A wide-open field is expected when entries are taken Wednesday for the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes, with Boca Boy, Smiley Sobotka, and Known Agenda among the 3-year-olds set to clash Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.
Trainer Shug McGaughey won the Kentucky Derby in 2013 with Orb, and the parallels to this point with Greatest Honour, who won the Holy Bull Stakes on Saturday, are striking. Both finished third in their debuts, sprinting, at Saratoga. Both had another one-turn race against maidens at Belmont Park, then a third start at Aqueduct, before finally defeating maidens in start number four.
Medina Spirit followed up his solid second to stablemate Life Is Good in the Sham with a gutsy effort here, holding off Roman Centurian and Hot Rod Charlie over a tiring track following fractions that aided the late runners.
Weekend GamePlan for Jan. 30-31, 2021: Picks for Robert Lewis Stakes, Sweetest Chant Stakes, Texas Turf Mile
Five times in the last nine years, the Kentucky Derby winner has been trained by Bob Baffert or Doug O'Neill. They combine to send out four of the eight runners on Saturday at Santa Anita in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes, a Derby prep that finds the top-rated 3-year-old in California, Life Is Good, looming large, even though he's sitting this one out.
While Saturday's Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes may not have been the first option for either Prime Factor or Greatest Honour's 3-year-old debut, the two recent maiden winners will likely vie for favoritism in the first of two major preps leading up to the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 27 at Gulfstream Park.
A decision on whether to give the Kentucky Derby trail a shot is pending as Fire At Will continues to work back into shape after upsetting the Nov. 6 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in his latest start.
Shug McGaughey will be looking to go down the Kentucky Derby trail with Greatest Honour when he saddles the Tapit colt Saturday for the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, the first of three major Gulfstream Park preps toward the May 1 Derby.
Essential Quality, the odds-on favorite to be named champion 2-year-old of 2020 when the Eclipse Awards are announced this week, will make his 3-year-old debut in the Southwest Stakes on Feb. 15 at Oaklawn Park, trainer Brad Cox said Tuesday.
Points races for the Kentucky Derby and Oaks are the highlights of the coming weekend at Gulfstream, with the Holy Bull and Forward Gal anchoring a busy Saturday program spotlighting 3-year-olds.
