OLDSMAR, Fla. – Independence Hall was assigned post 4 in a field of eight 3-year-olds entered Wednesday in the Grade 3, $200,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, to be run for the 40th time Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs.

The Davis is the lone Kentucky Derby qualifier across the country this weekend. It’s one of the last 17-point preps (10-4-2-1), along with the Feb. 15 El Camino Real and Feb. 17 Southwest.

Independence Hall, unchallenged in three starts, will have Jose Ortiz back aboard in the 1 1/16-mile Sam Davis.

Hog Creek Hustle is being aimed toward the Gulfstream Park Mile, a one-turn mile Feb. 29 at Gulfstream, trainer Vickie Foley said Wednesday.

“We’re still waiting to hear on shipping,” said Foley, who trains Hog Creek Hustle for Something Special Racing LLC. “Hopefully, he’ll be able to fly.”

Hieronymus will remain on turf and stay at Fair Grounds for his next start following an impressive victory Saturday in the Randy Romero Memorial.

Hieronymus got an easy lead in the Randy Romero, and proceeded to dominate his opposition with a very fast final quarter-mile. He won the one-mile grass race by 9 3/4 lengths and got a robust 92 Beyer Speed Figure while winning for the third time in four starts.

While many of North America’s leading older-male dirt horses are heading off to the Arabian Peninsula for the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 29 and the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 28, Tom’s d’Etat is chilling in New Orleans.

The lightly raced 7-year-old ended his 2019 campaign with sharp wins in the Grade 2 Fayette at Keeneland and the Grade 1 Clark at Churchill on Nov. 29, had an easy December after being shipped to Fair Grounds, and on Feb. 1 posted his first workout since the Clark when he breezed three furlongs in 38 seconds under Miguel Mena.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In the summer of 2017, when he decided that he wanted pursue a career as a jockey, Luis Cardenas did what most people do when they’re interested in learning more about something.

He went to Google.

Cardenas, who had been working as a groom at Monmouth Park, googled “training centers near me.” He found one in Virginia, but when Cardenas called no one answered. Next on the list was the Webb Carroll Training Center in South Carolina. Cardenas called and inquired about working there. The next day he received a return call to come down.

ARCADIA, Calif. – McKinzie, unraced since a second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November, worked five furlongs in 1:01.20 at Santa Anita on Wednesday for the $20 million Saudi Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 29.

Trained by Bob Baffert, McKinzie will have his first international start in the Saudi Cup, which is run at 1 1/8 miles on dirt.

The Baffert-trained Authentic, winner of the Grade 3 Sham Stakes on Jan. 4, worked five furlongs in 1:01.20 for an expected start in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 7.

ARCADIA, Calif. – True Valour broke slowly and was stranded wide in the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez Stakes for turf sprinters on Jan. 1 at Santa Anita. He finished eighth of 10 as the 5-2 second choice, beaten four lengths. It was not his sort of trip.

“He didn’t break,” trainer Simon Callaghan recalled Wednesday. “He was wide and had no cover. Nothing went right for him.”

Spun to Run, the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner who was scratched out of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 25, is at Dr. Patty Hogan’s Fair Winds Farm in New Jersey getting some time off, owner Bob Donaldson said Wednesday.

“When I get concerned about a horse I send them to Patty,” Donaldson said. “He could use some home-cooking for a while, get his coat back, get him looking like the champion he is.”

Trainer Juan Carlos Guerrero said Spun to Run is still dealing with a little bit of skin disease.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Well Defined will be looking for his first victory since going wire to wire in the 2019 Sam Davis when he faces five other older horses in the Friday feature at Tampa, a $25,000 allowance carded as the fifth of nine races. No Dozing and Big Dollar Bill are among the other notables in the mile and 40-yard race.

A second allowance follows an hour or so later as race 7. It’s a $22,500 first-level turf mile that drew nine 3-year-old fillies. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – The Sam F. Davis is the primary focus of an annual Festival Preview Day card Saturday that leads to a second day of high-profile stakes on March 7, Tampa Bay Derby Day. The most accomplished runner in any of the three supporting events Saturday is Got Stormy, who figures as a heavy favorite in the Grade 3, $150,000 Endeavour for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf.