OLDSMAR, Fla. – One tell-tale sign of a big day of racing at any given venue is more than just a couple of stakes are carded. The 11-race Festival Preview Day at Tampa Bay Downs holds form. Included with the featured Sam F. Davis Stakes (race 10) are a pair of six-furlong stakes for older horses, the $50,000 Minaret (race 7) and $75,000 Pelican (race 8), followed then by the $100,000 Suncoast (race 9). The Suncoast is of particular importance in that it serves as the seasonal debut of Wonder Wheel, the 2-year-old filly champion of 2022. In fact, in terms of the impact they might ultimately have on the spring classics, the Suncoast might wind up being a more productive prep toward the Kentucky Oaks than the Sam Davis toward the Kentucky Derby. The four straight stakes cannot be bet as a pick four, but there are rolling pick three wagers to include them all, as well as a pick five (races 7-11) that starts with the Minaret and a pick four (races 8-11) starting with the Pelican. Both wagers end with the race 11 finale, a maiden-special with an oversubscribed field of 3-year-old fillies scheduled to go 1 1/16 miles on turf. In reverse order, here’s a rundown of those supporting events: Suncoast Trainer Mark Casse is unequivocal in pronouncing that Wonder Wheel is all set for the type of effort befitting a champion. “She’s training great,” Casse said earlier this week from his Ocala training center. “All systems are go. We’re intent on winning the Kentucky Oaks and now’s the time to get serious.” :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. Regular rider Tyler Gaffalione will be in from his Gulfstream Park base to ride Wonder Wheel, who was assigned post 1 in a field of nine 3-year-old fillies going a mile and 40 yards. The Suncoast is not a graded race but is a 40-point qualifier (20-8-6-4-2) for the May 5 Oaks at Churchill Downs. Several factors – including timing, location, and distance – is what led Casse to hand-picking the Suncoast as the best comeback spot. Wonder Wheel, who tops the current Oaks points standings with 40, will be making her first start since posting a three-length triumph in the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies with a career-best 83 Beyer Speed Figure. “She got a little time off after the Breeders’ Cup, and after that, she came back with no problems at all,” he said. “If everything works out Saturday, we’ll go next in the Ashland,” to be run April 8 at Keeneland, “as our final prep for the Oaks.” Wonder Wheel, a dark bay Into Mischief filly owned by the D. J. Stable of Leonard Green and family, won four of five starts last year. Her class and versatility were on full display at Keeneland, where she won the Grade 1 Alcibiades in wire-to-wire fashion on Oct. 7 before rallying from 11th to win the BC Juvenile Fillies four weeks later. Casse also will run Ticket Tape Home (post 8, Antonio Gallardo) in the Suncoast, but the opponent regarded as having the best chance at upsetting Wonder Wheel is Julia Shining (post 9, Luis Saez), a stretch-running Stonestreet Stables homebred. Based at the Palm Beach Downs training center with Todd Pletcher, Julia Shining is 2 for 2, having followed a flashy debut win at Keeneland with a gutsy score in the Grade 2 Demoiselle at Aqueduct in early December. Her two Beyers were 71 and 70, compared to the 83 Beyer put up by Wonder Wheel in the Breeders’ Cup. :: DRF Bets players have exclusive access to FREE DRF Past Performances - Classic or Formulator! Join today.  “Obviously she’s a filly with great potential,” said Pletcher. “This is a good starting point for her, although distance-wise, this might be a little shorter than what she needs.” Julia Shining, by Curlin out of Dreaming of Julia, is a full sister to Malathaat, whom Pletcher trained as the champion older dirt female of 2022. Pelican Sibelius (post 5, Junior Alvarado) is a deserving favorite in a field of 11 older males after earning Beyers ranging from 96 to an eye-catching 106 in four of his last five starts, the latest resulting in a 2 1/4-length triumph on New Year’s Eve in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector at Gulfstream Park. Jeremiah O’Dwyer trains the 5-year-old gelding at Palm Meadows but took him to Gulfstream for his final pre-race workout because of a recent training disruption at Palm Meadows for emergency resurfacing. Willy Boi and Gatsby figure as the main challengers in a solid lineup that also includes Doctor Oscar and the New Orleans shipper Uphold the Law as fringe players. Minaret Caramel Swirl (post 5, Alvarado) clearly is the one to beat in a nine-horse field in the Minaret, the filly-mare counterpart to the Pelican, but she may be vulnerable because of this slightly shorter distance. The Godolphin homebred has earned Beyers ranging from 95 to 98 in four of her last five, but all of those were at seven furlongs. If she is to be out-footed, it could be by My Destiny, who was a close second in this race last year to her Herman Wilensky stablemate Drop a Hint, and brings a four-race win streak into this. Olivia Darling also enters here at a peak. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.