Get Smokin wins Tampa Bay, Counterparty Risk takes Endeavour

Two Grade 3 turf stakes for older horses were among the Saturday preludes to the featured Sam F. Davis Stakes on the Festival Preview card at Tampa Bay Downs. Both the $150,000 Tampa Bay Stakes and its filly-mare counterpart, the $150,000 Hillsborough, were run out of the infield chute at 1 1/16 miles over firm going.

Get Smokin ($10) wins Tampa Bay

Get Smokin was close to perfect in winning his 4-year-old debut, speeding away at the top of the stretch before holding sway for a three-quarter-length triumph over Eons in the 35th running of the Tampa Bay.

Get Smokin laid in wait in second before overtaking the pacesetting longshot, Proven Strategies, when asked by jockey Junior Alvarado approaching the quarter-pole, then quickly built what proved to be an insurmountable lead in making his first start since late November. He paid $10 as second choice in a field of 12 older horses after finishing in 1:40.75.

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Tom Bush trains Get Smokin, a Kentucky-bred gelding, for the Mary Sullivan Revocable Trust. This was his second graded victory, following the Grade 2 Hill Prince at Belmont Park last fall, and his third win from 12 overall starts.

“We’re thrilled,” Bush said. “We were worried about the speed in there, and I knew (Proven Strategies) would be a little bit of a thorn in our side today, but he was ready today. We were pretty confident.”

Bush said Get Smokin probably would race next in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile on April 9 at Keeneland.

Admission Office closed belatedly to finish third, a neck behind Eons, while Greyes Creek had no mishap when fading to fifth as the 5-2 favorite.

Counterparty Risk ($3.80) takes Endeavour

Coming through as an odds-on favorite, Counterparty Risk cut the corner smartly under John Velazquez before turning back her fellow Irish-bred, New York Girl, in winning the 22nd Endeavour by a comfortable length.

New York Girl, the 8-5 second choice in a field reduced to six by two early scratches, actually raced closer to the pace set by longshot No Mercy Percy, but leaving the quarter-pole Velazquez snuck through a rail opening as his mount suddenly presented herself. Counterparty Risk did the rest in notching her first stakes triumph in her fourth start when coming off a November maiden win at Aqueduct and a just-miss second in the Dec. 26 Lady Shamrock at Santa Anita. New York Girl was 1 1/2 lengths clear of Margaret’s Joy in third.

Chad Brown trains Counterparty Risk for the Klaravich Stables. The 4-year-old daughter of the British-bred sire, Australia, returned $3.80 after finishing in 1:43.20.

“She’s a real exciting prospect for us moving forward,” Brown said.

This was the third Endeavour win for Brown, following Zagora (2012) and Testa Rossi (2015), and it was the fourth win on the 12-race Saturday card for Velazquez, the Hall of Famer whose earlier winners came in a turf allowance and a pair of maiden-specials.