Foreign flavor to Tampa's co-features

There is plenty of international flavor in the two turf allowance races that serve as the co-features on Tampa Bay’s Friday card.

Florida-bred but internationally campaigned Foggy Flight is among the contenders in the fifth race, a $20,000 one-other-than allowance for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles. The filly made the first four starts of her career in Dubai, finishing off the board in both the UAE 1000 Guineas Trial and UAE 1000 Guineas while still a maiden. She finished third in her first U.S. start for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin in March 2019, then won a maiden race the following month sprinting on the Gulfstream Park dirt, defeating a next-out winner. Her momentum was halted, however, as she was sent to the sidelines. She was seventh in her return at Gulfstream off a 10-month layoff, then ran well to finish second in an off-the-turf race May 1 at Tampa. That was her first start for trainer Eoin Harty, who took over for the retiring McLaughlin.

This will be the first start on turf for Foggy Flight, who is a full sister to the turf winner Little Bridge. Their half-siblings include turf stakes-placed Grace Appeal.

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Foggy Flight drew the inside post under Tomas Mejia, who was aboard in her most recent outing. Drawn next door to her under Angel Suarez is Simplicity, who is making her first start in the United States for new trainer Christophe Clement, and first start since September. The filly won once from 10 career starts in her native France, with several starts in stakes company. She finished third in the Prix de Bagatelle to the consistent stakes filly Twist ‘n’ Shake.

Simplicity has worked steadily at Payson Park for her U.S. debut off the layoff, including a handful of bullet works.

Be Nimble’s 2019 results are peppered with the names of stakes fillies, including Zofelle and Winter Sunset. In her first start of 2020 and first for trainer Tim Hamm, Be Nimble was third behind Foggy Flight in that off-the-turf allowance at Tampa.

Elusive Ryder is stepping up in class, but comes off a five-length victory in a claiming race going 1 1/16 miles on the Tampa turf May 9, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 69, the top last-out figure in the field.

The day’s co-featured seventh race, a $20,000 open allowance with similar conditions, also has drawn an international traveler in Channel Stuffer, who sported a second and a third in three starts in Ireland last year. The gelding made his U.S. debut for trainer Michael Stidham a winning one, scoring at this race’s one-mile distance on the Tampa turf on April 11.

This field also includes Black Prong, stakes-placed against fellow Virginia-breds last summer at Colonial Downs, but making his first start since October; That Quality, a promising Augustin Stable homebred cutting back slightly in distance after a solid second going 1 1/16 miles last out; and Godolphin homebred Taos, coming off a win in a claiming race at Tampa.