Tampa Bay Downs: Unbeaten Poster joins field for Sam F. Davis
Photo:
Sophie Shore / Eclipse Sportswire
After turning in an impressive 5-furlong breeze Sunday on the Tampa Bay Downs main track, unbeaten 3-year-old colt Poster appears headed to Saturday’s $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, the centerpiece of the Oldsmar oval’s Festival Preview Day.
Poster, whose workout time of 1:01 3/5 was best of 20 horses at the distance, is one of 10 horses currently considered likely to compete in the 45th running of the 1 1/16-mile race, which awards Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top five finishers on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale. Owned by his breeder, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Godolphin operation, Poster is trained by Eoin Harty.
A son of Munnings out of Pin Up, by Tapit, Poster concluded his 2-year-old campaign on Dec. 7 in the 1 1/8-mile Remsen Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct under jockey Flavien Prat with a nose victory from Aviator Gui. Poster’s first two victories came on the turf at Ellis Park and Keeneland.
The Sam F. Davis is one of four main track stakes races on the Festival Preview Day card. Three-year-old fillies will take the spotlight in the $150,000 Suncoast Stakes, a mile and 40 yard contest that awards Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top five finishers. The Godolphin-Harty duo is expected to have a top contender in homebred Deloraine, who won a turf allowance/optional claiming race at Tampa Bay Downs on Dec. 13 by 8 1/4 lengths.
Tracy Farmer’s homebred filly La Cara, a Grade 3 winner trained by Mark Casse who finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 1 at Del Mar, is also expected for the Suncoast, along with Grade 3-placed Italian Soiree, trained by John P. Terranova II, and Dancing Magic, who won the Gasparilla Stakes here on Jan. 11 for owner Mellon Patch and trainer Michael Campbell.
Stakes winner Her Laugh, trained by D. Whitworth Beckman, is a Suncoast possible.
Saturday’s menu of stakes offerings also includes the $125,000, 6-furlong Pelican Stakes for horses 4-years-old-and-upward and the $100,000 Minaret Stakes, a 6-furlong test for fillies and mares 4-and-upward.
Most of the national attention will be squarely focused on the Sam F. Davis, which is the major prep race for the $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby (G3) on March 8.
The Sam F. Davis is also expected to attract Oldsmar trainer Gerald Bennett’s Naughty Rascal, a three-time stakes winner owned by Mr Pug and J.P.G. 2 who won the Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 11 via disqualification, and Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing’s Owen Almighty, trainer Brian Lynch’s colt who was dropped from first to fifth in the Pasco by the stewards for a bumping incident on the far turn.
Naughty Rascal breezed 5 furlongs here on Thursday in a sharp 1:00 1/5, while Owen Almighty breezed 5 furlongs in a minute flat on Saturday at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach.
Among the other Sam F. Davis probables are Calumet Farm’s colt Very Bold, the official second-place finisher in the Pasco, who is trained by Harty; John Hancock, who broke his maiden at Tampa Bay Downs under jockey Samy Camacho on Jan. 8 sprinting 6 furlongs for owners WinStar Farm, CHC and Siena Farm and trainer Brad Cox; and Smoken Boy, winner of the Clasico Agustin Mercado Reveron Stakes (G1) on Dec. 8 on a muddy track at Camarero in Puerto Rico, for owner Sonata Stable and trainer Jose Francisco D’Angelo.
Also expected as of Monday were Treaty of Rome, a stakes-placed Chad Brown-trained colt owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith; Dr Ruben M, a well-bred son of Vino Rosso owned by The Del Mar Group and trained by Doug O’Neill; Camp Hale, second in all three starts for breeder-owner Whitham Thoroughbreds and trainer Ian Wilkes; and Gateskeeper, owned by Gervais Racing and trained by S. Jade Cunningham.
The field for the Pelican Stakes is expected to be headed by Chrome Ghost and Nutella Fella, who finished 1-2 here on Jan. 11 in a 7-furlong allowance/optional claimer, won by Chrome Ghost in a swift 1:22.32. The 5-year-old Florida-bred gelding is owned by Richard Heatter and trained by Gerald Bennett.
Better-known to most racing fans, even though he has made only four lifetime starts, is Bell Gable Stable’s 4-year-old colt Nutella Fella. Trained by Gary Contessa, he won the 2023 Hopeful Stakes (G1) as a 2-year-old at Saratoga and was third the following year in the Woody Stephens Stakes (G1), also at Saratoga.
Other likely Pelican starters include JoAnn and Alex Lieblong’s 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding Pure Class, trained by David Fawkes and the winner of last season’s Florida Cup Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore Stakes; 5-year-old Dreaming of Kona, trainer Aldana Spieth’s stakes-winning, graded stakes-placed horse owned by Aldana Gonzalez Racing, Lisa Ballou and Steve Ballou; and 5-year-old gelding Silver Slugger, owned by Victor J. Martinez and trained by Juan Carlos Avila. Last year’s Pelican runner-up, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.’s 8-year-old Florida-bred gelding Mish, also was possible.
As of Monday, the Minaret Stakes was expected to draw 5-year-old mare Dazzling Blue, who has never finished out of the money in 10 career starts while earning $422,995. Owned by Juddmonte and trained by Brad Cox, her three victories to start her career have been followed by four graded-stakes placings, including a second last May in the Winning Colors Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs.
Other likely Minaret starters include trainer Arnaud Delacour’s graded stakes-placed 5-year-old mare Opus Forty Two, a two-time stakes winner at Tampa Bay Downs owned by Mark B. Grier; stakes-winning 4-year-old filly Kant Resist It, owned by NBS Stable and trained by Jon Arnett; and stakes-winning, graded stakes-placed 4-year-old Miuccia, owned by JR Ranch and trained by Gustavo Delgado.
Owner Stephen Rousseau and trainer Bill Mott’s 5-year-old Florida-bred Nic’s Style, who won the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association Florida Sire Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Dec. 14 and is five-for-six lifetime, with a second in last fall’s Gallant Bloom Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct, also was under consideration.
| Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | HRN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Poster Munnings |
7.15 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
|
|
Owen Almighty Speightstown |
6.17 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
|
|
Naughty Rascal Rogueish |
6.12 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
|
|
Dr Ruben M Vino Rosso |
6.11 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
|
|
Treaty Of Rome Uncle Mo |
6.05 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
|
|
Very Bold Union Rags |
5.79 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
|
|
Camp Hale Mo Town |
5.67 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
|
|
John Hancock Constitution |
5.12 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
|
|
Gateskeeper Instagrand |
0.00 | Probable | |||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
|
|
Smoken Boy Catholic Boy |
0.00 |
1st, Clasico Agustin Mercado Reveron S. |
Probable | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, Clasico Agustin Mercado Reveron S. |
|||||
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