#Sam F. Davis Stakes

Trainer Ramon Minguet and jockey Samuel Marin had a strong feeling their 3-year-old gelding Zydeceaux was prepared for his winning effort in Saturday's seven-furlong $125000 Pasco Stakes for 3-year-old males at Tampa Bay Downs. "He's a very, very fast horse," Minguet said. "I believed in my horse. I knew he was getting good and that he was going to…

As the 2023 Kentucky Derby trail takes a one-weekend pause, the 2023 Kentucky Oaks path continues Saturday in New York. Occult is the 7-5 morning-line favorite for the $100000 Busanda Stakes. Post time from Aqueduct is 3:47 p.m. EST, with FS2 showing the 1 1/8-mile stakes for 3-year-old fillies. The Busanda is the first prep race to pay points on a…

Top contenders for the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby are listed in order of preference, with comments provided by Joe Drape and Melissa Hoppert of The New York Times. Churchill Downs has adopted a points system to determine the Derby field, with points being earned by the top four finishers in designated prep races. The odds are from the…

Assessing The Early Favourites For The Kentucky Derby The whole world's eyes will be on Churchill Downs in May, as the 2022 Kentucky Derby is staged on the second Saturday in the month. Once again, the leading three-year-olds in the United States will be on show, as the Triple Crown season gets underway. Much like taking advantage of the Bet365…

According to Churchill Downs' Mike Battaglia's opening odds, thoroughbred contender Cyberknife is a 20-1 shot for Saturday's Kentucky Derby. Even if he doesn't win, his owner deserves a bouquet of roses or at least a glass of champagne. You see, Al Gold had more important things on his mind when he named his Chestnut colt. The prostate cancer he…

Welcome to 2023 Kentucky Derby Prospect Snapshots, where we'll take a look each week at a recent winner on the Triple Crown trail, usually from a race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby schedule. That schedule consists of prep races offering qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, running from September 2022 through mid-April 2023. The 1…

There may not be as much fanfare for the 2021 Belmont Stakes with no Triple Crown up for grabs, but there will be a crowd, which will be a welcomed sight for race officials. Last year's event was held behind closed doors, but roughly 11000 spectators will be inside Belmont Park for the 6:49 p.m. ET post time on Saturday evening. The Belmont Stakes…

Nest (white bridle), shown winning the 2021 Demoiselle at Aqueduct, returns as a heavy favorite in Saturday's Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, a Kentucky Oaks prep. Photo by Joe Labozzetta, courtesy of New York Racing Association Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Potential Kentucky Derby candidates are in action from California to Florida and all the way to…

The oldest stakes race in the country for three-year-olds will have its 153rd running on Saturday when the 2022 Travers Stakes will take place at Saratoga Race Course. First held in 1864, this 1 1/4 miles race is nicknamed the Midsummer Derby and offers a $1.25 million prize to the winner. The 2022 Travers Stakes field is stacked with multiple…

After last year's Preakness Stakes was postponed to October due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 Preakness Stakes will return to its rightful spot on the third Saturday in May. Another change from last year will be the presence of spectators at Pimlico Race Course, with 10000 fans being admitted. That's still a far cry from the 51838 who…

A spot in the Kentucky Derby 2022 will be on the line when 11 three-year-olds leave the starting gate in the 2022 Rebel Stakes on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. The winner of the $1 million Rebel Stakes 2022 will receive 50 qualifying points towards the Kentucky Derby, all but guaranteeing himself a spot in the Run for the Roses on May 7. Trainer Bob…

Trainer Chad Brown will try to win the Pennine Ridge Stakes for a record third time when he sends out two horses -- the favored Unanimous Consent and Napoleonic War -- in the 2022 Pennine Ridge Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The race, a nine-furlong turf race, has been around since 2014, and Brown won it in'16 with Camelot…

Saturday marks the 147th edition of the Run for the Roses, and there is plenty of history that could be made in the 2021 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Louisville-born trainer Brad Cox will send out Essential Quality and Mandaloun in his first Derby appearance, as he seeks to become the first local trainer to win horse racing's biggest prize.…

A field of nine lightly raced three-year-old horses will try to take a step towards the 2022 Kentucky Derby when the starting gate opens on Saturday in the 2022 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Todd Pletcher-trained Mo Donegal is the 5-2 favorite in the 2022 Holy Bull Stakes odds. The Dale Romans-trained Giant Game is getting 7-2 in the…

The Chad Brown-trained Shantisara begins what her trainer hopes will be an Eclipse Award-winning season when she leaves the starting gate in the 2022 Jenny Wiley Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. A winner of five races in nine career starts, Shantisara makes the first start of her 4-year-old year. Brown says she's…

French-born and Japan-based jockey Christophe Lemaire will try to transfer his international success to the United States when he leaves the starting gate aboard Crown Pride in the 2022 Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs. The 42-year-old Lemaire has led all Japan Racing Association jockeys in wins for five straight years. On Saturday, he…

Two Hall of Fame trainers -- D. Wayne Lukas and Todd Pletcher -- can tie the record for most Kentucky Oaks wins by a trainer when the starting gate opens in the 2022 Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Both Lukas and Pletcher have won the Run for the Lilies four times, one shy of the record held by the great Woody…

Longshot Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike will try to match the feat of his father, Keen Ice, when he leaves the starting gate in the 2022 Travers Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. In the 2015 Travers, Keen Ice, a 16-1 longshot, rallied past Triple Crown hero American Pharoah to post one of the most shocking upsets in the history of the…

Arguably the most exciting horse in training returns to the track on Saturday when Flightline leaves the starting gate in the 2022 Metropolitan Handicap, also known as the Met Mile, in Elmont, N.Y. A $1 million purchase three years ago, Flightline is undefeated in three career starts and has won by more than 37 combined lengths. He is the 3-5…

A spot in the Breeders' Cup Classic will be on the line when six of the best older horses in the country leave the starting gate in the 2022 Whitney Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The race has attracted five horses who have won at least $988000, topped by the $5.2 million earned by Hot Rod Charlie. However, the…

Jockey Flavien Prat has one Kentucky Derby victory and one Preakness Stakes win on his resume, but he remains in search of a triumph in the third leg of the Triple Crown. The 29-year-old Frenchman came close to completing the hat trick last year with Hot Rod Charlie, who was 1 1/4 lengths behind Essential Quality for a runner-up finish. Prat will…

A strong contingent of European horses meets some of the best turf 3-year-olds from the United States when the starting gate opens in the 2022 Belmont Derby on Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The European group is led by Stone Age and Nations Pride. Trained by Aidan O'Brien, Stone Age is the 9-2 morning-line favorite in the 2022 Belmont…

Trainer Todd Pletcher will try to set the all-time record for wins by a trainer in the Mother Goose Stakes when he sends out Shahama in the 2022 Mother Goose Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The 54-year-old Pletcher has won the race six times and is tied with his mentor, D. Wayne Lukas, for the most Mother Goose wins ever.…

A berth in the 2022 Kentucky Derby will be on the line when 12 horses leave the starting gate in the 2022 Tampa Bay Derby on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs. The signature race of the 2021-22 season at Tampa Bay Downs, the Tampa Bay Derby 2022 awards 85 Derby qualification points to the top four finishers on a 50-20-10-5 basis, virtually guaranteeing…

Steve Asmussen can tie the record for most Louisiana Derby wins by a trainer when he sends out the favored Epicenter in the 2022 Louisiana Derby on Saturday. The 56-year-old Asmussen, the all-time winningest trainer in North American racing, has won the Louisiana Derby three times, one shy of Todd Pletcher's record of four. Asmussen has a strong…

The Christophe Clement-trained Gufo will try to win the race that barely eluded him last year when he leaves the starting gate in the 2022 Man o' War Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park. A winner of more than $1.3 million in his career, Gufo lost by a nose to Channel Cat in last year's Man o' War. That defeat came after a four-month layoff. On…

A field of 11 three-year-olds will try to take the final step towards the Kentucky Derby when they leave the starting gate in the 2022 Florida Derby on Saturday at Gulfstream Park. Since the inaugural Florida Derby in 1952, 24 horses have won both the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby, including Spectacular Bid in 1979. The Florida Derby 2022 has…

