OLDSMAR, Fla. – Ben Colebrook has a simple goal for Knicks Go this winter at Tampa Bay Downs – do enough to return home a legitimate Kentucky Derby contender. The first of two Tampa races for the speedy gray colt will come Saturday, when the Sam F. Davis anchors an outstanding Festival Preview card.
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OLDSMAR, Fla. – Knicks Go surely will be favored Saturday when the Sam F. Davis Stakes is renewed at Tampa Bay Downs, but one of the more compelling reasons to fade the speedy gray colt is this: Todd has one in there against him.
So Alive, a winner in two of three career starts, all for trainer Todd Pletcher, will be making his stakes debut as one of the chief threats to Knicks Go in the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam Davis. The 39th running of the Sam Davis is the lone qualifying points race (10-4-2-1) toward the Kentucky Derby this weekend.
Game Winner, the unbeaten winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the current ante-post favorite for the Kentucky Derby, tops a list of 362 3-year-olds who on Wednesday were announced by Churchill Downs as early nominees to this year’s Triple Crown.
Twelve new names are in the lineup for Pool 2 of the 2019 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Friday at noon Eastern for the customary three-day run.
The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, has been pegged as the 5-2 morning-line favorite in Pool 2 by Churchill Downs linemaker Mike Battaglia, with Game Winner the shortest individually listed interest at 6-1. Then come Improbable (8-1), Instagrand (10-1), and Hidden Scroll (12-1).
Grade 2, $350,000 Holy Bull Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Gulfstream Park, Feb. 2, 2019
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Harvey Wallbanger, by Congrats
Trainer: Kenny McPeek
Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr.
Owner: Harold Lerner LLC, AWC Stables, Nehoc Stables, Scott Akman, and Paul Braverman
Beyer Speed Figure: 85
Grade 3, $252,500 Withers Stakes, 1 1/8 miles, Aqueduct, Feb. 2, 2019
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Tax, by Arch
Trainer: Danny Gargan
Jockey: Junior Alvarado
Owner: R.A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Hugh Lynch, and Corms Racing Stable
Beyer Speed Figure: 96
Grade 3, $147,351 Robert Lewis Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Santa Anita, Feb. 2, 2019
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Mucho Gusto, by Mucho Macho Man
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Joe Talamo
Owner: Michael Lund Petersen
Beyer Speed Figure: 90
Everyone would like it to be early May, with much better weather everywhere, baseball in full swing, and all the pieces of the Kentucky Derby puzzle fitted together.
Instead, it’s early February. The weather isn’t great, at least in a lot of places. We don’t know something as basic as which teams two of baseballs brightest, youngest stars are going to play for, and the Derby puzzle pieces aren’t even all out on the table yet.
Gulfstream Park | Race 11 | Post Time 5:13 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs
There is much to digest in analyzing the major Kentucky Derby prep races across the country on Saturday, including the shuffling of mounts among leading jockeys.
Seven of the 10 horses in Gulfstream Park’s Holy Bull, for example, are experiencing rider changes, as jockeys and their agents go in search of stakes opportunities, not only for the moment, but also in the weeks and months to come, advancing toward the Kentucky Derby.