OLDSMAR, Fla. – Skippylongstocking has a history of bouncing back from poor or inexplicable efforts. He’ll look to do that again Saturday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Challenger Stakes going 1 1/16 miles at Tampa Bay Downs.

Skippylongstocking, third in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, was pulled up midway through the running of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 27 at Gulfstream Park. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said the horse “looked like he was overheated” after jockey Tyler Gaffalione was forced to send him from post 12.

There’s a single Grade 1 Saturday in North America. It’s not the Tampa Bay Derby, but with Kentucky Derby fever heating up, Tampa Bay will get a lot of attention.

The Tampa Bay Derby didn’t do much for me, and while the Hillsborough, the best of the undercard stakes, is an appealing early season filly and mare turf contest, I couldn’t settle on a play. Even sans Hillsborough, this can be a Ladies Day, the focus on female-restricted stakes from coast to coast.

Beholder Mile

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Her 2-year-old campaign didn’t quite turn out the way Chad Brown would have hoped, but Weigh the Risks is still a filly the trainer holds in high regard. Saturday, Weigh the Risks returns from a six-month layoff in a seemingly deep renewal of the Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs.

The Florida Oaks, at 1 1/16 miles on turf, drew a full field of 12 3-year-old fillies.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Sierra Leone may be the leader of trainer Chad Brown’s roster of Kentucky Derby contenders, but Domestic Product, based on his effort in last month’s Holy Bull Stakes, is not far behind.

Saturday, Domestic Product will look to continue his progression to Louisville and the 150th Kentucky Derby when he faces Sam F. Davis winner No More Time and eight others in the Grade 3, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby, the highlight of a 12-race card that offers five other stakes. First post is 11:55 a.m. and the forecast calls for pleasant conditions.

ARCADIA, Calif. – If the Grade 1 Beholder Mile is any indication, California’s top dirt female will be tested more forcefully in 2024 than 2023. It starts Saturday at Santa Anita.

Adare Manor, a front-runner who often benefited by soft pace scenarios, returns from a winter break as the most accomplished runner in the $300,000 Beholder Mile, race 8. But there’s a catch. Her rivals include a fast sprinter whose weapon is speed. The pace might not be so soft.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Spirit Wind and Olivia Darling will both seek their second graded stakes win of the 2023-24 Gulfstream Park Championship meet when they square off in Saturday’s $125,000 Hurricane Bertie. The Grade 3 fixture figures to be anything but a two-horse affair, however, with graded stakes winners Red Carpet Ready and Lady Radler among the six others signed on to go 6 1/2 furlongs over the main track.

Kinza can be part of a celebratory week for top California jockey Juan Hernandez if she can win her second stakes of 2024 in Saturday’s Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita.

Unbeaten in two starts, Kinza will be favored in the $100,000 Santa Ysabel Stakes at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-old fillies, which will be run two days after Hernandez’s 32nd birthday.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – The connections of 2023 graded winners Elusive Princess, Marketsegmentation, and Aspen Grove all landed on the same spot to bring their turf females back to the races, making Saturday’s Grade 2, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs a most intriguing affair.

The Hillsborough drew a solid cast of eight though trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said Thursday he plans to scratch Beechnut Trophy for something a tad easier. The 1 1/8-mile turf race goes as race 9 on Tampa’s 12-race card, kicking off a late pick four which includes the featured Tampa Bay Derby.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – A year ago, the filly-and-mare division at Oaklawn Park was dominated by Grade 1-winning titans Clairiere and Secret Oath.

The pair has since retired and in their absence local leadership is up for grabs in the Grade 2, $400,000 Azeri on Saturday.

The 1 1/16-mile race is one of Oaklawn’s five route stakes for fillies and mares in a series that culminates with the Grade 1, $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap on April 13.