Re-routed Classic Causeway tops list for Sam F. Davis

A large field of 3-year-olds is expected when entries for the Sam F. Davis Stakes are drawn Wednesday at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.

The Grade 3, $200,000 Davis will be run Saturday at 1 1/16 miles as the first Kentucky Derby qualifier held at Tampa this season, with points distributed on a 10-4-2-1 scale. The Tampa Bay Derby (50-20-10-5) follows four weeks later on March 12.

Classic Causeway, the beaten favorite in the Breeders’ Futurity and Kentucky Jockey Club, is foremost among the 3-year-olds expected for the 42nd Davis. Trainer Brian Lynch withheld the Giant’s Causeway colt from the Holy Bull last Saturday at Gulfstream Park to instead ship to Tampa from his Palm Meadows base on the Atlantic Coast.

Classic Causeway, with Irad Ortiz Jr. in from Gulfstream to ride, will be favored over Make It Big, a Florida-bred colt also making his first start at 3. Make It Big, based at Gulfstream with Saffie Joseph Jr., ended 2021 by winning the Springboard Mile at Remington Park. Joseph won last week’s Holy Bull with White Abarrio.

Other Davis probables include Howling Time, Trademark, Shipsational, Little Vic, Kitten Mischief, and the Mark Casse-trained pair of Golden Glider and Volcanic. A few longshots could make for the maximum of 12 starters, according to Tampa racing officials.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, who has won the Davis a record six times, said he will not have an entry in the race but will be sending over Nest, a last-out winner of the Grade 2 Demoiselle at Aqueduct, from his Palm Beach Downs base for one of three supporting events Saturday, the $100,000 Suncoast for 3-year-old fillies. The mile and 40-yard Suncoast is a 10-4-2-1 qualifier for the Kentucky Oaks.

The other two co-features Saturday are six-furlong races for older horses, the $75,000 Pelican and $75,000 Minaret.

Listed purses for all four Saturday stakes do not include win-only bonuses available to registered Florida-breds.