SKYWAY FESTIVAL DAY STAKES NOMINATIONS RELEASED; MARIN WINS 3

By Mike Henry —-

SKYWAY FESTIVAL DAY STAKES NOMINATIONS RELEASED; MARIN WINS 3

OLDSMAR, FL. – Donut God and Naughty Rascal, the 1-2 finishers in the Inaugural Stakes here on Dec. 7, are among 31 newly-turned 3-year-old colts and geldings nominated to the 27th running of the $150,000, 7-furlong Pasco Stakes, to be contested Jan. 11 at Tampa Bay Downs.

The Pasco Stakes is the centerpiece of the track’s Skyway Festival Day, which includes the 41st edition of the $150,000, 7-furlong Gasparilla Stakes for 3-year-old fillies and the 41st running of the $100,000, mile-and-a-sixteenth Wayward Lass Stakes for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward.

The Gasparilla Stakes drew 22 nominations and the Wayward Lass attracted 23. All Thoroughbred racehorses in North America “celebrate” their birthdays today for record-keeping purposes.

Under leading Oldsmar jockey Samy Camacho, Donut God held off Naughty Rascal in the Inaugural by ¾-length in stakes-record time of 1:09.13. Donut God’s trainer, Brian Lynch, has also nominated the highly-touted Grade III-placed stakes winner Owen Almighty, who is 2-for-3, to the Pasco.

Both Donut God and Owen Almighty are owned by Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing, LLC.

Naughty Rascal is 3-for-5 with two stakes victories at Gulfstream Park, one on dirt and one on turf. He is owned by Mr. Pug, LLC and J.P.G. 2, LLC and trained by Gerald Bennett.

Trainer Jose Francisco D’Angelo has nominated four colts to the Pasco. Among them is Guns Loaded, who broke his maiden in impressive fashion sprinting 6 furlongs on Nov. 16 at Churchill Downs. Guns Loaded is owned by Morplay Racing, LLC, Joey Platts and Lady Sheila Stable.

Other well-regarded Pasco nominees include stakes winner Big Paradise, from the barn of trainer David Fawkes; Mr. Squeaky Wheels, a stakes-placed gelding trained by Kevin Rice; the speedy colt Rookie Card, trained by Danny Gargan; and Normandy Coast, who broke his maiden on July 27 going 7 furlongs for trainer Eddie Kenneally.

Here is a link to the full list of Pasco Stakes nominees, followed by a link to their past performances.

https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20250111-592629

https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20250111-592629

The list of Gasparilla nominations includes Mrs Worldwide, who won the Sandpiper Stakes on Dec. 7 under jockey Samuel Marin for owner Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing and trainer Lynch. The Sandpiper was Mrs Worldwide’s second consecutive stakes victory.

All six of the Sandpiper runners are nominated to the Gasparilla, including runner-up Hollygrove, owned by Legion Racing and trained by D. Whitworth Beckman, and third-place finisher Dancing Magic, owned by Mellon Patch, Inc., and trained by Michael Campbell.

Trainer Saffie A. Joseph, Jr., has four fillies nominated to the Gasparilla. His quartet includes The Queens M G, who won the Schuylerville Stakes and the Grade III Adirondack Stakes back-to-back at Saratoga last summer before finishing fifth on a muddy track in the Grade I Spinaway on Aug. 31 at Saratoga. She then ran third in the Tempted at Belmont At The Big A.

Gerald Bennett has nominated two fillies to the Gasparilla, including Winning Stables, Inc., and Larry R. Fritts, Sr.’s Vuela Paloma, who broke her maiden here in front-running fashion on Dec. 7 under jockey Daniel Centeno in 1:10.40, .33 seconds slower than Mrs Worldwide’s Sandpiper time.

Here is a link to the full list of Gasparilla Stakes nominees, followed by a link to their past performances.

https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20250111-592631

https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20250111-592631

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher has nominated 4-year-old filly Scalable to the Wayward Lass. Owned by Repole Stable, she ran in six graded stakes in 2024, highlighted by a victory in the Grade III Monmouth Oaks on July 27.

Conditioner Victor Barboza, Jr., has nominated three horses to the Wayward Lass, headed by Virginia Gamble’s 7-year-old Florida-bred mare Beth’s Dream. She won the Sheer Drama Handicap in August at Gulfstream and finished second the following month in the Grade III Princess Rooney Invitational to Soul of an Angel, who went on to win the PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint in November at Del Mar.

In her most recent start, Beth’s Dream finished fourth in the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association City of Ocala Florida Sire Stakes here on Dec. 14.

Kathleen O’Connell, the co-leading trainer at Tampa Bay Downs, has nominated James M. Chicklo’s 5-year-old mare Dream Concert, who finished second in last year’s Wayward Lass. Dream Concert is a homebred daughter of Spanish Concert, who won the Minaret Stakes here in 2017 in stakes-record time of 1:09.63 for 6 furlongs.

Here is a link to the full list of Wayward Lass Stakes nominees, followed by a link to their past performances.

https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20250111-592630

https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20250111-592630

Around the oval. Samuel Marin rode three winners today for the fifth time (counting his four-bagger on Dec. 18), boosting his meet-leading total to 28. Marin won the second race on Queen in the Deck, a 3-year-old filly owned by CM Thoroughbreds and trained by Carlos Munoz. Marin next won the fourth with Keep On Rockin, a 5-year-old Florida-bred mare owned by Ballybrit Stable and trained by Mike Dini.

Marin also won the eighth race aboard Save the Bees, a 4-year-old filly owned and trained by Yoni Orantes.

Jose Ferrer rode two winners. Ferrer captured the first race on Litigant, a 9-year-old Florida-bred gelding owned by GOP Racing Stable and trained by Gerard Ochoa. Ferrer added the fifth, which was taken off the turf, with Double Cosmo Girl, a 6-year-old mare owned by Jibaro Stable and trained by Francisco R. Rivera.

Thoroughbred racing continues Friday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:15 p.m. The feature race is the fifth, a $54,500, 1-mile allowance/optional claiming event for fillies and mares on the turf. The 6-5 morning-line favorite in the eight-horse field is 4-year-old Ozara, a two-time stakes-winner at Gulfstream Park who is Grade III-placed.

Ozara is owned by Cheyenne Stables and trained by Christophe Clement and will be ridden by Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr.

Tampa Bay Downs conducts racing each Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The track is open every day for simulcast racing, no-limits action and tournament play in The Silks Poker Room and golf fun and instruction at The Downs Golf Practice Facility.