Locked will miss Sam F. Davis Stakes due to temperature, Pletcher says

Locked, the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity winner who was scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut in next Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, will miss that race after spiking a temperature over the weekend, trainer Todd Pletcher said.

Pletcher said the temperature forced Locked to miss a scheduled breeze over the weekend.

“We felt like if we breezed him and spiked a more significant temperature, that could set us back a couple of weeks or so,” Pletcher said. “One of the good things about being ready for some of the early preps is it gives you a window on the other side to call an audible.”

Locked made his last start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, in which he finished a late-running third behind stablemate Fierceness.

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Pletcher said after he gets Locked back to the work tab - perhaps next weekend - he would get with owner Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, which owns Locked with Walmac Farm, to discuss a possible spot for his 3-year-old debut.

In lieu of running Locked, Pletcher said he plans to run Agate Road in the Sam Davis, which offers 42 qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby to its top five finishers (20-10-6-4-2). Agate Road, who was beaten a nose in his lone dirt try at Saratoga last summer, has made his last four starts on turf. He won the Grade 2 Pilgrim at Aqueduct last fall. He was scratched out of Saturday’s Grade 3 Kitten’s Joy Stakes for this dirt opportunity.

“His [recent] breezes kind of sold us on the idea of running on dirt,” Pletcher said. “We put him in the [Kitten’s Joy] with the idea we were likely going to scratch. With the way he was training we were talking about the Louisiana Derby. With Locked not going to the Sam Davis, we decided to go there.”

Pletcher will also run Tireless, a recent maiden winner at Tampa, in the Sam Davis.

Others pointing to the Sam Davis include Change of Command, Copper Tax, Crazy Mason, No More Time, Patriot Spirit, and West Saratoga. Everdoit and Fulmineo are mentioned as possibles.

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