TAMPA BAY: BENNETT-TRAINED NAUGHTY RASCAL WINS PASCO VIA DQ

By Mike Henry —-

OWEN ALMIGHTY FINISHING AHEAD OF NAUGHTY RASCAL ONLY TO BE DQ’D COURTESY OF SV PHOTOGRAPHY
BENNETT-TRAINED NAUGHTY RASCAL WINS PASCO VIA DQ; DANCING MAGIC WINS

OLDSMAR, FL. – Before today’s $150,000-guaranteed Pasco Stakes, most observers believed Grade III-placed stakes winner Owen Almighty was the best horse in the six-horse field. The running of the 7-furlong event, in which the colt finished a length ahead of Naughty Rascal, did nothing to change their perspective.

But an incident on the turn for home, in which Owen Almighty veered into Rookie Card along the rail – causing jockey Junior Alvarado to take up his horse to avoid a possible accident – was impossible for the favorite to overcome.

After reviewing the videotape, the Tampa Bay Downs stewards disqualified Owen Almighty and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., from first place to fifth, one spot behind Rookie Card. That made Naughty Rascal the official winner, rewarding trainer Gerald Bennett with his first Pasco victory.

“My horse ran his race, but I think he’ll get much better going around two turns,” said Bennett, who hopes to bring the Florida-bred Naughty Rascal back for the Grade III, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes on Feb. 8. “I didn’t really drill on him for this race. He eats everything you put in front of him, and he looked a little on the heavy side in the paddock.

“He’s way off from being at his peak, but you want them to peak at the right time. My main objective is to try to win the (Grade III, $400,000 Lambholm South) Tampa Bay Derby (on March 8).”

Both the Sam F. Davis and the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby are “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points races.

In today’s Skyway Festival Day companion stakes for 3-year-old fillies, the $150,000-guaranteed, 7-furlong Gasparilla Stakes, Dancing Magic staged a whirlwind rally to run down pace-setter Lynn’s Milky Way by 2 lengths. Alvarado was aboard for the victory on the Michael Campbell-trained filly, perhaps just reward for nearly being unseated on Rookie Card a race earlier.

Willie Martinez was unseated at the break of the Gasparilla when his mount Tessitura stumbled leaving the starting gate. Both the jockey and the filly returned from the incident relatively unscathed.

“I had a beautiful trip, and the pace was hot so I had something to run at,” Alvarado said. “When we hit the 3/8 pole she was ready for me, and after that I was just guiding her. She was traveling beautifully the whole way.

“(As for Rookie Card), I’m just glad the horse was able to come back fine and we’re all in one piece. We scratch that one and we move on – that’s what we do.”

Alvarado won the third stakes on the card, the $100,000 Wayward Lass Stakes for older fillies and mares, on 4-year-old Little Jamie, who staged a strong rally on the turn for home to corral pace-setter Dream Concert, then had enough in reserve to stave off a belated charge by betting favorite Peignoir by a length-and-a-quarter. Dream Concert held on for third, with American Retro fourth.

Little Jamie’s time for the mile-and-a-sixteenth was 1:43.40, .13 seconds off Tapa Tapa Tapa’s 2019 stakes record. Little Jamie is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Collected out of Sudden Heat, by Congrats.

Little Jamie, who finished second in the Grade III Indiana Oaks and third in the Grade III Monmouth Oaks as a 3-year-old, is a homebred racing for J and J Stables, owned by Tampa resident John Williams and his wife Jennifer. Williams owns and operates the Lexus automobile dealership of nearby Wesley Chapel.

Little Jamie is trained by Robert Medina. Alvarado said this was the first time his mother, Norma, has watched him compete in person at Tampa Bay Downs.

Almost any time a 1-2 favorite is disqualified, there is going to be controversy, and the Pasco was no exception. Given the way Owen Almighty finished, dispatching Naughty Rascal with relative ease late, made the outcome harder to swallow. But there seemed little doubt that Owen Almighty caused the contact and Alvarado had to yank his horse out of trouble, even though the connections of Owen Almighty hoped the outcome might be upheld.

