OLDSMAR, Fla. – A key Kentucky Derby prep already featuring plenty of unknown variables apparently will have another one thrown into the mix when the Tampa Bay Derby is run amid what forecasters are saying is a 100 percent chance of rain for Saturday.
Skip to main content
Create Your DRF Account
New to DRF?
Everything you could possibly
need in one place
need in one place
Register
Don't have an account?
Register Here
DRF Past Performances
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Oh, great. Local forecasters are calling for a 100 percent chance of rain for the biggest day of the Tampa Bay Downs meet Saturday, although the prospect of a sloppy track sure didn’t keep horsemen from flooding the entry box for the Tampa Bay Derby.
A capacity field of 12 3-year-olds was entered here Wednesday for the Tampa Bay Derby, the only points qualifier toward the May 7 Kentucky Derby scheduled for this weekend or next.
Shipsational
Midshipman – Regal Approach, by Thunder Gulch
Bred in New York by Mr. and Mrs. Bertram R. Firestone ($27,000 Keeneland November weanling purchase by Blackwater Sales; $210,000 OBS March juvenile purchase by High Point Bloodstock)
The consistent Shipsational, a statebred stakes winner who reaches for the brass ring in this weekend’s Tampa Bay Derby, is from a family that has found success at a variety of pursuits.
Eddie Barker’s favorite movie is “Hoosiers,” and there’s a line in the film, uttered by the actor Gene Hackman, that Barker has kept at the forefront of his mind in recent weeks.
“There’s a tradition in tournament play to not talk about the next step until you’ve climbed the one in front of you,” Hackman, who plays coach Norman Dale, tells his team in the locker room before a pivotal game.
Tue, 03/08/2022 - 12:24
Eight new names are among the 23 individual betting interests in the fourth of five pools in the 2022 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Friday along with the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.
Both pools open Friday at noon Eastern, with closing time for Pool 4 set for Sunday at 6 p.m. and the Oaks pool closing 30 minutes later.
$125,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes, 1 1/16 miles (Tapeta), Turfway Park, March 5, 2022
(10 Derby qualifying points for first, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Tiz the Bomb, by Hit It a Bomb
Trainer: Kenny McPeek
Jockey: Alex Achard
Owner: Magdalena Racing
Beyer Speed Figure: 82
Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes; one mile; Aqueduct; March 5, 2022
(50 Derby qualifying points for first, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)
Winner: Morello, by Classic Empire
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Jockey: Jose Lezcano
Owner: Blue Lion Thoroughbreds, Craig Taylor, and Diamond T Racing
Beyer Speed Figure: 96
Classic Causeway is all set for his role as the favorite in the Tampa Bay Derby after having his final prerace breeze Saturday at the Palm Meadows training center on the Atlantic Coast.
Classic Causeway was a dominant winner of the Feb. 12 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs. The chestnut colt went five furlongs in 59.80 seconds in preparing for the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby, to be run Saturday as the annual Festival Day showcase at Tampa in Oldsmar, Fla.
Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Gulfstream Park, March 5, 2022
(50 Derby qualifying points for first, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)
Winner: Simplification, by Not This Time
Trainer: Antonio Sano
Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Owner: Tami Bobo
Beyer Speed Figure: 96