Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby, 1 1/16 miles, Tampa Bay Downs, March 11, 2017
(50 Derby qualifying points for a win, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)
Winner: Tapwrit, by Tapit
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Owner: Bridlewood Farm, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, and Robert LaPenta
Beyer Speed Figure: 96
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – There appears to be an ample amount of speed signed on for the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, with such 3-year-olds as American Anthem, Malagacy, Royal Mo, and Uncontested all candidates for the 1 1/16-mile race Saturday. That sits really well with trainer Randy Morse, who will send out the promising Tapit colt Silver Dust.
“The faster they go up front, the better it is for him,” Morse said.
Grade 2, $400,690 San Felipe Stakes; 1 1/16 miles; Santa Anita; March 11, 2017
(50 Derby qualifying points for a win, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)
Winner: Mastery, by Candy Ride
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Mike Smith
Owner: Cheyenne Stable
Beyer Speed Figure: 105
In August 2015, a colt by the continent’s leading sire and out of a Grade 1 winner stepped into the auction ring at Fasig-Tipton’s Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and brought the hammer down for $1.2 million at the company’s boutique Saratoga selected yearling sale.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The joy trainer Bob Baffert felt at watching Mastery win his first start at age 3 on Saturday in the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita turned quickly to disappointment when the 3-year-old colt, one of the top prospects for the Kentucky Derby, was discovered to have a condylar fracture to his left front leg, knocking him off the Derby trail.
Surgery will be performed Monday, Baffert said. He said two screws would be inserted. He did not know if this was a career-ending injury.
ARCADIA, Calif. – In recent weeks, as a number of well-regarded 3-year-olds suffered setbacks on the road to the Kentucky Derby, Mastery has looked better simply by not doing anything. On Saturday at Santa Anita, he will get a chance to show he’s as good now as he was at age 2, when the unbeaten colt makes his 3-year-old debut in the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes.
The Big Cap card Saturday at Santa Anita is truly big, with the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap heading a program that includes two other Grade 1 events – the Frank E. Kilroe Mile and the Triple Bend, each worth $400,000 – plus a strong renewal of the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes, the local stepping-stone to the Santa Anita Derby.
Saturday is also the biggest day of the year at Tampa Bay Downs, where the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby tops a card that includes four other stakes, two of them graded.
Tampa Bay Derby
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Trainer Todd Pletcher has won three of the last four editions of the Tampa Bay Derby and has an excellent chance of continuing his dominance of the race at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday, when he will send out likely favorite Tapwrit and Sonic Mule in a field of 10 3-year-olds.
Uncontested, the winner of the Smarty Jones Stakes in January at Oaklawn, emerged from a March 2 work in good order, and plans for his next start are being discussed with owners Harry Rosenblum and Bob LaPenta, trainer Wayne Catalano said this week. The Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel on March 18 at Oaklawn is one of those options, and another is the Grade 2, $1 million Blue Grass on April 8 at Keeneland.
The Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot got a boost last weekend when Gunnevera, who won the race in November, captured the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. In addition, J Boys Echo, who was fourth in the Jackpot, came back to capture the Gotham at Aqueduct.
Chris Warren, director of racing for Delta, hopes the results will lead to a higher grade for the 1 1/16-mile race that in the past has been won by such horses as Exaggerator, Big Drama, and Goldencents. He said the results of last weekend’s Kentucky Derby preps were meaningful for Delta.
