Tampa Bay Downs: Cool Cowboy targets Pasco Stakes

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Dale Bennett’s instructions to jockey Eduardo Perez before Saturday’s $69,000 Inaugural Stakes were simple.

“I told him, ‘Just run ’em off their feet,’ ” Bennett said.

And that’s exactly what Perez did aboard Cool Cowboy, as they raced three wide to the turn of the six-furlong race head-and-head for the lead, then swept to the front, and the rest, as they say, was history. The speedy colt scored by 3 1/2 lengths for his third win from five career starts, but as his trainer pointed out Monday, he worked for it.

“He was a tired horse,” Bennett said. “He came back blowing pretty good, and it took a little time for him to bounce back, but then he had every right to be tired. He went 21 [seconds] and change and 45, then opened up to the eighth pole. That’s going to take a toll.”

Bennett is looking at the $100,000, seven-furlong Pasco Stakes on Jan. 4 for Cool Cowboy’s next start, but said he’s going to see how his charge does over the next few days before making any plans.

“I’ll let him tell me how he’s doing,” Bennett said.

Early Entry, who raced wide while moving up out of the turn, finished well to be second and galloped out strongly, indicating that he could improve with more distance.

Great start for De La Cruz

Fernando De La Cruz has served notice that he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with this meeting. Last year’s second-leading rider here reeled off eight wins through this meet’s first three cards, including a score aboard My Sweet Dove in Saturday’s $83,500 Sandpiper Stakes.

De La Cruz, who posted his 1,000th win Wednesday, used a heady front-end ride aboard My Sweet Dove to upset the heavily favored Enquete from the powerful Todd Pletcher barn and is the kind of jockey owners, trainers, and bettors love: a hungry, aggressive professional riding live horses for top outfits.

De La Cruz won races for trainers such as Jamie Ness and Jason DaCosta in the opening days, and continued support from stables like those could help him have a huge meet.

Promising juveniles

While Saturday’s stakes certainly had their share of talented runners, there were some other noteworthy performances on the card, which featured nine races for 2-year-olds.

Mighty Brown, who had placed in a pair of stakes in Louisiana, responded to having the blinkers removed by posting a hard-fought three-quarter-length win over a determined Taquito, covering six panels in a very quick 1:10.21, almost a second quicker than the final clocking for the Inaugural.

The best maiden turf tilt of the day may have been the ninth race, in which trainer Mike Dini’s Merry Merry Bee upset a field that included well-bred starters sent out by high-profile trainers Todd Pletcher, Graham Motion, and Tom Proctor. The runner-up, Babe’s Ruler, had a terrible trip and could have a future on the grass.