Officiating, Shifty She, Outfoxed among stars of Florida Cup

A proud tradition will be renewed Sunday at Tampa Bay Downs when the 19th Florida Cup is held at the Oldsmar, Fla., track. Six sponsored stakes for Florida-breds, each worth $110,000, anchor a terrific 12-race card that starts at 12:15 p.m. Eastern.

The Florida Cup comprises races 6 through 11, with the first going at 2:44. Three are for 3-year-olds and three are for older horses; three are on dirt and three on turf. All six are linked together in the 20-cent Ultimate 6 jackpot wager.

Sunshine and a high of 75 are in the local forecast.

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Lasix usage is permitted for stakes at Tampa. All but two of the 48 Florida Cup entrants will race on the bleeder medication.

The Florida Cup concludes the stakes schedule at the 2021-22 Tampa meet, which runs through May 8.

In reverse order, here’s a quick rundown of the six races:

Sprint (race 11)

Officiating would be tough to beat in the six-furlong Sprint with something close to a repeat effort of his last-out win in the Grade 3 Tom Fool at Aqueduct. The Vegso Racing homebred has won three stakes, all in open company, since being transferred last spring into the care of trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., who is slated to send over six Florida Cup runners from his Atlantic Coast bases for the day.

Tap It to Win, an easy winner of this race last year, is among the chief opposition as one of three starters in the series for trainer Mark Casse. Gatsby, Cajun Casanova, and Pudding are among the other notables in a solid lineup of nine older horses.

Distaff Turf (race 10)

Joseph is represented in the 1 1/16-mile Distaff Turf by a formidable pair led by Shifty She, whose victory last fall in the Grade 3 Noble Damsel at Belmont Park has been validated by strong showings in two Grade 3 events at Gulfstream Park this winter, the latest a third-place finish in the inaugural Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Edwin Gonzalez has a return call on Shifty She, who will break from post 6 in a field of nine. Gonzalez is one of a handful of Gulfstream jockeys in for the day, along with Javier Castellano, Emisael Jaramillo, Romero Maragh, and Luca Panici.

Our Flash Drive and Mia Martina, each making her first start of the year, are among the top challengers, along with the second Joseph runner, Lovely Luvy.

Turf Classic (race 9)

Joseph is front and center in the Turf Classic, too, with Max K. O. and Freedom Matters having accomplished enough to belong among the favorites in a well-matched field of nine older turf runners going 1 1/8 miles.

Shamrocket, cutting back in distance from the 1 3/8-mile Mac Diarmida earlier this month, also figures prominently with his usual try. Castellano has a return call on Shamrocket, a 5-year-old Todd Pletcher trainee who captured the Jan. 15 Sunshine Classic at Gulfstream.

Sophomore Fillies (race 8)

Outfoxed, a winner of the Jan. 15 Gasparilla at Tampa in open company, figures as one of the shortest favorites in the series in the Sophomore Fillies. She returns from her Payson Park base and gets Castellano for the first time. The late-running filly was a respectable fifth behind the unbeaten Kathleen O. in the Grade 2 Davona Dale earlier this month at Gulfstream for LNJ Foxwoods and trainer Bill Mott.

Foremost among her six opponents are Hot Peppers, a Gulfstream shipper riding a three-race win streak, and Rapturous, a four-time winner from six starts.

Sophomore Turf (race 7)

The Sophomore Turf is one of the more puzzling races of the series, with perhaps C My Meister contending for favoritism with the Pletcher-trained Treasure King in a field of seven.

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Casse sends forth a couple of wild cards in Lemieux, the only filly in the lineup, and Tapthespeedofsound, a last-out maiden winner with a competitive Beyer Speed Figure of 74.

Sophomore (race 6)

Dean Delivers exits the Triple Crown chase in the Sophomore. He breaks from the tricky one-hole in a speed-laden field of seven going seven furlongs. The Stonehedge homebred showed the way to Simplification in the Fountain of Youth before fading to fifth in an effort that makes him one of the top contenders in Sunday’s race. King Cab, Lightening Larry, Stormy Pattern, and the stretch-running Cattin also will draw their fair shares of tote action.