OLDSMAR, Fla. – In midstretch of the 41st Tampa Bay Derby, it sure looked like Hidden Stash had Helium measured. “I thought we were going to win it,” Vicki Oliver, the trainer of Hidden Stash, said afterward. But it wasn’t to be, as Helium remained unbeaten in three career starts with a 15-1 upset of the annual marquee event at Tampa Bay Downs by battling back to win the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby and clinch a berth in the 147th Kentucky Derby. The winner paid $32.80 after finishing 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.55 over a fast track. The Tampa Derby offers qualifying points on a 50-20-10-5 scale toward the May 1 Kentucky Derby. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2021: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more “This horse is something, because he got away a little slow today, and we had planned on him being closer,” said Mark Casse, who won the Tampa Derby for the second time, following Prospective in 2012. “I was going to be happy with second.” Helium, ridden by Jose Ferrer, was away somewhat sluggishly and raced near the back of a 12-horse pack through the opening furlongs before rolling into contention with a big move leaving the half-mile pole. Hidden Stash and jockey Rafael Bejarano followed Helium in the same outside path, and shortly after Helium seized command from a pair of tiring leaders, Hidden Stash was up to his throatlatch with a big rally of his own. At the furlong grounds, the colts were nose to nose, after which Helium edged away in the final 70 yards to prevail by three-quarters of a length under aggressive handling from Ferrer. It was another 3 3/4 lengths back to Moonlite Strike in third and 2 1/2 more lengths back to Unbridled Honor in fourth. Candy Man Rocket, the 8-5 favorite off his victory in the local prep, the Feb. 6 Sam F. Davis, was through late in the far turn and faded badly to finish 11th, ahead of only Promise Keeper, the 4-1 third choice. Helium, owned by the DJ Stable of the Green family of New York, was making his first start since mid-October, when he captured the Display over the Tapeta surface at Woodbine. The Kentucky-bred colt by Ironicus began his career with a September maiden win, also on the Woodbine synthetic, and would have had at least at three starts before Saturday, but the Nov. 22 Grey Stakes, for which he was favored, was canceled because of weather. Casse said he will have to think about whether to run Helium once more before the Kentucky Derby or just train into the 1 1/4-mile race, given the colt needs no more points. He credited his Palm Meadows assistant, Nick Tomlinson, with having the colt primed for such a huge effort. “What was amazing is that he wasn’t overly exhausted after the race,” Casse said. “He’s a beautiful horse, he’s bred to run all day long and he looks like a Derby horse, so it’s exciting.” On a very cloudy day that started with a lengthy early drizzle, a 12-race Festival Day card was contested over a fast main track and a firm turf that went unaffected by weather. Boca Boy, chased closely by Moonlite Strike, set the pace, with the eventual top two finishers staying wide and well back before they started to gain steadily. Ferrer, who has more than 4,500 winners to his credit in a riding career of nearly 40 years, had ridden three times in the Tampa Bay Derby, but never won it despite being a winter regular here for many years. “Mark Casse gave me a great opportunity to go out there and do my job and do my thing," Ferrer said. “On the backside, I had all kind of horse under me, and I could see who had more horse. When I set him down at the three-eighths pole, I could see I had a chance. I just had so much horse and he flew down the lane. Then I think he got by himself and kind of got bored and he thought, game over. But I still had plenty of horse and he re-broke again.” Oliver said Bejarano told her afterward that Hidden Stash, the 3-1 second choice, had warmed up very aggressively prior to the race, to the extent that the colt’s efforts might have been hindered in the desperate final yards. “He told me that was the only excuse he could come up with,” said Oliver, adding Hidden Stash likely will go next in the April 3 Blue Grass at Keeneland in trying to earn enough Derby points to make the 20-horse cutoff. The $2 exacta (10-8) paid $141.40, the $1 trifecta (10-8-7) returned $1,407.20, and the 10-cent superfecta (10-8-7-9) was worth $1.090.77. Owing to the ongoing pandemic, ontrack attendance was limited to 3,000 fans, plus horsemen and other participants and invitees. All-sources handle on the day was $15,229,267, an all-time Tampa record that eclipsed the $14.8 million bet on this date in 2018.