Paladin, who won the Grade II Remsen Stakes on Dec. 6 at Aqueduct; Incredibolt, the winner of the Grade III Street Sense Stakes on Oct. 26 at Churchill Downs; and Zany, a daughter of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah who won the Grade II Demoiselle Stakes on Dec. 6 at Aqueduct, head a list of 45 3-year-olds nominated to the 46h running of the $250,000, mile-and-a-sixteenth Sam F. Davis Stakes for 3-year-olds, which will be contested Saturday, Feb. 7 at Tampa Bay Downs.
The Sam F. Davis is the showcase of the track’s Festival Preview Day card, which includes four stakes races worth a combined $625,000 in purse money. The race is a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” qualifying race, offering 20, 10, 6, 4 and 2 points to the top five finishers toward qualifying for a spot in the Run for the Roses on May 2 at Churchill Downs.
The other stakes on the card are the 46th edition of the $125,000 Suncoast Stakes, a mile-and-40-yard race for 3-year-old fillies that is a “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” qualifying race; the 45th running of the $125,000, 6-furlong Minaret Stakes for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward; and the 42nd edition of the $125,000, 6-furlong Pelican Stakes for horses 4-years-old-and-upward.
Trainer Brad Cox, who won last year’s Sam F. Davis Stakes with John Hancock, has nominated 10 colts to next week’s race. Cox’s nominees include stakes winner Commandment and the highly regarded Cannoneer.
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, who has won the Sam F. Davis Stakes a record seven times, has seven nominees including Zany, who is also nominated for the Suncoast Stakes. Pletcher trained Rags to Riches to a Belmont Stakes victory against males in 2007 (five weeks after she won the Kentucky Oaks for fillies), so it will be fascinating to see which race Zany competes in if she comes to Tampa Bay Downs.
Zany won the Demoiselle by 8 ½ lengths to improve her record to 2-for-2.
Paladin is the lone Sam F. Davis Stakes nominee from the barn of Chad Brown, who has yet to win the Sam F. Davis but captured his first Tampa Bay Derby trophy in 2024 with Domestic Product.
Riley Mott, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, is the trainer of Incredibolt. Bill Mott won the Sam F. Davis in 2021 with Candy Man Rocket.
The Sam F. Davis is the main prep race for the Grade III, $400,000 ESMARK Tampa Bay Derby on March 7.
Here are the links to the Sam F. Davis nominations and to each horse’s past performances:
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20260207-598357
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20260207-598357
Similar to the Sam F. Davis Stakes, the Suncoast awards Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the first five finishers on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale. The Suncoast has attracted 30 nominations, with Cox accounting for eight on the list.
That group includes Sneaky Good, who won the Sandpiper Stakes here on Dec. 6; Hit Parade, a three-time winning daughter of 2007 Tampa Bay Derby and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense who won the Untapable Stakes on Dec. 20 at Fair Grounds in her most recent start; Life of Joy, winner of the Rags to Riches Stakes on Oct. 26 at Churchill Downs; and On Time Girl, who won the Fern Creek Stakes on Nov. 28 at Churchill.
Pletcher has nominated three sophomore fillies to the Suncoast. In addition to Zany, his candidates include Imperatrice, who broke her maiden in impressive fashion on Dec. 13 at Gulfstream Park.
Trainer Kent Sweezey has an intriguing Suncoast nominee in Just Singing, a daughter of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify who was beaten only a length while finishing third in the Grade II Golden Rod Stakes on Nov. 29 at Churchill Downs.
Here are the links to the Suncoast Stakes nominations and to each filly’s past performances:
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20260207-598358
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20260207-598358
The Minaret closed with 21 nominations. Among those candidates is defending champion Nic’s Style, a 6-year-old Florida-bred mare trained by Bill Mott. She won the Grade III Hurricane Bertie Stakes at Gulfstream in her next start after the Minaret and is 7-for-11 lifetime with three seconds.
Son Riley Mott has two nominees: stakes-winning 4-year-old Her Laugh and 4-year-old Necessity.
Trainer Saffie A. Joseph, Jr., has nominated four to the Minaret, including Mystic Lake, a 5-year-old Florida-bred who won the Gasparilla Stakes here in 2024 and has 10 career stakes victories, including two Grade IIs; Haulin Ice, a two-time Grade III winning 5-year-old mare; and Grade II-winning 4-year-old Indy Bay.
