Trainer Whit Beckman hopes Drexel Hill is the cure for his lengthy bout with seconditis when he sends the 2025 Kentucky Oaks runner-up out as the likely favorite in Saturday’s $125,000 Wayward Lass Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. The Wayward Lass, at 1 1/16 miles, is the co-feature on a race card that includes the $125,000 Gasparilla Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. The $125,000 Pasco Stakes, for 3-year-old males, did not draw enough entries to fill for Saturday. Beckman has finished second with six of his last eight starters and nine of his last 29 runners since he last won a race. “My New Year’s resolution is to try and figure out how to win and not finish second,” Beckman said. “I think we got her in the right spot. Hopefully, she feels the same way.” Beckman’s recent rash of runner-up finishes does not include Drexel Hill’s second in the Grade 2 Mother Goose on Nov. 8 at Aqueduct. In what was her first start since the Kentucky Oaks, Drexel Hill rallied from last and finished 4 1/2 lengths behind Fully Subscribed, who came back a month later to win the Grade 3 Comely Stakes. :: Celebrating 100 Years of racing at Tampa Bay Downs! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Overall, Beckman was pleased with Drexel Hill’s performance in the Mother Goose, considering she was racing 1 1/8 miles over a tiring Aqueduct surface off a six-month layoff. “I was a little bit skeptical about where her fitness was,” Beckman said. “She got herself so far back in some of those races, I was happy to just kind of trail and get a good blow and finish up for a nice third, but she actually ran much more enthused than I previously thought. Now, we got a little less time between dances. Hopefully, the Tampa track is to her liking. Small field, outside post, I don’t see any excuse for her not to run a big race.” Beckman said Drexel Hill “has been breezing fantastic” at Payson Park, a training center in Indiantown, Fla., where Beckman has a string for the first time. Ben Curtis, who rode Drexel Hill to a runner-up finish in the Kentucky Oaks but missed the Mother Goose due to injury, is back aboard Saturday. Saffie Joseph Jr. has entered three in the Wayward Lass, including Early On, who has not run since finishing eighth in the Kentucky Oaks. Prior to that, Early On finished second in the Grade 3 Gazelle at Aqueduct and second in the Virginia Oaks. Joseph said Early On had a chip taken out of an ankle since the Kentucky Oaks. Joseph also entered Andrea, a front-running type who finished a well-beaten eighth of nine in the Cheryl White Memorial Stakes at Mahoning Valley in her most recent start. Andrea does have a win at Tampa going seven furlongs in April. “I want to try her around two turns and see what happens,” Joseph said. “She’s doing well, and I think she’ll run as good as she can run.” Ultimate Authority is back to dirt after an unsuccessful try on turf in the Suwannee River. Prior to joining Joseph’s barn, Ultimate Authority did have success around two turns in California for Tim Yakteen. “Her best form is two turns on dirt,” Joseph said. “She should be all right here. I could see her winning it.” Runaway Diva, a debut winner at Tampa Bay Downs three years ago, has not been out since a runner-up finish behind the Beckman-trained Regaled in the Grade 3 Delaware Handicap on Sept. 28. Gasparilla While she had a perfect setup, Tessellate was a visually impressive 13-length winner of the Juvenile Fillies Sprint Stakes on Nov. 15 at Gulfstream Park. A repeat of that effort makes her the one to beat in the seven-furlong $125,000 Gasparilla Stakes against five other 3-year-old fillies. In the Juvenile Fillies, Tessellate sat third behind dueling leaders, tipped three wide around the far turn, and won with Edgard Zayas hardly asking for her best. She was cutting back to 6 1/2 furlongs from a mile. “Before she ever ran I thought she was going to be that good, her races before were just okay,” Joseph said. “Obviously, very impressive last time, I guess you could knock it and say who’d she beat? But I thought she did it the right way and I feel she should show something similar.” Joseph also entered Love Like Lucy, who was no match for the multiple stakes winner Mythical in a pair of Florida Stallion Stakes races at Gulfstream Park. She is cutting back to a sprint after an unsuccessful try in the My Dear Girl Stakes going 1 1/16 miles. “She’s going back to one turn and a distance at which she’s run decent,” Joseph said. Ridgie, trained by Maria Bowersock, has won three straight races, including two starts at Tampa. Lightscape, trained by Tom Proctor, rallied from ninth in an 11-horse field to win her maiden at first asking under Samuel Marin. Permian Basin, the runner-up from that race, came back to win her maiden in her next start. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.