They only won maiden races in their debuts at Tampa Bay Downs, but expect to hear plenty more from 3-year-olds Emerging Market and Always a Runner throughout the year. Trainer Chad Brown said he had both horses rated highly among his 2-year-olds during the summer of 2025, but both were delayed getting to the races due to pneumonia. On Saturday, the colt Emerging Market, with a wide rally under Flavien Prat, outfinished well-meant first-time starter Powershift to win a mile and 40-yard maiden race by three-quarters of a length. Powershift, a Todd Pletcher-trained, Mike Repole-owned runner who also will be heard from as the year goes on, finished 13 1/2 lengths clear of the third-place horse. Emerging Market’s final time of 1:39.11 was 1.45 seconds faster than the final time recorded by the 3-year-old filly Zany winning the Suncoast Stakes one race earlier on the card. Emerging Market, a son of Candy Ride owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables, earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure. By comparison, Renegade earned a 92 Beyer for winning the Sam F. Davis later on the card. :: Celebrating 100 Years of racing at Tampa Bay Downs! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “I was very impressed, but I wasn’t surprised,” Brown said. “The way he trained, I thought it would take an extraordinary horse to beat him or if this horse was just very green.” Emerging Market had 15 workouts from mid-May through last September when he got sick, Brown said, noting that a virus impacted many of his 2-year-olds as they were preparing to debut. Brown said he won’t commit to running Emerging Market in a Kentucky Derby points-scoring race until he sees how the horse is doing out of the race and he consults with Klarman. This trainer-owner combination has exercised restraint in the past with late-developing colts – for example, Early Voting and Cloud Computing, who both won the Preakness despite qualifying for the Derby. Brown basically ruled out wheeling back in the Tampa Bay Derby on March 7, believing it could be too soon back off a big first race. Brown said if he were so inclined to try a Derby prep it would be either the $1 million Louisiana Derby on March 21 or the $750,000 Wood Memorial on April 4 at Aqueduct. “If one of those races were coming up on the light side I might do it, but I’m not going to put him in some war and ruin his summer,” Brown said. Conversely, Brown said he may wheel back Always a Runner, a 3-year-old daughter of Gun Runner, in the $200,000 Davona Dale Stakes on Feb. 28 at Gulfstream Park. Always a Runner won a mile and 40-yard maiden race on Friday by 6 1/2 lengths. She only earned a 58 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort, but that was in part because jockey Samy Camacho wrapped up on the slow-breaking filly in the final sixteenth, making it a less taxing race than that of Emerging Market. “He geared the horse down too much,” Brown said. “I would have preferred he let her run through the wire and finish up, she could have gone a second faster. I gave instructions not to beat her up, I expected her to win easy, but I didn’t want her to get beat up with the stick or something. “There might have been a little misunderstanding. That said, because he did that, I could probably bring her back quick if I wanted to.” Always a Runner, a $1.05 million yearling purchase, is owned in partnership by Three Chimneys Farm and Douglas Scharbauer. Beckman maidens shine Trainer Whit Beckman, a former assistant to Brown, also had a good weekend at Tampa with debuting 3-year-old maidens. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports On Saturday, Kokomotion galloped to a 6 1/4-length victory in a 1 1/16-mile turf race. The son of Quality Road covered the distance in 1:42.67 and earned a 74 Beyer. On Sunday, Hulkamania ran wild to a four-length victory in a seven-furlong dirt race. He covered the distance in 1:24.58 and earned a 70 Beyer. Kokomotion is owned by Icon Racing, a partnership led by former major league baseball player Jayson Werth. Icon also owns Hulkamania along with Blue Mist Racing and Hoolie Racing. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.