OLDSMAR, Fla. – You won’t find it anywhere on his Hall of Fame plaque, but Todd Pletcher has won the Sam F. Davis Stakes a record six times. It’s typical of the immense swath Pletcher has cut for himself in a training career made more notable by all his Eclipse Awards and higher-profile success. Pletcher will have a chance to win the Sam Davis for a seventh time when he is represented Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs by Litigate, his only entry from his eight nominations to the Grade 3, $200,000 race. Odds are, however, that his record will remain at six, given that Litigate is 5-1 on the morning line in a full gate of 12 3-year-olds in the 43rd Sam Davis, the highlight of an 11-race Festival Preview Day program. Litigate, with Luis Saez riding, will break from post 11 in the 1 1/16-mile Davis. Though still eligible for a first-level allowance, the Centennial Farms colt fits this spot about as well as the others, not counting, perhaps, the 9-5 program favorite Dubyuhnell, a last-out winner of the Grade 2 Remsen. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2023: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more “The timing was right and his last two breezes have been excellent,” said Pletcher, who typically stays back at his Atlantic Coast winter base while sending over staff for Tampa races. “We feel like he’s sitting on a good effort.” Litigate, a bay Blame colt, won at first asking in November in an Aqueduct maiden sprint before finishing a distant second to Cyclone Mischief in his only subsequent start, a Jan. 8 allowance at Gulfstream. Cyclone Mischief returned last Saturday with a seventh-place finish as a 6-5 favorite in the Holy Bull at Gulfstream. Dubyuhnell (post 7, Jose Ortiz) clearly brings the strongest record into this as the Remsen winner. A 70 percent chance of rain on Saturday in the Tampa Bay region certainly isn’t bad news for his connections, as Dubyuhnell won both an October maiden race and the Dec. 3 Remsen over a sloppy track at Aqueduct. “Wouldn’t hurt my feelings if it was sloppy again,” said Danny Gargan, who trains Dubyuhnell for a partnership that includes the colt’s breeder, Stonestreet Stables, and West Paces Racing. “But he doesn’t need it. He trains great over any surface. He’s just that kind of horse.” Ortiz has ridden Dubyuhnell in all three starts, and Gargan said the star jockey is enamored with the Good Magic colt. “Jose is really confident in the horse, even more than I am,” Gargan said. “He’s super high on him. He’s worked him and always wanted to stick with him. He’s shocked me with how much he likes the horse.” Ideally, Dubyuhnell figures to sit a few lengths off an early pace that’s likely to be established by a hard-sent Zydeceaux (post 12, Samuel Marin), a gate-to-wire winner of the seven-furlong Pasco Stakes four weeks ago. Several others also have the early speed to stay close, including Prairie Hawk (post 2, Samy Camacho) and Groveland (post 5, Daniel Centeno), the respective one-two finishers in a Jan. 13 allowance designed as a Sam Davis stepping-stone. Mark Casse has an interesting pair in here in Classic Car Wash (post 6, Emisael Jaramillo) and Champions Dream (post 9, Tyler Gaffalione). Champions Dream won the Grade 3 Nashua at Aqueduct when Gargan still trained him; in his first Casse try, he was beaten just a neck when second as the favorite in the Pasco. Classic Legacy (post 3, Junior Alvarado) is something of a sleeper off a Dec. 3 maiden win at Aqueduct. He’s a half-brother to Art Collector, winner of the Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 28 at Gulfstream for these same connections, owner Bruce Lunsford and trainer Bill Mott. One of the longer shots in the field would be Notah, who was expected to be cross-entered in a two-turn allowance here Sunday. That race, if it were to fill, also was expected to get the Pletcher-trained Kingsbarns. The Sam Davis is one of three Derby qualifiers being run Saturday across the continent. The others are the rescheduled Withers (20-8-6-4-2) at Aqueduct and the El Camino Real Derby (10-4-3-2-1) at Golden Gate. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. The Sam Davis is named for the local industrialist who became track president in 1972, when this winter haven was still known as Florida Downs. It’s the local prep for the Grade 2 Tampa Derby, a 100-point qualifier (50-20-15-10-5) set for March 11. Classic Causeway swept both the Davis and Tampa Bay Derby last year, then finished 11th in both the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby. Gargan said he won’t run Dubyuhnell back in the Tampa Derby and will wait to choose among the final round of major preps in early April. First post Saturday is 12:25 p.m. Eastern, with the Davis going as race 10 at 5:18. It’s the last of four straight stakes, following the Minaret (race 7), Pelican (race 8), and Suncoast (race 9). The listed purse for the Davis does not include a win-only $50,000 bonus for Florida-breds. Classic Car Wash and Zydeceaux are the only ones eligible. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.