Sam F. Davis Stakes starting point for Catholic Boy

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Ever so steadily, racing at Tampa Bay Downs has weaved itself into the Triple Crown fabric. Ever since Street Sense used Tampa as a path to winning the 2007 Kentucky Derby, such recognizable names as General Quarters, Verrazano, Carpe Diem, Destin, McCraken, and Tapwrit have passed through here with hopes of making the Kentucky Derby.

No one yet knows whether Catholic Boy, Hollywood Star, Flameaway, or Vino Rosso are good enough to join that list, but most everyone watching the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes on Saturday should appreciate what they’ll be trying to do when the 1 1/16-mile race is run for the 38th time. Ten of the 17 Kentucky Derby qualifying points at stake will be awarded the winner, who surely will have to run a big one, given the depth of the lineup.

The Davis, the lone Derby points race of the weekend, anchors the best program so far this year at the 2017-18 Tampa meet, where five-plus months of action will peak with the March 10 Festival Day featuring the Tampa Bay Derby. First comes the 12-race Festival Preview card Saturday, with three other stakes serving in support of the Davis.

:: Get PPs and watch Saturday's Sam F. Davis card live on DRF.com

Not many 2-year-olds of 2017 ended their season the way Catholic Boy did. Trained by Jonathan Thomas, the More Than Ready colt ran off to win the Grade 2 Remsen on Dec. 2 at Aqueduct by nearly five lengths, placing himself on everyone’s Derby watch list. The Remsen was Catholic Boy’s first race on dirt.

Catholic Boy, with Manny Franco in from New York to ride, will break from post 6 in a field of seven in the Davis, which offers a purse of $200,000. (Another $50,000 was available from the Florida-bred program, but no Florida-breds are entered.)

Thomas believes Catholic Boy might show more early speed than in his previous races, given the 10 weeks between the Remsen and Davis, but “he’s always been a very rateable horse, and that’s been one of the keys” he said.

“He has the mental capabilities to kind of switch off and be positioned properly,” Thomas said. “I don’t think he’s going to be close to the lead, necessarily, unless it just happens to play out that way.”

There is no obvious front-runner in the Davis lineup, which could make for an interesting setup. Vino Rosso (post 3), unbeaten and untested in two starts, both for Todd Pletcher, probably can make the lead if John Velazquez wants it, while Flameaway (post 2, Jose Lezcano) or Vouch (post 7, Daniel Centeno) also could inherit the top. All that aside, Thomas simply wants Franco to get Catholic Boy into a smooth rhythm.

“Obviously, we’d like to see him replicate another big effort over the dirt,” Thomas said.

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For Pletcher, a victory by Vino Rosso would extend his utter dominance of Tampa’s signature races for 3-year-olds. Last year, Pletcher used races here for both his Kentucky Derby winner, Always Dreaming, and his Belmont Stakes winner, Tapwrit. In all, he has won the Sam Davis six times (2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016) and the Tampa Bay Derby five times (2004, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017).

Meanwhile, the top late-run threat in the Davis could be Hollywood Star (post 5, Joel Rosario), who makes his first start since finishing a distant sixth in the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar. Trainer Dale Romans scratched the Malibu Moon colt last Saturday from the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park, opting instead to send out Hollywood Star for a five-furlong breeze in 1:00.40 that same morning.

“He worked about as well as he ever has,” Romans said. “We’re excited to get him going.”

Rounding out the Davis lineup are longshots Navy Armed Guard (post 1, Jesus Castanon) and Septimius Severus (post 4, Jose Ortiz).

First post Saturday is 12:13 p.m. Eastern, with the Davis going as race 10 at 4:52. The surrounding stakes are the $100,000 Suncoast (race 7); the Grade 3, $150,000 Endeavour (race 9); and the Grade 3, $150,000 Tampa Bay Stakes (race 11). The 12th and last race goes at 5:55.

The Davis is named for a University of Florida football star and local industrialist who served as track president from 1972-80. The race was used by Churchill Downs as a points race the first year of its new Kentucky Derby eligibility system in 2013, but offered no Derby points in 2014-2016. It was restored to the Derby points schedule last year.

Mostly sunny skies and a high of 82 are in the Saturday forecast.

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