SMILEY SOBOTKA SAM F. DAVIS CHOICE, BUT WHO WILL BE SMILING SATURDAY?

By Mike Henry —-

OLDSMAR, FL. – An all-star cast of jockeys and trainers will take a backseat to 12 talented but inexperienced 3-year-olds Saturday in the 41st running of the Grade III, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, the first of two “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points races at Tampa Bay Downs.

The Sam F. Davis is one of four stakes on a 12-race Festival Preview Day 41 Presented by Lambholm South card set to begin at 11:50 a.m. Scheduled as the 11th race, it will be preceded (in order) by the Grade III, $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes, for horses 4-years-old-and-upward at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the turf course; the $150,000 Suncoast Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, at a mile-and-40-yards on the main track; and the Grade III, $175,000 Lambholm South Endeavour Stakes, for older fillies and mares at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the turf.

Approximate post time for the Sam F. Davis is 5:02 p.m. There is a carryover pool of $9,057.70 into the Super High-5 wager in the first race.

The Albaugh Family Stables, LLC-owned colt Smiley Sobotka has been established as the 3-1 morning-line favorite for the Sam F. Davis, run at a distance of a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the main track. Trained by Dale Romans, Smiley Sobotka will be ridden by Daniel Centeno while breaking from the No. 5 post position.

Smiley Sobotka won at the Sam F. Davis distance when he broke his maiden in October at Keeneland. He finished second at the same distance in the Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 28 at Churchill Downs.

The Sam F. Davis awards points on a 10-4-2-1 scale to the first four finishers toward qualifying for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on May 1 at Churchill Downs.

A field of 12 will contest the Tampa Bay Stakes, scheduled as the eighth race. Trainer Michael Maker’s 4-year-old colt Fancy Liquor, to be ridden by Hector Diaz, Jr., is the 3-1 morning-line favorite.

The 5-2 morning-line choice in the 10-horse Suncoast Stakes is Gulf Coast, trained by Rodolphe Brisset, with Julien Leparoux assigned to ride. Trainer Chad Brown’s 4-year-old filly Counterparty Risk, with Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez aboard, is the 5-2 choice in the Lambholm South Endeavour.

Back to the Sam F. Davis. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and future Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher each have two horses entered in the Sam F. Davis. Mott’s runners are breeder-owner Michael Shanley’s colt Nova Rags, who won the 7-furlong Pasco Stakes here on Jan. 16, and Frank Fletcher Racing Operations’ colt Candy Man Rocket, an eye-popping maiden special weight winner on Jan. 9 at Gulfstream Park.

Nova Rags will again be ridden by Samy Camacho. Junior Alvarado is the pilot on Candy Man Rocket.

Pletcher, who has won the Sam F. Davis a record six times (no other trainer has won it more than twice), will counter with Known Agenda, a St. Elias Stables-owned homebred who finished third on Dec. 5 in the Grade II Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct in his most recent start, and Millean, a Jan. 10 maiden claiming winner at Gulfstream Park owned by Donegal Racing.

Velazquez will ride Known Agenda. Roberto Alvarado, Jr., has been named on Millean.

Smiley Sobotka and seven others will vie to keep the Mott and Pletcher-trained sophomores from the winner’s circle, but Mott suggested Friday the biggest surprise in the Sam F. Davis would be a result that winds up surprising hardly anyone.

The race appears that wide-open.

“Both of our horses have been training well, and we’re anxiously awaiting the outcome to see if we have horses good enough to go on and come back for the (Grade II Lambholm South) Tampa Bay Derby (on March 6),” Mott said today from his south Florida base. “It’s a big test for both horses, and we have no great expectations. Candy Man Rocket hasn’t been beyond 6 ½ furlongs and Nova Rags hasn’t raced around two turns yet, so they need to be tested to find out how far they want to go.”

At this early stage, there are no true standouts entering the race. The only stakes winner in the field other than Nova Rags is Florida-bred gelding Boca Boy, who captured the restricted Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association Florida Sire In Reality Stakes on Sept. 26 at Gulfstream. Antonio Gallardo rides Boca Boy.

