OLDSMAR, FL- Nine talented sophomores with Kentucky Derby aspirations will line up in the starting gate for the Grade 3, $400,000 ESMARK Tampa Bay Derby and the 1 1/16 miles test presents the highly anticipated showdown between Canaletto and Further Ado at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday.
The Tampa Bay Derby is an important stop along the Road to the Kentucky Derby as the top five finishers will earn qualifying points (50-25-15-10) for the Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.
The field for the Tampa Bay Derby in post position order with riders from the rail out is: Redland Rebels, Junior Alvarado; Talkin , Joel Rosario; Roger That Dana, Renzo Rojas; Hulkamania, Jareth Loveberry; Powershift, John Velazquez; Further Ado, Irad Ortiz, Jr., Thunder Buck, Samuel Marin; The Puma, Javier Castellano; Canaletto, Flavien Prat.
Canaletto is owned by Coolmore, Peter Brant and Brook Smith and was a $1 million purchase at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale. The son of Into Mischief, trained by five-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown, is making only his second start after a scintillating gate-to-wire score by eight lengths in a maiden special weight affair on Gulfstream Park’s one-turn mile track on January 25. The colt will be asked to handle two turns while stepping all the way up into graded stakes company for the first time with Prat, the reigning champion jockey, back in the irons.
Further Ado who was bred by John Oxley and bought for $550,000 by Spendthrift Farm at the OBS Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale last April, is conditioned by two-time Eclipse Award winner Brad Cox. The son of Gun Runner already has 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points on his sheet by virtue of a victory in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs last November.
Further Ado is the sole stakes winner in the field. Based at Payson Park this winter, he’s been turning heads in the morning.
“His works have been phenomenal,” Cox told the Tampa Bay Downs publicity office. “He’s really gotten through this track well. He’s given us a lot of confidence. He looks really good since he arrived. He really put on weight and physically filled out a good bit since last fall.”
Powershift comes from the powerhouse stable of trainer multiple Eclipse Award winner Todd Pletcher, who looks for his record-extending seventh win in the Tampa Bay Derby. Though the son of Constitution narrowly lost his first and only time out in a 1 mile 40-yard maiden race over this racing strip on February 7, Pletcher said he was so impressed with the effort that the Repole Stables colorbearer deserves his chance to handle the steep class jump.
Two others seeking to add to their Kentucky Derby points total are Talkin, who has earned five thus far, and The Puma, who has six on his ledger.
Talkin, a son of Good Magic owned by Reeves Thoroughbreds et. al, makes the first start of his sophomore season. He finished 2025 with a 9th place run in the Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct on December 6 and two starts back was the runner-up in the Grade 1 Champagne at the Belmont at the Big A meet October 4.
The Puma, whose connections are the same as Kentucky Derby winner Mage in trainer Gustavo Delgado and owner OGMA Investments, is experienced on the Trampa Bay Downs strip. He finished third in the Listed Sam F. Davis here one month ago.
The Tampa Bay Derby headlines a staked card featuring five stakes races on the track’s prestigious Festival Day 46. The other stakes on Saturday’s card are the Grade 2, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward at a distance of a mile-and-an-eighth on the turf course; the Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the grass; the Grade 3, $125,000 Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes for horses 4-and-upward at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the main track; and the $125,000 Columbia Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile on the turf.
Disco Time, last seen when suffering his first career defeat with an 8th place finish in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream on January 24th headlines the seven horse field for Cox in the Challenger Stakes.
First post for Saturday’s 12-race card is at 12:15 pm. The Tamps Bay Derby is slated to go off at 5:35 pm.
