Grade 3, $250,000 Sam Davis Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Tampa Bay Downs, Feb. 9, 2019
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Well Defined, by With Distinction
Trainer: Kathleen O’Connell
Jockey: Pablo Morales
Owner: Stonehedge LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 93
Scott Coles is 34. On day three of his very first National Horseplayers Championship at Treasure Island in Las Vegas, Coles needed the winner in a four-horse field to take down the lucrative contest.
Coles led the NHC by $5.80 heading into the contest’s final heat, Santa Anita's race 9, which had been carded for turf but moved to dirt after mid-card rain, leading to 10 scratches. Coles backed a 7-5 shot named Fiery Lady, who swooped down on two leaders at the quarter-pole and made the front.
The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, closed as the favorite over Game Winner after three days of betting into Pool 2 of the 2019 Kentucky Derby Future Wager. The pool opened Friday at noon Eastern and ran through 6 p.m. Sunday.
The field closed at 5-2, followed by Game Winner (5-1), Hidden Scroll (7-1), Improbable (7-1), Instagrand (10-1), and War of Will (17-1). The lowest $2 exacta will-pay is Game Winner over Improbable (3-9), worth $52.40.
Aqueduct | Race 6 | Post Time 3:29 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs
RACE 6: ZYANARA comes off an easy win going seven panels but she's certainly proven going a mile, and she should get ample pace here. MALINE has won two straight and she's another who figures to benefit from the expected race flow. KISS THAT DUDE has steady figures, outside of the effort two back where she was pace compromised, but that doesn't figure to be the case here (3).
Race 6: Rachel’s Blue Moon (#4)
Was compromised by taxing paces in her last few starts going a route of ground.
Deserves a chance to sprint on dirt, as she’s rarely been given a fair chance to do so.
Jimmy Jerkens gets a 100 TimeformUS Trainer Rating with horses coming off layoffs of this type.
8-1 on ML
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Aqueduct | Race 8 | Post Time 4:34 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs
With Rymska scratching from Saturday’s Grade 3 Endeavour at Tampa Bay Downs, running instead at Gulfstream in the Suwannee River, here is my revised late Pick 4 play for Saturday afternoon at Tampa. Selections have their program numbers listed, as well as A or B designations for primary or secondary betting emphasis within DRF’s TicketMaker wagering tool.
Race 9: The Suncoast
Tampa Bay Downs | Race 11 | Post Time 5:25 p.m. (ET)
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