Trainer Aidan O'Brien can win the Belmont Oaks for the second straight year and the third time overall when he sends out the favored Concert Hall in the 2022 Belmont Oaks on Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The 52-year-old O'Brien won the race last year with Santa Barbara and in 2018 with Athena. This year O'Brien goes for No. 3 with…

Second last time to the highly regarded and unbeaten Smile Happy in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, Classic Causeway will look to begin his three-year-old season with his first stakes victory when he tops a deep lineup in Saturday's $250000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. A son of Giant's Causeway, Classic Causeway was an impressive…

The Grade 2, $400000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes is one of the first few races which are part of the Kentucky Derby Championship Series that award 50 points to the winner, which historically has been enough to give that horse a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May. Leading the full field of 12, plus one also-eligible, is…

Friday at Churchill Downs is dedicated to the fillies, and the marquee race on the card is the 2021 Kentucky Oaks. Thirteen fillies will leave the starting gate after a 14th, Ava's Grace, scratched from the race. The Kentucky Oaks 2021 features an evenly-matched field with the top three favorites tightly grouped. The Todd Pletcher-trained Malathaat…

Making the Grade, which will run through the 2018 Belmont Stakes, focuses on the winners or top performers of the key races, usually from the previous weekend, who could impact the Triple Crown. We'll be taking a close look at impressive winners and evaluating their chances to win classic races based upon ability, running style, connections (owner,…

Classic Causeway, shown winning the Sam F. Davis Stakes earlier in the meeting, is morning-line favorite for Saturday's Tampa Bay. SV Photography photo, courtesy of Tampa Bay Downs March 11 (UPI) -- With the Kentucky Derby picture still very much uncertain, Saturday's Tampa Bay Derby looms as a golden opportunity for one or more of the 3-year-olds…

Abel Cedillo / 15 Tyler Baze / 10 TRAINERS / WINS Bob Baffert / 20 Philip D'Amato / 15 Doug O'Neill / 13 Mark Glatt / 10 Two tied / 9 Saturday • $100000 Grade III Sweet Life Stakes, 3-year-old fillies, 6 1/2 furlongs downhill turf course • Trainer Bob Baffert is not sure if Corniche, winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last fall at Del Mar, can…

A spot in the Breeders' Cup Classic will be on the line when nine horses leave the starting gate in the 2021 Stephen Foster Stakes on Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. The winner of Saturday's $600000 race will earn a place in the $6 million Classic on Nov. 6 at Del Mar. For Saturday, the Brendan Walsh-trained Maxfield is listed as the…

The 2022 Road to the Kentucky Derby features points-paying preps Saturday in both Florida and California. Tampa Bay Downs hosts the Grade 3, $250000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, while the $100000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate. Both races award Derby points on a 10-4-2-1 basis. This is the last Saturday until April 16 that does not feature a Kentucky…

The prep races for the 2022 Kentucky Derby have begun, and there are already a few front runners. And there's a lot to sort out off and on the track with the big race just two months away. With these races, bettors can better understand how the field might shape up and what kind of betting value there could be on Derby day. However, it's important…

The Juan Arriagada-trained Estilo Talentoso will try to win back-to-back races for the first time in her career when she leaves the starting gate in the 2021 Princess Rooney Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. This 4-year-old daughter of MacLean's Music won the Bed o' Roses Stakes in her last start, her fourth career…

A full field of twelve 3-year-olds, headed by the decisive winner of the local Sam F. Davis Stakes, Classic Causeway, will battle it out on the Kentucky Derby trail when they meet in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs. A very impressive debut winner at Saratoga, Classic Causeway was bumped right up into graded stakes racing…

The beginning of the official Road to the Kentucky Derby begins on September 17 at Churchill Downs and is the first leg of the 34 races that mark the United States portion of this illustrious journey, which is the 148th consecutive year that thoroughbred racing meet to crown and Kentucky Derby winner on May 7, 2023. The "Road to the Kentucky…