UNBEATEN 3-YEAR-OLD POSTER EXPECTED TO JOIN THE FUN IN SAM F. DAVIS

By Mike Henry —-

UNBEATEN 3-YEAR-OLD POSTER EXPECTED TO JOIN THE FUN IN SAM F. DAVIS

OLDSMAR, FL. – After turning in an impressive 5-furlong breeze this morning on the Tampa Bay Downs main track, unbeaten 3-year-old colt Poster appears headed to Saturday’s $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, the centerpiece of the Oldsmar oval’s Festival Preview Day.

Poster, whose workout time of 1:01 3/5 was best today of 20 horses at the distance, is one of 10 horses currently considered likely to compete in the 45th running of the mile-and-a-sixteenth race, which awards Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top five finishers on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale. Owned by his breeder, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Godolphin operation, Poster is trained by Eoin Harty.

A son of Munnings out of Pin Up, by Tapit, Poster concluded his 2-year-old campaign on Dec. 7 in the Grade II, mile-and-an-eighth Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct under jockey Flavien Prat with a nose victory from Aviator Gui. Poster’s first two victories came on the turf at Ellis Park and Keeneland.

The Sam F. Davis is one of four main track stakes races on the Festival Preview Day card. Three-year-old fillies will take the spotlight in the $150,000, mile-and-40-yard Suncoast Stakes, which awards Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top five finishers. The Godolphin-Harty duo is expected to have a top contender in homebred Deloraine, who won a turf allowance/optional claiming race here on Dec. 13 by 8 ¼ lengths.

Tracy Farmer’s homebred filly La Cara, a Grade III winner trained by Mark Casse who finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 1 at Del Mar, is also expected for the Suncoast, along with Grade III-placed Italian Soiree, trained by John P. Terranova, II, and Dancing Magic, who won the Gasparilla Stakes here on Jan. 11 for owner Mellon Patch and trainer Michael Campbell.

Stakes winner Her Laugh, trained by D. Whitworth Beckman, is a Suncoast possible.

Saturday’s menu of stakes offerings also includes the $125,000, 6-furlong Pelican Stakes for horses 4-years-old-and-upward and the $100,000, 6-furlong Minaret Stakes for fillies and mares 4-and-upward.

Most of the national attention will be squarely focused on the Sam F. Davis, which is the major prep race for the Grade III, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby on March 8.

The Sam F. Davis is also expected to attract Oldsmar trainer Gerald Bennett’s Naughty Rascal, a three-time stakes winner owned by Mr Pug and J.P.G. 2 who won the Pasco Stakes here on Jan. 11 via disqualification, and Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing’s Owen Almighty, trainer Brian Lynch’s colt who was dropped from first to fifth in the Pasco by the stewards for a bumping incident on the far turn.

Naughty Rascal breezed 5 furlongs here on Thursday in a sharp 1:00 1/5, while Owen Almighty breezed 5 furlongs in a minute flat on Saturday at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach.

Among the other Sam F. Davis probables are Calumet Farm’s colt Very Bold, the official second-place finisher in the Pasco, who is trained by Harty; John Hancock, who broke his maiden here under jockey Samy Camacho on Jan. 8 sprinting 6 furlongs for owners WinStar Farm, CHC, Inc., and Siena Farm and trainer Brad Cox; and Smoken Boy, winner of the Grade I Clasico Agustin Mercado Reveron Stakes on Dec. 8 on a muddy track at Camarero in Puerto Rico, for owner Sonata Stable and trainer Jose Francisco D’Angelo.

Also expected as of today are Treaty of Rome, a stakes-placed Chad Brown-trained colt owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith; Dr Ruben M, a well-bred son of Vino Rosso owned by The Del Mar Group and trained by Doug O’Neill; Camp Hale, second in all three starts for breeder-owner Whitham Thoroughbreds and trainer Ian Wilkes; and Gateskeeper, owned by Gervais Racing and trained by S. Jade Cunningham.

The field for the Pelican Stakes is expected to be headed by Chrome Ghost and Nutella Fella, who finished 1-2 here on Jan. 11 in a 7-furlong allowance/optional claimer, won by Chrome Ghost in a swift 1:22.32. The 5-year-old Florida-bred gelding is owned by Richard Heatter and trained by Gerald Bennett.

Better-known to most racing fans, even though he has made only four lifetime starts, is Bell Gable Stable’s 4-year-old colt Nutella Fella. Trained by Gary Contessa, he won the 2023 Grade I Hopeful Stakes as a 2-year-old at Saratoga and was third the following year in the Grade I Woody Stephens Stakes, also at Saratoga.

Other likely Pelican starters include JoAnn and Alex Lieblong’s 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding Pure Class, trained by David Fawkes, who won last season’s Florida Cup Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore Stakes; 5-year-old Dreaming of Kona, trainer Aldana Spieth’s stakes-winning, graded stakes-placed horse owned by Aldana Gonzalez Racing, Lisa Ballou and Steve Ballou; and 5-year-old gelding Silver Slugger, owned by Victor J. Martinez and trained by Juan Carlos Avila. Last year’s Pelican runner-up, trainer Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.’s 8-year-old Florida-bred gelding Mish, is also possible.

As of today, the Minaret Stakes is expected to draw 5-year-old mare Dazzling Blue, who has never finished out of the money in 10 career starts while earning $422,995. Owned by Juddmonte and trained by Brad Cox, her three victories to start her career have been followed by four graded-stakes placings, including a second last May in the Grade III Winning Colors Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Other likely Minaret starters include trainer Arnaud Delacour’s graded stakes-placed 5-year-old mare Opus Forty Two, a two-time stakes winner at Tampa Bay Downs, owned by Mark B. Grier; stakes-winning 4-year-old filly Kant Resist It, owned by NBS Stable and trained by Jon Arnett; and stakes-winning, graded stakes-placed 4-year-old Miuccia, owned by JR Ranch and trained by Gustavo Delgado;

Owner Stephen Rousseau and trainer Bill Mott’s 5-year-old Florida-bred Nic’s Style, who won the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association City of Ocala Florida Sire Stakes here on Dec. 14 and is 5-for-6 lifetime, with a second in last fall’s Grade II Gallant Bloom Stakes at Belmont At The Big A, is also under consideration.

Around the oval. Apprentice jockey Sara Hess continues to shine. She rode two winners today, giving her 10 for the meet. Hess won the fifth race on 8-year-old Florida-bred gelding Initforthelove, owned by Clinton Bagwandeen and trained by Renaldo Richards. Hess added the ninth race with Bunny Hop, a 4-year-old filly owned by Boston Boyz Racing and trained by Mario Roberto Lopez.

Trainer Chad Brown picked up where he left off Saturday, when he sent out four winners, including Running Bee in the Grade III Tampa Bay Stakes and Saffron Moon in the Grade III Endeavour. Brown won today’s eighth race on the turf with High Beta, a 3-year-old colt owned by Klaravich Stables and ridden by Antonio Gallardo.

Thoroughbred racing continues Wednesday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:40 p.m. Tampa Bay Downs races each Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and 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.