With champion Ted Noffey sidelined through the spring and with all due respect to Nearly, a dominant winner of last weekend’s Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, the best 3-year-old in trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn may be a filly. Zany, a daughter of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, has been crazy good winning her first two starts by a combined 15 lengths. Anything short of a victory in Saturday’s $125,000 Suncoast Stakes Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs would be a surprise. Zany, who won the Grade 2 Demoiselle at Aqueduct by 8 1/2 lengths last Dec. 6, is using the Suncoast, run at one mile and 40 yards around two turns, as a stepping-stone to Grade 1 fixtures such as the Ashland at Keeneland in April and the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 1. Trainer Todd Pletcher said he and owner Mike Repole chose the Suncoast as a starting point for Zany because it keeps her racing around two turns, whereas races like the Forward Gal and Davona Dale, both at Gulfstream Park, are contested around one turn. These same connections followed a similar path in 2022 with Nest, who won the Suncoast and Ashland but finished second in the Kentucky Oaks. Nest did go on to win two more Grade 1s and was named 3-year-old filly champion. :: Celebrating 100 Years of racing at Tampa Bay Downs! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “Even though Nest didn’t win the Oaks, it seemed to work out well for her,” Pletcher said. “Thinking of this and the Ashland is what we’re currently pointing for. That way we didn’t have to let her down too much after the Demoiselle.” Zany was a tour de force in the Demoiselle, perched right outside the pacesetting stakes winner Shilling before running away from that one in the stretch and galloping out even farther in front. Pletcher’s roster of the best horses he has trained includes fillies such as Nest, Ashado, Rags to Riches, and Malathaat. Could Zany be heading to that category? “She’s given us some really good vibes, she trains consistently with some of our better fillies,” Pletcher said “She’s a big, scopey filly, she’s got tactical speed, a terrific disposition. For her to go from 6 1/2 [furlongs] to a mile and an eighth and win impressively, that’s hard to do. She certainly has given us the same kind of feel that some of those really good fillies have over the years.” Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Zany from post 3. Pletcher also entered Kadabra, who would be stretching out from a fifth-place finish in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance race on Jan. 3 in this spot. Zany meets her first real test in Life of Joy, who won her first two starts, including the Rags to Riches Stakes at Churchill Downs before finishing a late-running fourth in the Golden Rod Stakes last Nov. 29. In that race, Life of Joy was in the back of the pack, as far out of it as 17 lengths, before coming wide in the stretch and then finishing along the rail. She was beaten three lengths by Bella Ballerina. Trainer Brad Cox is adding blinkers to Life of Joy’s equipment on Saturday. “Hoping it gets her involved. She was not involved at all the last time, though she made a move around the turn,” Cox said. Flavien Prat rides Life of Joy. Lightscape was a good-looking debut winner sprinting on Dec. 6 at Tampa, but finished fifth in the seven-furlong Gasparilla Stakes on Jan. 10. Tremont Tammy, Y’allreadyforthis, Justamomentplease, and Fly Life complete the field. The top five finishers from the Suncoast earn qualifying points (20-10-6-4-2) to the May 1 Kentucky Oaks. Pelican Track Mate cuts back to his preferred distance of six furlongs and looks to get a good setup in the $125,000 Pelican Stakes for older male sprinters. The purse includes $25,000 restricted to Florida-breds, of which three horses – all trained by Gerald Bennett – are eligible. Track Mate, trained since last summer by Rusty Arnold after previous trainer D. Wayne Lukas passed away last June, is 4 for 7 at six furlongs, 0 for 7 at all other distances. A 6-year-old son of Union Rags, Track Mate only raced twice in 2025, winning a third-level allowance at Keeneland before finishing seventh in the Cherokee Mile at Churchill Downs. Track Mate shows a strong work tab at the Palm Meadows training center for this race and he will have the services of Flavien Prat. “He’s been ready down here for a while. It’s so hard to find races for horses like that, he’s out of conditions,” Arnold said. “We found that one to run him in and it’s more about timing than anything else.” Arnold does believe the projected pace scenario will benefit Track Mate. “It looks like there’s a ton of speed. He’s pretty versatile, he doesn’t have to be on it so hopefully it works out,” Arnold said. Concrete Glory, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., is a 17-time winner, most of them coming in front-running fashion. He is looking to bounce back from a last-place finish in the Commodore Overnight Stakes at Oaklawn on Jan. 3. when he got used up in a speed duel. Silver Slugger, trained by Juan Avila, is 8 for 9 at Tampa Bay and 11 for 17 in his career. He has won his last four starts, including front-running stakes wins at Monmouth and Delaware Park. Chrome Ghost, one of three in here for Bennett, has won both of his starts at this meet, including a front-running score in a high-class allowance/optional-claimer on Dec. 26. Bennett also sends out Naughty Rascal and El Principito, the latter being the best closer of his trio. Rolando and Wound Up complete the field. Minaret Ms. Bucchero upset Mystic Lake in the Sugar Swirl Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 20 and two those mares – who have combined to win 21 of 40 starts – square off again in the $125,000 Minaret Stakes. Mystic Lake, who has won 10 stakes in her 21-race career, is typically the one to catch in her races. In the Sugar Swirl, she was coming off a three-month layoff, took some pressure and finished third, three lengths behind Ms. Bucchero, who showed the ability to be successful from slightly off the pace under Irad Ortiz Jr. “I thought we were going to be in front, but it didn’t work out that way,” Diane Morici, trainer of Ms. Bucchero, said. “Irad used his head and she got a chance to show who she is and she proved it against some nice horses.” Ms. Bucchero won her maiden at Tampa in the spring of 2023 when in the barn of John Vinson. Mystic Lake, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., is 2 for 2 at Tampa, including stakes wins in the Gasparilla and Sophomore Fillies, both in 2024. Mystic Lake breaks from the rail under Flavien Prat. She could get some pace pressure from Long Gone Sally, who is 4 for 4 at Tampa, all in lower-level claiming and starter allowance races. Sandy’s Garden, a recent allowance winner at Aqueduct, also has some speed. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.