Walk In Marrakesh, Starship Jubilee among supporting cast on Tampa Derby card

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Before the Tampa Bay Derby is run Saturday, four consecutive stakes to foreshadow its importance will directly precede the annual Tampa Bay Downs showcase event.

Three of the four supporting stakes will be run over the grass around two turns, with only the Challenger, for older horses at 1 1/16 miles, being run over the main track.

The five stakes on the card will be linked through an all-stakes pick five wager that begins with the Columbia (race 7) and concludes with the Tampa Bay Derby (race 11). An all-stakes pick four covers the Challenger (race 8) through the Tampa Bay Derby. Other multi-race wagers that involve the stakes are rolling pick threes, a pick five on races 8-12, and a pick four on races 9-12, both of which conclude with a one-mile turf race for maiden 3-year-old fillies.

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Here’s a quick rundown:

Florida Oaks (race 10)

Walk In Marrakesh makes her return in the Grade 3, $150,000 Florida Oaks, and no one is more eager to see her in action than her trainer, Ignacio Correas. A full gate of 12 3-year-old fillies will go postward in the 1 1/16-mile turf race.

“We’ve been pointing to this for a couple of months now,” Correas said. “When they turn 2 to 3, it’s pretty important. She’s been doing things great, and I hope she makes the change well.”

In her most recent start and first on the continent, Walk In Marrakesh finished second by a nose in the Grade 1 Natalma over the Woodbine turf in September. The winner of the Natalma was Abscond, whose trainer, Eddie Kenneally, is represented here by Outburst, a flashy allowance winner in her North American debut here last month.

Other possibilities in a deep lead-in to the main event include Micheline and Ivyetsu, both in off solid efforts in the Sweetest Chant five weeks ago at Gulfstream Park, and New York Groove, an unbeaten filly trying turf and two turns for the first time after four wins over synthetics.

Hillsborough (race 9)

For a mare who was supposed to be retired, Starship Jubilee sure has been busy. The likely favorite in the Grade 2, $200,000 Hillsborough, she will be making her third start in a seven-week span when part of a full field of 12 fillies and mares in this 1 1/8-mile turf race.

Kevin Attard will be here from his winter base at Gulfstream to saddle Starship Jubilee, a 7-year-old Florida-bred with 16 wins and more than $1.35 million in earnings from 34 starts. Attard had said last fall that Starship Jubilee was headed to the breeding shed, but upon further review, she has continued running – and winning, with victories in the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf and the Suwannee River preceding this.

Chad Brown will do his best to slow the Starship Jubilee juggernaut by sending the trio of Magic Star, Beautiful Lover, and Altea from his Atlantic Coast winter base. Brown has won four of the last eight runnings of the Hillsborough, including the last two with Fourstar Crook (2018) and Rymska (2019).

Challenger (race 8)

King for a Day, whose upset over Maximum Security last June at Monmouth Park was one of the notable outliers of the 2019 racing season, will make his first start in more than seven months when he faces seven other older horses in the $100,000 Challenger, which carries a Grade 3 ranking for the first time in its 29-year history.

King for a Day “needed some time off after the Haskell and has come back very strong, very straightforward in his training,” trainer Todd Pletcher said.

Trophy Chaser, in off a Gulfstream allowance win that resulted in a 103 Beyer Speed Figure, is among the chief opposition, along with Prompt, Noble Drama, and Admiralty Pier.

Columbia (race 7)

This one-mile turf race that drew 10 3-year-olds appears to be the most wide-open of the five stakes, with more than half the field claiming a reasonable chance at victory. Chapalu, off a failed experiment over dirt in the Sam F. Davis here last month, figures among a core of lukewarm favorites in the $75,000 Columbia, along with Summer Assault, King Theo, Me and Mr. C, and Mr. Kringle.

“We kind of had in mind all along that he was a turf horse,” said Arnaud Delacour, trainer of Chapalu. “But we wanted to check all the boxes with him, which is why we ran in the Sam Davis. It didn’t work out.”

Point of Honor returns

Aside from the five stakes, the 12-race card is made up entirely of races for females – four for 3-year-old fillies and three for older fillies and mares. One of those races, a $36,500 overnight handicap named the Manatee (race 2), is a seven-furlong race that marks the 4-year-old debut of Point of Honor, who last year won the Suncoast here and Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico before finishing second in the Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama.

“We initially were going to the Azeri next weekend at Oaklawn and didn’t plan to enter in this spot,” said her trainer, George Weaver. “But it’s a long year ahead, and with the layoff and everything, we thought this was the better way to start her off.”

Aside from the base purses for all races listed here, there also are bonuses for registered Florida-breds. For instance, the Florida Oaks offers an additional $50,000 for eligible runners.