“You haven’t run enough horses if you haven’t been in a position like this,” said Brian Lynch, the trainer of Owen Almighty. “(Ortiz said) he felt like (Alvarado) was out of horse and he was backing out of there anyway. It’s just a very unfortunate thing.”

Naughty Rascal was ridden by Edwin Gonzalez, who had high praise for the Florida-bred son of Rogueish out of Baby Doll, by Smarty Jones. “He got a little tired late, but he did everything I asked,” Gonzalez said. “He proved himself. He tried hard and put it right there for me.”

Naughty Rascal is 4-for-6, and first-place money of $62,500 raised his career earnings to $220,630. He is owned by Mr Pug, LLC and J.P.G. 2, LLC, the partnership of Ron Pugliese and Jim Georgeades. The winning time was 1:22.50.

Naughty Rascal paid $8.20 to win as the second wagering choice. Very Bold finished a non-threatening third, getting moved up to second on Owen Almighty’s disqualification, while fourth-place finisher Cockeyed was moved up to third.

‘We’re blessed to have him. Gerry (Bennett) knows how to bring a horse to a race like this,” Georgeades said. “My (late) father’s birthday was today, and I hope he is looking down on this.”

Bennett also won the ninth race, the Lambholm South Race of the Week, with 5-year-old Florida-bred gelding Chrome Ghost, who sped the 7 furlongs in 1:22.32 under Samy Camacho. Chrome Ghost is owned by Richard Heatter.

For much of the Gasparilla, it looked as if jockey Jose Ferrer might steal the race on the front end on Lynn’s Milky Way, making only her second career start. Win N Your In took first run at her on the turn for home but lacked the needed finishing kick, but Alvarado was sitting on the proverbial powder keg in Dancing Magic.

“That was my only concern when I hit the quarter pole, that (Lynn’s Milky Way) had opened a 5, 6, 7 or 8-length lead,” Alvarado said. “But my horse kept grinding it out. She was a very good filly today.”

The victory was the second in seven starts for Dancing Magic, who had finished third here in the Sandpiper Stakes on Dec. 7. She is owned by the Mellon Patch, Inc., concern of George and Mary Mellon of Bonita Springs, Fla., and trained by Michael Campbell.

“You put it in perspective, it was a great ride (by Alvarado),” George Mellon said. “And Michael and (assistant trainer) Jesse (Garcia) do a wonderful job.”

“I had a lot of confidence in her today,” Campbell said. “I know she wants to go farther, so I think we’ll follow the series here,” he added, indicating her next start could be the $150,000 Suncoast Stakes, a “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” points race, here on Feb. 8.

Dancing Magic is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Good Magic out of I’ll Take the Cake, by Nobiz Like Shobiz. Her time was 1:23.70. She paid $9 to win as the third wagering choice. The favorite, Sandpiper winner Mrs Worldwide, never got untracked and finished a distant fourth.

Dancing Magic’s first-place earnings of $45,000 raised her career bankroll to $116,475.

The Wayward Lass Stakes winner, Little Jamie, was originally targeted for the $150,000 Pippin Stakes at Oaklawn Park. But when that program in Hot Springs, Ark., was cancelled due to hellacious weather, Williams and Medina agreed Tampa Bay Downs’s event would substitute nicely.

“She had some tough races last year,” Medina said. “(Alvarado) got her to relax and I knew he had a lot of horse going down the backside. She has a tendency to hang so I was a little afraid, but she finished strong.”

“It’s great to win in your hometown,” said John Williams, who was joined by Jennifer and their three children. “Robbie had her ready to run, and she responded down the stretch.”

Around the oval. Thoroughbred racing continues Sunday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:28 p.m. In addition to conducting racing each Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Tampa Bay Downs 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.