Pasco, Gasparilla starting point for local 3-year-olds

Nova Rags is among the projected starters in the Pasco Stakes, one of three stakes to be run Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.

Nova Rags won a maiden-special sprint at Belmont Park in his Oct. 10 career debut prior to finishing fourth as the 5-2 third choice in his only subsequent start, the Grade 3 Nashua on Nov. 8 at Aqueduct. The Union Rags colt has since been regrouped by trainer Bill Mott with six workouts at Payson Park, the latest being a half-mile breeze Saturday in 49.20 seconds.

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Nova Rags is one of a handful of 3-year-old colts and geldings confirmed for the Pasco, which will share the Saturday spotlight with the Gasparilla Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Each is a seven-furlong race with a base purse of $50,000, with another $75,000 available to the winner if he or she is registered with the Florida Sire Stakes ($50,000 bonus) or the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association program ($25,000).

Among the other Pasco probables are Ahimelech, Foreman, The Distractor, and Thealligatorhunter, with perhaps a few more likely. Entries for all Saturday races will be drawn Wednesday.

Cafe Society and Feeling Mischief are among the probable favorites in the Gasparilla, which is shaping up with a slightly larger field than the Pasco. Also expected to run are Adios Trippi, Battle Cry, Charge It All, East Wing, Make a Scene, and Special Princess.

The $50,000 Wayward Lass for older fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles also is projected with a medium-sized lineup.

These will be the first stakes at Tampa since a pair of Florida-bred races were run Dec. 12. The biggest dates of a 2020-21 meet that effectively runs through May 1 are Feb. 6 (Sam F. Davis) and March 6 (Tampa Bay Derby).