Here are the links to the Minaret Stakes nominations and to each filly’s past performances:
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20260207-598364
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20260207-598364
There are 27 nominations for the Pelican Stakes, including last year’s winner Nutella Fella, a 5-year-old Gregg Sacco-trainee. Nutella Fella, who was trained by Gary Contessa last year, won the Grade I Hopeful Stakes in 2023 at Saratoga.
Nine-time leading Oldsmar trainer Gerald Bennett, who has won the Pelican Stakes three times, has nominated five runners to the Pelican. His quintet includes last year’s Pasco Stakes winner Naughty Rascal, a three-time stakes winning 4-year-old Florida-bred, and 6-year-old Florida-bred gelding Chrome Ghost, the runner-up in last season’s Florida Cup NYRABETS Sprint Stakes who has finished first, second or third in eight of his last nine stakes.
Here are the links to the Pelican Stakes nominations and to each filly’s past performances:
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20260207-598365
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20260207-598365
“Turf Champions Day” promises excitement galore. It might be cold outside Saturday, but the action on the Oldsmar oval’s “Turf Champions Day” card promises to be red-hot throughout.
Heading the nine-race program are the Grade III, $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes for horses 4-years-old-and-upward and the Grade III, $175,000 Endeavour Stakes for fillies and mares. Both races will be contested on the grass at a distance of a mile-and-a-sixteenth.
The Tampa Bay Stakes is the seventh race on the card and the Endeavour is the ninth race. Eight horses are entered in the Tampa Bay Stakes, with Win for the Money possible to go off the betting favorite in what appears to be a wide-open contest. The 7-year-old gelding, a Grade I winner owned by Live Oak Plantation and trained by Mark Casse, will be ridden by Sonny Leon from the No. 6 post.
Top jockeys Julien Leparoux and Rafael Manuel Hernandez will be looking to display their considerable skills against the local contingent, with Leparoux named to ride 5-year-old Quatrocento for trainer Fausto Gutierrez and Hernandez aboard 4-year-old colt Tom’s Magic for Michael Stidham. Quatrocento will break from the No. 3 post, while Tom’s Magic has been assigned the No. 7.
Also certain to receive considerable betting support is Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott’s 4-year-old colt Simulate, who will be ridden by Daniel Centeno. Simulate drew the No. 1 post.
There are 11 fillies and mares entered in the Endeavour. Trainer Chad Brown, who won last year’s edition with Saffron Moon, seeks to win the race for the fourth time in six years and sixth time overall with 4-year-old filly Al Jafara, who will break from the No. 4 post under Samy Camacho.
It will be her fourth lifetime start, so the Great Britain-bred needs to be a special type to win a graded stakes in only her second U.S. start and first since winning a mile-and-a-sixteenth turf allowance on April 12 at Keeneland in her most recent appearance.
Mott and Centeno will team with 4-year-old Scythian who will break from the No. 3 post. Aussie Girl, a 6-year-old mare who was actually bred in Ireland, will have Ben Curtis aboard for trainer Will Walden. Aussie Girl won the Noble Damsel Stakes at Belmont At The Big A last October.
Bettors are certain to take a hard look at 5-year-old Public Defender, who put together a four-race winning streak last year and finished third in the Suwannee River Stakes on Dec. 20 at Gulfstream Park. Pablo Morales will ride Public Defender from the far outside No. 11 post for trainer Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
Around the oval. Leading jockey Samuel Marin continued to excel, riding two winners today. He won the second race on Jassai, a 5-year-old mare, for owner GOP Racing Stable and trainer Gerard Ochoa. Jassai was claimed from the race for $5,000 by new owner-trainer Kathleen Guciardo. Marin added the fourth race aboard Heavenly Dancer, a 5-year-old Florida-bred mare owned by Charles D. Nielsen and trained by Jon Arnett.
Cipriano Gil swept the late daily double. He rode 6-year-old gelding Midnight Onyx to victory in the eighth race for owner Establo Heluce and trainer Juan Carlos Avila. Midnight Onyx was claimed from the race for $5,000 by trainer Ralph N. Baez for new owner Alexis Ruiz-Beltran.
Gil added the ninth and final race on the turf with Authenticate Now, a 4-year-old filly owned by Mike Dini and Al Moorhouse and trained by Dini.
Thoroughbred racing continues Friday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:33 p.m. Tampa Bay Downs races each Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and will present Thursday cards on Feb. 5 and Feb. 12.
Sunday’s scheduled “Mouse’s Kids & Family Days” activities in the Backyard Picnic Area have been cancelled due to the unseasonably cold weather. The next event will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15.
The track is open every day for simulcast wagering, no-limits action and tournament play in The Silks Poker Room and expert golf instruction and pleasure at The Downs Golf Practice Facility.
