From where Tampa Bay Downs jockey Marcos Meneses was sitting, the 46th running of the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes was shaping up as one of the biggest upsets in the history of the race.
“I expected to stay behind the speed early,” said Meneses, who saw nothing but daylight aboard 48-1 shot Wayne’s Law, the only Florida-bred in the nine-horse field, at the top of the stretch. “He was doing it so easy and was very relaxed and I was feeling so comfortable, I thought he had it.”
Then out of the corner of his eye, or perhaps his eye and ears, Meneses felt the presence of 6-5 favorite Renegade and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., bearing down on him and Wayne’s Law – and in a relative whoosh, second-place money was looking kind of good for Meneses and his courageous longshot.
“He passed me like a monster in the stretch. I knew I had horse left, but not like him,” Meneses said.
Renegade, who entered the race as a maiden (he had been disqualified after crossing the finish line first last October in a race at Belmont At The Big A), rolled through the stretch to dash the Cinderella dreams of Meneses, owner Herbert Sternlieb’s Baalbek Corporation and trainer Amador Merei Sanchez by 3 ¾ lengths. The Puma, making only his second career start, ran well to finish third, with Game for It fourth in the nine-horse field.
In the process, Renegade picked up 20 “Road to the Kentucky Derby” qualifying points while carrying Ortiz to the jockey’s fourth winner on the card, including the Suncoast Stakes earlier on sensational sophomore filly Zany.
Mike Repole, the owner of Zany under his Repole Stable banner, owns Renegade in partnership with the colt’s breeders Robert and Lawana Low. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Renegade is a son of Into Mischief out of the Curlin mare Spice Is Nice.
“It wasn’t an easy race,” Repole said of Renegade’s victory, achieved in a time of 1:43.54 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth distance on a fast main track. “But he got a nice pace up front. He was wide, but I think Irad knew he had the best horse. It is better sometimes to be wide and not caught in traffic than to get caught in traffic and be the best horse.
“Todd has done a great job with this horse and we think he can get better with age and more distance. If this is any indication, I am pretty excited,” Repole said.
Ortiz was content to keep Renegade near the rear of the field early. He unleashed a powerful move on the turn for home and was clearly best.
“It looked like there was a lot of speed in the race, so I thought maybe today I would have the option to come from way back,” Ortiz said. “The plan worked out beautifully. I really felt like he was going to win coming home, and when I asked him he really came on strong.”
Pletcher, reached by telephone afterward, has had high hopes for Renegade right along and this victory – his first official” triumph in four starts – justified them.
“I was very pleased with his race,” Pletcher said. “I thought it was impressive considering he got shuffled back a little bit and was then pretty far back. … on a track that seemed like it was playing kindly to horses up close. He had to put in a pretty wide move, but I thought he really leveled off the last part (of the race) and finished up strongly.
“I thought it was a perfect start to his 3-year-old campaign.”
First-place money of $120,000 raised his career earnings to $199,000.
In the $125,000, 6-furlong Pelican Stakes for older horses, Big Frank Stable’s 7-year-old gelding Concrete Glory broke well under Ortiz, assumed the lead early and turned back all challenges, staying resolute through the stretch for a 2-length victory from Track Mate. Silver Slugger ran well to finish third.
The victory was the first in stakes competition for Concrete Glory, who was claimed in 2022 for a meager $6,250 by winning trainer Saffie A. Joseph, Jr., for Big Frank Stable out of a Gulfstream Park victory. Concrete Glory improved to 18-for-41 lifetime, and the winner’s share of $60,000 raised his career earnings to $583,249.
Concrete Glory’s time was 1:09.74. He paid $14.40 to win.
Joseph couldn’t help but get a little emotional about the Pennsylvania-bred son of Bodemeister’s effort. “He’s such a cool horse to be around. I have a lot better ones than him, but he is my favorite horse in the barn,” Joseph said.
“He gives you his all every time, and when you hang around him he understands you. He’s so smart. He knows me and he knows he’s my favorite, and every Tuesday when I see him, my guys know if he doesn’t get his bath I get really pissed off.”
Ortiz shares that joy by riding Concrete Glory. He has won on him numerous times, including in November at Churchill Downs and last summer at Saratoga.
“He always runs so good for me, and I guess I do good for him,” Ortiz said. “I think he likes the way I ride him. He likes to be free and I don’t get in his way. When there are horses around him, I let him be him, and he’s been showing up for me.”
Lynne Snierson contributed to this report.
