Gulfstream Park: Uncaptured won't make Sam Davis Stakes

Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography

Uncaptured (far right) has missed some training time because of a minor injury that will prevent him from making his 3-year-old debut in the Feb. 2 Sam Davis at Tampa Bay Downs.

Trainer Mark Casse said he is in the process of determining where his standout 3-year-old Uncaptured will make his first start of the year after having to scrap the initial plan of running the colt in the Feb. 2 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

Uncaptured, one of as many as four hopefuls for the May 4 Kentucky Derby for Casse, won five stakes at 2, ending with the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs. An Ontario-bred owned by John Oxley, Uncaptured is currently stabled in Ocala, Fla.

“He bruised his foot a little in the knocking-around he took in the Jockey Club,” Casse said Friday by phone from Ocala. “We’re a couple of weeks behind schedule, so we’re not going to make the Tampa race. I’ll probably breeze him in another week or so. We’re trying to figure out where to get started.”

Meanwhile, Casse said he probably will run Gunderman back in a stakes race after the colt finished second behind the highly regarded Bradester in a two-turn Gulfstream Park allowance on Tuesday. Likewise, Northern Lion also will be pointed to a stakes after winning a two-turn Gulf maiden race on Dec. 22, while Casse pinpointed the seven-furlong Pasco at Tampa next Saturday as the next start for Dynamic Sky.

Casse has a matching set of four 3-year-old fillies that will be sent down various trails toward the May  3 Kentucky Oaks, led by Spring Venture, who on Friday had her second breeze at Palm Meadow since getting some time off following her 13th-place finish as a 7-2 shot in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Casse said he is seriously considering running her in the Jan. 26 Forward Gal at Gulfstream.

Also, Spring in the Air, winner of the Grade 1 Alcibiades in October, “is probably a week or two behind Spring Venture in her training,” he said. “We’ll look for something for her before too long.”

The other Oaks prospects are Jadira, an impressive winner of her career debut Tuesday in a one-mile turf race at Gulfstream, and Floral Sky, a two-time winner from four starts. Jadira will run back in a stakes and Floral Sky will go next in the Jan. 12 Gasparilla at Tampa.