Casse hoping one of his three entrants comes up big in Sam F. Davis

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Mark Casse sent out Flameaway to lower the stakes mark four years ago in the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. The Hall of Fame trainer wouldn’t mind having one of his three runners in Saturday’s running of the Davis become similarly successful.

Flameaway won more than $900,000 and five stakes from 18 starts. Perhaps his most memorable accomplishment was his 2018 Davis triumph when he sped 1 1/16 miles in a stakes record 1:42.44.

“Hopefully, one of these are of the same caliber,” said Casse, who will be sending God of Love, Golden Glider, and Volcanic from his Ocala, Fla., base for the Grade 3, $200,000 Davis here Saturday.

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The Casse trio are among a full field of 12 3-year-olds expected for the 42nd Davis, a 10-4-2-1 points qualifier toward the Kentucky Derby on May 7. Classic Causeway and Make It Big are the likely favorites in a deep lineup also expected to include Howling Time, Trademark, Shipsational, and Little Vic.

God of Love will be making his dirt debut after four tries on turf or synthetic, including wins in the restricted Cup and Saucer and Grade 3 Grey at Woodbine. He, like Flameaway, is an Ontario-bred.

Golden Glider is 2 for 2, ending with a victory in a Tampa allowance on Jan. 7, while Volcanic won a one-mile maiden race the next day at Gulfstream Park in his fourth start.

“All three are training really well,” Casse said. “If God of Love can transfer his form over to the dirt – and I haven’t seen any reason he wouldn’t – he could be very tough Saturday. Golden Glider had a really nice race over the track, and I thought Volcanic was very game in his last start and should prefer more ground.”

Meanwhile, Classic Causeway, with Irad Ortiz Jr. to ride, was scheduled to arrive here Thursday from the Palm Meadows base of trainer Brian Lynch. Make It Big will ship early Friday from Gulfstream, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said.

The Davis, the traditional lead-in to the March 12 Tampa Bay Derby, which offers Kentucky Derby points on a 50-20-10-5 scale, is the last of four stakes on the 11-race Festival Preview card. Short fields were expected for the other three.

The $100,000 Suncoast, a 10-4-2-1 qualifier for the Kentucky Oaks, is foremost among the supporting features. Nest, a last-out winner of the Demoiselle for Todd Pletcher, will be heavily favored in the mile and 40-yard race under Ortiz.

The other two stakes are for older horses going six furlongs. Ortiz rides Bank On Shea in the $75,000 Pelican and the filly Quinoa Tifah in the $50,000 Minaret, both for Carlos David.

Ortiz and his brother Jose are among a sizable out-of-town contingent riding here Saturday, along with Javier Castellano, Manny Franco, Joe Talamo, and others. Jose Ortiz rides Make It Big in the Davis.

Following a rainy and unseasonably cold spell earlier in the week, the local forecast for Friday and Saturday calls for mostly sunny skies and highs in the mid-70s.

O’Connell on a hot streak

Kathleen O’Connell recently was named Trainer of the Month for January at Tampa after winning nine races in a 12-day span. She also had six wins at Gulfstream in January.

“We had races go for horses at both tracks,” O’Connell said. “It’s been a pretty lucky year so far.”

O’Connell, averaging nearly 90 wins a year since 2016, is on pace to catch Kim Hammond for all-time wins by a female trainer in the latter half of 2023. Through Tuesday, O’Connell had 2,311 wins, while Hammond, based in Kentucky and Indiana, had 2,367; both women have been training a little more than 40 years. New York-based Linda Rice has 2,153 wins and the highest purse earnings ($88.7 million).

Proctor on the upswing

Trainer Tom Proctor is feeling good these days after going through a major health scare last summer from atrial fibrillation. Proctor, 65, went 2 for 3 at Tampa last weekend, winning with Customer Driven ($3.80) and Fly the W ($2.80).

“Everything’s good now,” Proctor said. “I’ve lost about 60 pounds, doing things right. They thought my [atrial fibrillation] may have been from high cholesterol or diabetes, but I don’t have either one. I said, ‘When we race these horses, we blow our veins out every time.’ ”

Proctor has raced on most every major circuit in the United States in more than 43 years of training. He has his horses at the Ocala farm of his main client, the Glen Hill Farm of Craig Bernick.

“Happy to be here,” he said.

◗ One allowance, one starter-optional, and a full-field maiden-special finale are part of the 50-cent late pick five sequence (races 5-9) to end the Friday card at Tampa. First post is 12:15 p.m. Eastern.

Race 8 is the feature. It’s a $30,000 first-level allowance in which Scalding, ridden by Javier Castellano for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, will ship over from Payson Park as a heavy favorite against seven other older horses going 1 1/16 miles on what should be a fast main track.

All four turf races scheduled here Wednesday were moved to the dirt.

◗ An online handicapping contest that runs through March 27, Florida Cup Day, begins Saturday at Tampa. More information is available at liveitupchallenge.com.