Renegade ran himself out of the maiden ranks and onto the Kentucky Derby trail with a wide rally from off the pace to win Saturday’s $210,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes by 3 3/4 lengths at Tampa Bay Downs.  On a main track that seemed to favor forwardly placed runners, Renegade was eighth of nine, about seven lengths off the early pace established by longshot Wayne’s Law. Racing four wide down the backstretch and around the turn under Irad Ortiz Jr., Renegade gradually passed the horses in front of him, taking over from Wayne’s Law above the eighth pole before drawing clear.  Wayne’s Law, at 48-1 the second-longest price on the board despite being the lone stakes winner in the field, held second by 2 1/4 lengths over the maiden The Puma. Game for It, who challenged Wayne’s Law around the turn, finished fourth followed by Epic Desire, Ocelli, Confessional, Dr. Kapur and Max Capacity.  The win was the record-extending eighth in the Sam F. Davis for trainer Todd Pletcher. None of Pletcher’s previous seven winners won the Kentucky Derby, though Bluegrass Cat finished second to Barbaro in 2006. That also happens to be the best finish by any horse coming out of the Sam F. Davis from 31 runners who made it to the Kentucky Derby.  :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. With the victory, Renegade earned 20 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby. He has 25 after adding in points earned from his troubled-trip second to Paladin in the Remsen last Dec. 6.  Renegade, who was disqualified from a maiden victory over Paladin in October at Aqueduct, won the Sam F. Davis despite the pace being rather modest - Wayne’s Law went a half-mile in 48.30 seconds and six furlongs in 1:12.81 - and being wide throughout.  “I think when you look at it, it was a pretty strong performance,” Pletcher said. “Not only soft fractions, but on a track playing kind to horses being up close. To close into that, while being wide, I thought he really leveled off the last sixteenth of a mile and finished up the way you’d like to see one finish.”  Renegade, a son of Into Mischief out of the Grade 3 stakes-winning mare Spice Is Nice, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.54 and returned $4.40 as the 6-5 favorite. He is owned in partnership by Mike Repole and Robert and Lawana Low. In 2018, the Lows and Pletcher teamed to win the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby with Magnum Moon, who three weeks later would finish 19th in the Kentucky Derby.  The Arkansas Derby, on March 28, is now five weeks out from the Kentucky Derby, and is likely where Renegade will make his next start, Pletcher said.  The Sam Davis capped a big day for Pletcher and Repole, who also won the Suncoast Stakes with the 3-year-old filly Zany, who is 3 for 3 and on the Kentucky Oaks trail.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.