; First Resort, another Godolphin homebred trained by Harty who concluded his 2-year-old campaign on Nov. 30 with a victory in the Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill; and Guns Loaded, who won the Mucho Macho Man Stakes on Jan. 4 at Gulfstream for owners Morplay Racing, Joey Platts and Lady Sheila Stable and trainer Jose Francisco D’Angelo (Morplay and D’Angelo teamed to win last year’s Sam F. Davis with No More Time).
Needless to say, when a race offers a quarter-million in purse money plus 20, 10, 6, 4 and 2 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, there will be no shortage of accomplished nominees, especially since there was no cost to nominate (there is a supplementary fee of $3,000 for late nominations). Here is the full Sam F. Davis list, followed by their past performances:
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20250208-592651
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20250208-592651
Brad Cox has nominated four fillies to the Suncoast, headed by the unbeaten Godolphin bred-and-owned Good Cheer. Track officials across the fruited plains are salivating to land the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro out of the multiple Grade I-winning mare Wedding Toast, herself a daughter of 2007 Tampa Bay Derby and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense.
Good Cheer has won her four starts by a combined 32 ½ lengths, with her most recent victory coming in the Grade II Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill on Nov. 30.
Rest assured, if Good Cheer comes to Oldsmar she will face serious challengers. Other impressive-looking Suncoast nominees include breeder-owner Tracy Farmer’s La Cara, trainer Mark Casse’s charge who won the Grade III Pocahontas in September at Churchill and finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar to conclude her 2-year-old season; Muhimma, Cox’s 3-for-3 lass owned by Shadwell Stable who won the Grade II Demoiselle on Dec. 7 at Aqueduct; Dancing Magic, who captured the Gasparilla Stakes here on Jan. 11 for owner Mellon Patch and trainer Michael Campbell; and Ballerina d’Oro, owned by Rodeo Creek Racing and trained by Chad Brown, who was second to Muhimma in the Demoiselle in her most recent start.
Here are the links to the Suncoast Stakes nominations and their past performances:
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20250208-592652
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20250208-592652
As for the Pelican Stakes nominations, Book’em Danno will be the hometown favorite if he runs, even though last year’s Pasco Stakes on Jan. 13 is the only race he has competed in here among his 11 career starts.
He followed that tour de force with a second to Forever Young in the Boutique Group Saudi Derby at King Abdulaziz Racecourse, beaten a short head. Forever Young went on to finish third in the Kentucky Derby and Longines Breeders’ Cup Classsic, his only setbacks in nine career starts.
Book’em Danno, kept to shorter races by Ryan, won the Grade I, 7-furlong Woody Stephens Stakes last June at Saratoga and the Jersey Shore Stakes the following month at Monmouth Park. More recent starts produced a third in the Grade I H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga and a second in the Grade III Perryville Stakes at Keeneland.
Also nominated to the Pelican are trainer Juan Carlos Avila’s 6-year-old Little Vic, who won the Fred W. Hooper Stakes presented by Ketel One Vodka on Saturday at Gulfstream; Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.’s 8-year-old Florida-bred Mish, who finished second in last year’s Pelican by a neck to Sibelius; and trainer Gary Contessa’s Grade I winner Nutella Fella, who kicked off his 4-year-old campaign with a second to Chrome Ghost here on Jan. 11 in a 7-furlong allowance/optional claiming race.
Chrome Ghost, a 5-year-old Florida-bred gelding trained by Gerald Bennett, is also nominated.
Here are the links to the Pelican Stakes nominations and their past performances:
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20250208-592659
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20250208-592659
Lightly-raced 5-year-old Florida-bred mare Nic’s Style is among the top nominees for the Minaret Stakes. Owned by Stephen Rosseau and trained by Bill Mott, she won the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association City of Ocala Florida Sire Stakes here on Dec. 14. Her only defeat in six career starts came in a second-place finish in the Grade II Gallant Bloom Stakes in September at Belmont At The Big A to Ways and Means, a Grade I winner.
Other outstanding Minaret nominees are 4-year-old Florida-bred R Harper Rose, a Grade III winner owned by Averill Racing and Two Eight Racing and trained by Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.; 5-year-old mare Opus Forty Two, who won last season’s Wayward Lass Stakes and the 2023 Gasparilla Stakes here, owned by Mark B. Grier and trained by Arnaud Delacour; Joseph’s multiple stakes-winning 6-year-old Intrepid Daydream, owned by Miller Racing; and Autumn Evening, a 4-year-old owned by P and G Stable and trained by Todd Pletcher.
Here are the links to the Minaret Stakes nominations and their past performances:
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20250208-592658
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20250208-592658
Around the oval. Daniel Centeno rode two winners today, both on the turf. He captured the seventh race on Jassai, a 4-year-old filly owned by GOP Racing Stable and trained by Gerard Ochoa. Centeno added the ninth and final race with Tepeyac, a 3-year-old colt owned by Eduardo Azpurua, Sr., and trained by Rodolfo Garcia.
Thoroughbred racing continues Friday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:15 p.m. Tampa Bay Downs races each Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and is open every day for simulcast wagering, no-limits action and tournament play in The Silks Poker Room and golf fun and instruction at The Downs Golf Practice Facility.
