Tampa Bay Derby win opens options for Watch Me Go
Once in a while David topples Goliath and such was the case last Saturday in the Grade 2, $359,000 Tampa Bay Derby.
Doug McCoyMar 14, 2011
Once in a while David topples Goliath and such was the case last Saturday in the Grade 2, $359,000 Tampa Bay Derby.
While still leaving a little wiggle room for Uncle Mo to run in the Florida Derby on April 3, trainer Todd Pletcher on Monday said it was still most likely that Uncle Mo would have his final prep for the May 7 Kentucky Derby in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9.
The victory by Uncle Mo in his 3-year-old debut Saturday was enough to make the colt the 3-1 favorite in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager at the close of betting Sunday.
Premier Pegasus took a seemingly wide-open San Felipe Stakes and turned it into a tour de force on Saturday at Santa Anita, romping to a 7 3/4-length victory in the Grade 2, $250,000 race that serves as the final major prep for next month’s Santa Anita Derby.
As excited as trainer Todd Pletcher was to watch Uncle Mo return to the races in style Saturday at Gulfstream Park, was as disappointed as he had to be watching Brethren finish third in the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby one hour later.
Longshot Watch Me Go beat Crimson Knight, an even longer shot, by about a head to win the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, both horses checking in several lengths in front of heavily favored Brethren, who finished third.
Uncle Mo’s easily won his 3-year-old debut over a game but overmatched Rattlesnake Bridge in Saturday’s inaugural edition of Gulfstream Park’s $100,000 Timely Writer.
Uncle Mo, last year’s juvenile champion, kicked off his 3-year-old campaign in style with an approximate four-length victory in Saturday’s $100,000 Timely Writer Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
The Gulfstream Park stall office reported Saturday that Gourmet Dinner, runner-up in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes here on Feb. 26 and a possible candidate for the Grade 1 Florida Derby on April 3, shipped off the grounds early Friday evening with the destination on the transit slip listed as Ocala, Fla.
The Factor and Sway Away, who finished one-two in last month’s San Vicente Stakes, kept on similar itineraries Saturday morning here at Santa Anita when they turned in final workouts in preparation for scheduled starts in the Rebel Stakes for 3-year-olds next Saturday at Oaklawn Park.