Mott, who has also entered 4-year-old filly New York Girl in the Lambholm South Endeavour and Florida-bred Jade Empress in the Suncoast, hopes having won the Pasco here will be an extra advantage for Nova Rags. “It’s a safe racetrack and it’s a very challenging racetrack,” Mott said. “It’s deep and tiring, and you see some horses that don’t run well on it. So with Nova Rags, it’s a good thing he has that race (the Pasco) over the surface.”

Hidden Stash, who won his last two races as a 2-year-old, both around two turns, will break from the No. 1 post under jockey Hector Diaz, Jr. Among the others, trainer Patrick Biancone, who won last year’s Sam F. Davis with Sole Volante, will attempt a repeat with Lucky Law, and George “Rusty” Arnold, II takes a shot with Runway Magic, to be ridden by Leparoux.

Tampa Bay Downs trainer Arnaud Delacour isn’t represented in the Sam F. Davis, but he knows firsthand you don’t have to be to get your kicks on Festival Preview Day.

Two years ago, Delacour won the Lambholm South Endeavour with Lael Stables’ mare Hawksmoor. Those connections repeated last year, with Delacour saddling 16-1 shot Jehozacat to win the Lambholm South Endeavour. The conditioner came back a half-hour later to win the Suncoast with Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson’s 3-year-old filly Lucrezia.

Barring heavy rain or some other unforeseen circumstance, Delacour won’t repeat in the Lambholm South Endeavour, since his 5-year-old mare Eres Tu is a “main track only” entry. However, he has two horses in the Tampa Bay Stakes: 5-year-old Irish-bred gelding Talk Or Listen, owned by Lael Stables, and 5-year-old horse Eons, owned by Mark Grier. They finished 1-2 in an allowance/optional claiming turf event here on Jan. 10, with Talk Or Listen getting the nod by a head.

The jockeys remain the same Saturday: Centeno on Talk Or Listen and Camacho on Eons.

Delacour will try for another Suncoast trophy with 3-year-old filly Be Sneaky, a homebred racing for Lael Stables. Diaz is the jockey.

“I’ve been happy with the way all our horses have been training,” Delacour said. “(Talk Or Listen and Eons) both ran a good race last time, and they are very similar in their form. Eons is a little more one-paced but he has more tactical speed, so I think he’ll sit a little closer to the pace. When you have a large field, pace is a big key, and you need your jockey to be able to navigate a good trip.”

Eons is an 8-1 morning-line choice and Talk Or Listen is 15-1.

In the Suncoast, Be Sneaky’s 12-1 odds reflect her two lifetime starts – the fewest of any horse in the race – and her not yet racing beyond 7 furlongs. She broke her maiden in her debut in October at Laurel, then finished third there in the Smart Halo Stakes on Nov. 14. Although Be Sneaky is an outsider, Delacour’s experience with Jehozacat provides encouragement as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of racing.

“I really liked Jehozacat. She was coming off a win (in the Wayward Lass Stakes) and training well, but I was willing to be second or third because Mark Casse’s filly (Got Stormy) looked unbeatable,” Delacour recalled.

“Be Sneaky’s dam (Bella Castani, by Big Brown) was a turf filly, so it’s been in the back of our mind to try her on grass. But we’ll get that opportunity later. She’s been handling the dirt well, and being by Into Mischief, we almost have to take a chance (in the Suncoast).”

Around the oval. The deadline to enter the annual “Live It Up Challenge” handicapping contest is 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. The contest starts Saturday and runs through March 28. There is no cost to enter. First prize is two seats at next season’s High Rollers Handicapping Contest (a $2,000 value) at the Oldsmar oval and second prize is one seat (a $1,000 value). Click the following link to register and test your skills against other top handicappers.

https://liveitupchallengereturns.com/

Antonio Gallardo rode two winners today to move into a 49-49 tie with Samy Camacho atop the track standings. Gallardo won the third race on William Crotty, an 8-year-old gelding owned by Carrol Stubbs and trained by Cody Axmaker. The rider added the fifth race with Quick Entry, a 5-year-old gelding owned by Patrick Rochette and trained by Darien Rodriguez.

Quick Entry was claimed from the race for $8,000 by new owner-trainer Douglas Jones.

Thoroughbred racing continues Friday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:15 p.m. Tampa Bay Downs currently races on a Wednesday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule. 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.