The top three finishers in Saturday’s $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs – John Hancock, Owen Almighty and Poster – have climbed into the top 13 of point-getters on the “Road to the Kentucky Derby,” the series of races determining eligibility for the Run for the Roses on May 3 at Churchill Downs.
John Hancock, who set a stakes record of 1:42.27 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth distance under jockey Flavien Prat in only his second career start, earned 20 points to move into a six-way tie for third on the list (tiebreakers are employed to determine a horse’s official standing).
Poster earned six points for finishing third, giving him 16 and a tie for 10th with Getaway Car. Next in line with 15 are Jonathan’s Way and Owen Almighty, who earned 10 points for his game second-place Sam F. Davis finish.
The top 18 point-getters through the Lexington Stakes on April 12 at Keeneland qualify for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, along with the top point-earners from Europe and Japan.
John Hancock and Owen Almighty staged a race-long duel that wasn’t far off the 2007 Grade III Tampa Bay Derby showdown between Street Sense and Any Given Saturday for excitement and flat-out Thoroughbred racing excellence.
With dominant Suncoast Stakes winner La Cara, Pelican Stakes winner Nutella Fella and Minaret winner Nic’s Style contributing mightily to a non-stop afternoon of thrilling competition, plus a strong roster of out-of-town jockeys, Festival Preview Day 45 was a rousing success.
Currently atop the Kentucky Derby point standings with 60 points is Citizen Bull, trainer Bob Baffert’s 2024 FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance winner who kicked off his 3-year-old season on Feb. 1 by winning the Grade III Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita.
Speed King, who won the Grade III Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Jan. 25 for trainer Ron Moquett, is second with 25 points.
The “Road to the Kentucky Derby” returns to Tampa Bay Downs on March 8 with the 45th running of the Grade III, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, also at a mile-and-a-sixteenth. In addition to being the centerpiece of a stakes-laden Festival Day 45 card, the race is part of the Kentucky Derby Championship Series, with 50 points awarded to the winner, then 25, 15, 10 and 5 to the next four finishers.
Brad Cox, who trains John Hancock for owners WinStar Farm and CHC, Inc., told the Daily Racing Form after the race he would be inclined to give the son of Constitution more time before his next start, due in large part to the demanding nature of the Sam F. Davis. Regardless of his decision, there should be no shortage of top horses seeking points to stamp a ticket to Louisville.
Saturday’s $150,000 Suncoast Stakes winner, 3-year-old filly La Cara, also set a stakes record, blitzing her foes in 1:38.51 for the mile-and-40-yard distance. That was .23 seconds off the track record set a week earlier by trainer Nolan Ramsey’s 4-year-old colt Copperlite in a starter/optional claiming race.
As a 2-year-old Grade III stakes winner, La Cara carried top weight of 124 pounds in the Suncoast.
Trainer Mark Casse and jockey Dylan Davis were effusive in their praise of La Cara, Tracy Farmer’s homebred daughter of Street Sense who earned 20 “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” qualifying points and is now tied for second with Baffert’s Grade I winner Tenma with 33 points each. The Longines Kentucky Oaks will be contested May 2 at Churchill Downs.
They are seven points behind the leader, Cox-trained, unbeaten (4-for-4) NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Immersive, who is expected to be out at least until summer with bone bruising.
Suncoast Stakes runner-up Her Laugh, from the barn of Whit Beckman, earned her first 10 points in the series to move into a tie for 14th. The top 14 point-getters through the Gazelle Stakes and Santa Anita Oaks on April 5 are automatic Longines Kentucky Oaks qualifiers.
A combination of quality horses, excellent weather and mostly full fields contributed to a total all-sources wagering handle on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs of $12,170,856, the second-largest for a Festival Preview Day card. The top all-time handle for Festival Preview Day was $13,200,203 in 2021, a year when both the Grade III Tampa Bay Stakes and the Grade III Lambholm South Endeavour were part of the card, in lieu of the non-graded Pelican and Minaret.
Saturday’s crowd of 5,401, a healthy and vibrant mix of dyed-in-the-wool horseplayers, casual fans and first-time visitors, wagered $552,673 on-track.
Around the oval. Samuel Marin rode three winners today and now trails Samy Camacho by a 51-48 margin in the jockey win standings. Marin won the second race on Notable Exchange, a 3-year-old Florida-bred filly owned and trained by Mike Dini. He then won the fourth and fifth, scoring first on 4-year-old gelding Melody Win for owner GOP Racing Stable and trainer Gerard Ochoa, then winning on 4-year-old gelding Endless Reign for owner Winning Stables and trainer Gerald Bennett.
Marcos Meneses rode two winners. He won the sixth race aboard P Four, a 3-year-old Florida-bred colt owned by Mast Thoroughbreds and trained by Michael Yates. Meneses and Yates teamed up for victory again in the eighth with 5-year-old Florida-bred gelding Cajun Gem, owned by Yates’s Shadybrook Farm.
Thoroughbred racing resumes Wednesday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:40 p.m. Admission is free. Tampa Bay Downs races each Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The track 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.
