Imperial Hint gets year started in Florida Cup Sprint

As good as Imperial Hint was last year at 4, trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. is hoping he can be even better in 2018. The standout sprinter will get his season under way as a heavy favorite in the Florida Cup Sprint, the first of six Florida Cup races Sunday at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.

Imperial Hint won all but one of his five races last year, with the lone defeat a runner-up finish behind Roy H in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. The 5-year-old horse will bring six straight triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures into the Florida Cup Sprint, a streak dating to December 2016, when he kicks off a campaign that Carvajal and owner Raymond Mamone hope will end with another start in the BC Sprint in November at Churchill Downs. Javier Castellano will be in from Gulfstream Park for the mount.

Imperial Hint has put in four straight bullet workouts at Tampa.

“He is doing fantastic,” said Carvajal, who initially pointed Imperial Hint to the Dubai Golden Shaheen before losing training time to a minor illness in January. “He has been training very well. Hopefully, he will put on a good show and get something out of the race.”

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Imperial Hint, by Imperialism, will go next in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs on the May 5 Kentucky Derby card if all goes well Sunday, said Carvajal.

The Sprint is the most notable of six $100,000 stakes that make up the annual Florida Cup, all for registered Florida-breds. The stakes are part of a 12-race program that begins at 12:12 p.m. Eastern.

The comeback spot for Imperial Hint isn’t the easiest. Two of his opponents, Delta Bluesman and Mo Cash, are accomplished stakes winners in their own right, and they’ll make Imperial Hint earn whatever he gets. In all, six older horses are in the six-furlong Sprint, which is carded apart from the other Florida Cup events as race 2.

In the other five Florida Cup races:

◗ Sophomore Fillies (race 7, 3:20): Starship Bonita, a winner of the last two legs of the Florida Sire Stakes series last summer at Gulfstream, will make her first start in 4 1/2 months when she starts from the outside post under Carlos Montalvo in this seven-furlong race. Seven 3-year-old fillies go, with Florida Fuego, Midnight Soiree, and Mermaid of Honor looming the top threats.

Starship Bonita, based at Gulfstream, is trained by Steve Dwoskin for the Starship Stables of Laurence Leavy, otherwise known to U.S. sports fans as “Marlins Man.”

◗ Turf Classic (race 8, 3:50): Galleon Mast, second as the favorite in the Grade 3 Canadian Turf last month at Gulfstream, figures as a solid choice in this 1 1/8-mile turf race, which drew eight older horses. Jose Ortiz, the 2017 Eclipse Award-winning jockey, will be in from Gulfstream to ride for trainer David Fawkes.

Swagger Jagger, Unbridled Holiday, Second Mate, and Expected Ruler are the most capable challengers.

◗ Sophomore Turf (race 9, 4:20): This 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-olds is probably the most well matched in the series, with no clear-cut favorite among the nine starters. Impressive maiden efforts are a common denominator among Zap Daddy, March to the Arch, Paradise Island, and He’s Bankable, while Seattle Treasure and Elk Camp both earned their way here through the claiming ranks at Gulfstream. The X, trained by Ben Colebrook, is the top local threat.

◗ Sophomore (race 10, 4:50): The last two runnings of this seven-furlong race were won by Imperial Hint (2016) and Mo Cash (2017), so those are some big horseshoes to be filled by whoever emerges best among these 10 3-year-olds. Noble Commander is the most obvious candidate to do so after getting a 72 Beyer in his Feb. 16 debut at Gulfstream for trainer Mark Casse and jockey Julien Leparoux.

◗ Distaff Turf (race 11, 5:25): Compelled, a Glen Hill Farm homebred, not only returned sharp from a nine-month layoff last month by winning an open turf-sprint stakes at Fair Grounds, but she now stretches out to a preferred two-turn distance when she faces 10 other fillies and mares in this 1 1/16-mile turf race. Ortiz has the mount on Compelled, the heavy favorite, for trainer Tom Proctor.

This is the 16th running of the Florida Cup, a cooperative effort among Tampa Bay Downs, the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, and the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association. The event began in 2003, with 2017 being the first year that all six races were worth six figures.

After Sunday, Tampa goes dark for two days before a three-day race week resumes Wednesday. The track will be dark next Sunday for the Easter holiday.

Only two stakes will remain at the 2017-18 Tampa meet after the Florida Cup, those being a pair of Florida Sire Stakes events on May 5. Closing day is May 6.