Servis eyes Tampa preps for World of Trouble

World of Trouble likely will run back in at least one of the two upcoming Kentucky Derby preps at Tampa Bay Downs after the Florida-bred colt earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure in winning the Pasco Stakes in near-record time Saturday at the Oldsmar, Fla., track.

Trainer Jason Servis said Sunday from his Palm Meadows training base that he still has to map out a plan with owner Michael Dubb, but that he is inclined to run World of Trouble back in the March 10 Tampa Bay Derby. Servis said he will nominate World of Trouble to the Feb. 10 Sam F. Davis Stakes. Both 1 1/16-mile races offer qualifying points for the May 5 Kentucky Derby.

Servis, who said he has already been fielding calls from people looking to buy the Kantharos colt, said the seven-week gap between the Pasco and Tampa Bay Derby is preferable.

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“That sounds like the logical way to go. The colt ran a big race, that’s for sure. My phone has already been ringing a lot, so that tells me people are thinking of him as a Derby horse.”

World of Trouble was an odds-on favorite in going gate to wire in the Pasco under leading jockey Antonio Gallardo. Making his third career start, he won the seven-furlong Pasco by 13 3/4 lengths in 1:21.52, narrowly missing the track mark of 1:21.40 set in 2014.

Meanwhile, Almond Roca, an odds-on winner of the filly counterpart, the seven-furlong Gasparilla, could wind up at the Royal Ascot meet in England in June. Owned by the Chadds Ford Stable of Phyllis Wyeth, the Speightstown filly earned an 82 Beyer after finishing in 1:22.76.

“It’s definitely something we have spoken about,” trainer Graham Motion said. “It’s something Mrs. Wyeth would like to do. I don’t really have a game plan, but I would like to maybe get to the Beaumont at Keeneland in April. Look, we’re a long way away. But the filly does handle both turf and dirt very well, and she’s pretty talented and pretty fast.”

The heavy favorite in the third Skyway Festival event on Saturday did not fare as well as those in the 3-year-old races. Tapa Tapa Tapa, the 2-5 choice, was collared in the final 100 yards of the 1 1/16-mile Wayward Lass by Well Humored, a 4-year-old filly who earned a 92 Beyer in the first stakes victory of her career.

Arnaud Delacour, who trains Well Humored for WinStar Stablemates Racing LLC, said the Doubledogdare at Keeneland in April is a likely target, “although I would have to find something in between now and then.”

One other effort worth noting from an eventful Saturday card was the winning debut of a 3-year-old colt named Gleason, who earned a 72 Beyer when going seven furlongs for trainer Todd Pletcher. The Algorithms colt was bred by Claiborne Farm and was purchased as a yearling for $220,000 by Paul Pompa Jr.