Conquest Titan could be a slight favorite Saturday in the $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby, a 1 1/16-mile race that has produced the Kentucky Derby winner in two of the last seven runnings: Street Sense in 2007 and Super Saver in 2010.
I like East Hall, who finished fourth in the Fountain of Youth two weeks ago at 72-1, in Saturday's Tampa Bay Derby.
Even the ever-optimistic trainer Nick Zito has no delusions about Spot winning the Kentucky Derby, although he does believe the improving son of Pulpit could contend in a Triple Crown race later this spring.
Todd Pletcher and Mark Casse both have entered two horses in the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby, the annual meet highlight to be run Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs.
California Chrome, the impressive winner of two straight races for California-breds, will represent not only his state’s breeding industry but the track where he trains, Los Alamitos, when he runs in Saturday’s San Felipe Stakes.
In Trouble, who was a close third in the Gotham Stakes last Saturday in his first start since September, is the lone newcomer to this week’s Derby Watch top 20.
If things fall just right over the next two months, trainer John Sadler could have three starters for the Kentucky Derby in Kristo, Candy Boy, and Kobe's Back.
Solitary Ranger and Poker Player, who trained all winter at Fair Grounds before shipping out to finish 1-2 last Saturday in the Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park, will go next in separate races in Kentucky.
One thing trainers Mark Casse and Todd Pletcher have in common is a fondness for using stakes at Tampa Bay Downs to test their developing 3-year-olds, and both are expected to have contenders in Saturday's Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby.
Clubhouse Ride, second in the 2013 Santa Anita Handicap, is likely to start in Saturday’s $250,000 San Carlos Stakes over seven furlongs.
