OLDSMAR, Fla. – Tapit Trice heads a field of 12 3-year-olds set to go Saturday in the lone Kentucky Derby qualifying race of the weekend, the Grade 3, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs.
Tapit Trice, trained by Todd Pletcher, will leave from post 6 with Luis Saez aboard in the 1 1/16-mile race. The gray Tapit colt will be making his stakes debut following a last-out allowance romp at Gulfstream Park.
Two Phil’s, second in the Lecomte Stakes and third in the Risen Star, has left Fair Grounds and settled into trainer Larry Rivelli’s string at Hawthorne, and will make his next start March 25 at Turfway Park in the $700,000 Jeff Ruby Stakes.
Two Phil’s has made all seven of his starts and dirt and will be trying a synthetic surface for the first time. Rivelli said the other option was a long trip to the $600,000 Sunland Park Derby on March 26, but that race has been ruled out.
Trainer Brad Cox still is sorting where to run a bevy of Fair Grounds-based Kentucky Derby hopefuls. Cox had three runners in the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds and figures to have at least that many in the March 25 Louisiana Derby there.
Trainer Brad Cox won the Honeybee Stakes on Feb. 25 at Oaklawn with Wet Paint, who’s getting a lot of love as a Kentucky Oaks candidate. But Cox might have a better Oaks hopeful stabled in New Orleans, where The Alys Look is working strongly for the Fair Grounds Oaks on March 25.
The Aly’s Look on March 4 worked five furlongs at Fair Grounds in 1:00.20, fastest of 31 works at the distance that morning. The breeze came just six days after the filly had drilled a half-mile. “She worked great,” Cox said.
Senor Buscador emerged from his comeback race in good order and now has several options for his next start, trainer Todd Fincher said Tuesday.
Senor Buscador made his first start since the Breeders’ Cup on March 5, winning the $75,000 Curribot Handicap at Sunland Park. He stalked the pace and cruised home by four lengths, while covering the 1 1/16 miles distance in a strong 1:42.75.
“It was a very nice comeback race for him,” said Fincher.
A couple months into his 5-year-old season and with 15 starts behind him, Proxy remains a work in progress.
After running a thoroughly professional race winning the Grade 1 Clark Stakes last November, Proxy fell out the back door while resenting the kickback before rallying belatedly to finish fifth in the Pegasus World Cup. And this past Saturday, a lack of focus during the middle stages of the race cost Proxy victory in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap.
Confidence Game, one-length winner of the Rebel Stakes on Feb. 25 at Oaklawn Park, is unlikely to run back March 25 in the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds, where he is training. Trainer Keith Desormeaux is keeping options open for Confidence Game, who could run on April 1 in the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn, on April 8 in the Blue Grass at Keeneland, or train right into the Kentucky Derby.
With a forecast for significant rain on Friday, Golden Gate Fields will run an eight-race program on Thursday that was originally scheduled for Friday.
Entries for the eight-race program are unchanged. First post time is 12:45 p.m. Pacific.
Forecasts call for more than two inches of rain beginning late Thursday into Friday evening, with the bulk of the rain expected from before dawn on Friday and through the day.
Fun to Dream, the winner of the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita in December, was honored on Monday as the California-bred Horse of the Year in a dinner ceremony hosted by the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association.
Fun to Dream, who races for Jill Baffert and Conne Pageler, is off to a fine start this year, having won her 2023 debut in the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes at seven furlongs for fillies and mares at Santa Anita on Feb. 4. Fun to Dream, a 4-year-old filly by Arrogate, is entered in Saturday’s Grade 1 Beholder Mile for fillies and mares at Santa Anita.
Ami Please, second and third in two stakes in Dubai this winter, is scheduled to return to the United States later this month with the hope she can gain a berth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 5.
Trainer Doug O’Neill said Wednesday that Ami Please is scheduled to be sent to his Kentucky division in the final days of March. There is a possibility Ami Please will have a prep race in early April for the Kentucky Oaks.
