TAMPA BAY: FLORIDA CUP DAY ATTRACTS 118 STAKES NOMINATIONS

By Mike Henry —-

FLORIDA CUP DAY ATTRACTS 118 STAKES NOMINATIONS

OLDSMAR, FL. – Top Florida-breds are preparing to strut their stuff on Sunday, March 26 in the 20th edition of the Florida Cup, a collection of six stakes races at Tampa Bay Downs worth $110,000 each in purse money.

A total of 118 horses have been nominated to the event, which is for registered state-bred runners. Three races will be contested on the main dirt track and three on the turf course, with three races restricted to 3-year-olds.

The Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies, run at a distance of 7 furlongs on the dirt, attracted 25 nominations. That group includes two fillies trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Todd Pletcher, stakes winner Atomically and unbeaten (2-for-2) Munnys Gold. Also nominated are a pair of competitors in last week’s Grade III Florida Oaks on the turf, leading Tampa Bay Downs trainer Gerald Bennett’s stakes winner Dreaming of Snow and Arnaud Delacour’s stakes winner Navy Goat.

Males will go 7 furlongs on the main track in the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore, which drew 21 nominations. Among those 3-year-olds is the gelding Zydeceaux, who won the Pasco Stakes here on Jan. 14 and followed that up with a decent fifth in the Grade III Sam F. Davis, then faded to ninth in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby. Ramon Minguet is the trainer.

Also nominated to the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore are stakes-winning colt Dangerous Ride, trained by Carlos A. David, and Christos Gatis’s stakes-placed colt Shaq Diesel.

The other 3-year-old race on the Florida Cup program is the Equistaff Sophomore Turf, at a distance of a mike-and-a-sixteenth on the grass. There are 20 nominated, with Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse’s colt Boppy O boasting credentials as a Grade III winner in last year’s With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga.

Kelsey Danner has nominated stakes-placed colt Otago and Anamnestic, who has finished first or second in four of eight starts, while Delacour made Navy Goat the only female nominee to the race.

The Pleasant Acres Stallions Distaff Turf, for fillies and mares 3-years-old-and-upward at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the turf, drew 19 nominations. Trainer Carlo Vaccarezza has nominated Sweet Dani Girl, who won the Sunshine Filly & Mare Turf Stakes on Jan. 14 at Gulfstream in her first start after an eight-month layoff.

Other nominees include trainer Mike Dini’s multiple stakes-placed 4-year-old Alittleloveandluck and Danner’s improving 3-year-old Mohawk Trail, as well as Patrick Biancone’s 5-year-old mare Mona Stella, third in last year’s running.

The Grey Goose Turf Classic, for horses 4-and-upward going a mile-and-an-eighth on the grass, attracted 17 nominations. Heading the list is last year’s winner, trainer Tim Padilla’s 6-year-old gelding Drama Chorus.

Other nominees with solid credentials include trainer Saffie A. Joseph’s 7-year-old horse Max K. O, who has earned more than $460,000 despite not winning a stakes; the 8-year-old gelding Noble Drama, a five-time stakes-winner and earner of more than $809,000; and Mike Maker’s 6-year-old gelding Me and Mr. C, who won the 2021 Grey Goose Turf Classic..

The NYRABETS Sprint, a 6-furlong contest, attracted 16 nominations, including a pair of accomplished sprinters from the barn of trainer Jorge Delgado, 4-year-old colt Lightening Larry and 5-year-old gelding Willy Boi. Both are Grade III stakes winners. Also nominated is owner-trainer M. Anthony Ferraro’s Cajun Casanova, who finished third in the race last year, as well as trainer Jon Arnett’s multiple stakes-winning 7-year-old gelding Oil Money.

Around the oval. Jockey Jose Batista, trainer Victor Barboza, Jr., and owner Skull Stable teamed for two victories today. They won the second race with first-time starter Golden Skull, a 3-year-old Gormley colt. The trio added the eighth race with 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding Hidden Warrior, a son of Khozan.

Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr., rode two winners. He captured the first race on Suwanee Chick, a 4-year-old Florida-bred filly bred and owned by Dave McGinn and trained by Hernan Parra. Diaz added the ninth on the turf on first-time starter Equitize, a 3-year-old colt owned by Klaravich Stables and trained by Chad Brown.

Thoroughbred racing continues Friday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:20 p.m. Tampa Bay Downs is open every day except Easter Sunday, April 9 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.