OLDSMAR, Fla. – One week after Forte further entrenched himself as the Kentucky Derby favorite, trainer Todd Pletcher will be looking for at least one more of his talented 3-year-olds to emerge as a contender for the May 6 Run for the Roses.
In the process, Pletcher stands an excellent chance to extend his own record for victories by a trainer in the annual showcase at Tampa Bay Downs when represented Saturday by Tapit Trice and Shesterkin in the Grade 3, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby.
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.
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.
Practical Move
Practical Joke – Ack Naughty, by Afleet Alex
Bred in Kentucky by Chad Brown and Head of Plains Partners ($230,000 OBS April 2-year-old purchase by Pierre Amestoy, Leslie Amestoy, and Roger Beasley)
Practical Move is the biggest mover on this week’s Derby Watch Top 20, climbing up the list with his victory in the Grade 2 San Felipe last Saturday. He was part of a strong day for Practical Joke, a son of record-setting leading sire and classic sire Into Mischief.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Mandy Pope counts herself as a Derby dreamer, but she refuses to take it to the extreme.
“It’s very exciting to get caught up in thinking ahead to the Kentucky Derby,” Pope said this week by phone from her Ocala base, “but if I don’t have any horses in the Derby, I’m fine with that. I want to do what’s best for developing the horse in the long run.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – The brilliant and unseasoned Arabian Knight, who went 19 days without a workout during the Santa Anita wet-weather track closures, is back on the tab. An early favorite for the Kentucky Derby after runaway wins in a maiden sprint at Keeneland and Grade 3 Southwest at Oaklawn Park in January, Arabian Knight worked five furlongs Saturday in 59.20.
Arabian Knight is owned by Amr Zedan, whose racing manager is noted California clocker Gary Young. The Santa Anita work was the day’s third-fastest at five furlongs.
$147,500 John Battaglia Memorial, Turfway Park, March 4, 2023
(20 qualifying points for first, 8 for second, 6 for third, 4 for fourth, and 2 for fifth)
Winner: Congruent, by Tapit
Trainer: Antonio Sano
Jockey: Sonny Leon
Owner: Tami Bobo and Lugamo Racing Stable
Distance, time: 1 1/16 miles, 1:43.02 (Tapeta)
Win margin: 3 1/2 lengths
Beyer: 91
