ARE SATURDAY’S STAKES REALLY SO CLEAR-CUT? IT’LL BE FUN TO FIND OUT

Renegade, who’s formally winless in three races as a consequence of being disqualified by the stewards and positioned second behind Paladin in a maiden particular weight race on Oct. 17 at Belmont At The Big A, has been established because the 8-5 morning-line favourite for Saturday’s $250,000, mile-and-a-sixteenth Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

The son of Into Mischief, bred in Kentucky by Robert Low and Lawana Low, owned by the Lows in partnership with Repole Stable and educated by Todd Pletcher, will break from the No. 6 put up in a nine-horse area underneath jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. Two different maidens are entered: The Puma, who completed second in his solely profession begin on Jan. 10 at Gulfstream Park for coach Gustavo Delgado, and Ocelli, who has posted a second and two thirds in three lifetime tries for conditioner Whit Beckman.

The Sam F. Davis is the 11^th and ultimate race Saturday, with a scheduled put up time of 5:30 p.m. The first race is at 12:10 p.m. The Davis is a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” factors race, with 20, 10, 6, 4 and a couple of factors awarded to the highest 5 finishers towards qualifying for a spot within the Run for the Roses beginning gate on May 2.

The second morning-line alternative at 2-1 is Confessional, a son of Essential Quality owned by Steve Landers Racing, LLC and educated by Brad Cox, who received final 12 months’s Sam F. Davis with John Hancock. Confessional breaks from the No. 1 put up and might be ridden by Flavien Prat, who rode John Hancock in 2025.

Here is the total area for the Sam F. Davis Stakes in put up place order, with horse, jockey, coach and morning-line odds:

1. Confessional, Flavien Prat, Brad Cox, 2-1; 2. Epic Desire, Samy Camacho, Todd Pletcher, 15-1; 3. The Puma, Javier Castellano, Gustavo Delgado, 6-1; 4. Game for It, Luis R. Rivera, Jr., 20-1; 5. Ocelli, Joseph D. Ramos, Whit Beckman, 12-1; 6. Renegade, Irad Ortiz, Jr., Todd Pletcher, 8-5; 7. Wayne’s Law, Marcos Meneses, Amador Sanchez, 30-1; 8. Max Capacity, Jevian Toledo, Richard Sillaman, 30-1; 9. Dr. Kapur, Samuel Marin, Saffie A. Joseph, Jr., 5-1.

Pletcher, who has received a report seven runnings of the Sam F. Davis Stakes, has two entrants in Renegade and longshot Epic Desire. He considers the race on the sand-based Oldsmar floor a great place to get a horse’s 3-year-old marketing campaign rolling. “I like the timing (of the race) and the (two-turn) distance,” he mentioned in a textual content message.

Three different stakes races are on faucet on the Festival Preview Day card. The fifth race on the cardboard, the $125,000, mile-and-40-yard Suncoast Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, shapes up on paper as a showdown between Pletcher’s unbeaten (2-for-2) Grade II winner Zany and Cox’s Life of Joy, herself a stakes winner.

Zany, a daughter of American Pharoah owned by Repole Stable, might be ridden by Ortiz and break from the No. 3 put up within the eight-horse area. She is 2-5 on the morning line, which means bettors who wager $2 on her to win will revenue to the tune of 80 cents (if she wins). That’s a ticket many within the crowd may elect to carry onto, on the prospect she seems to be super-special.

While it’s too early to begin evaluating Zany to Pletcher’s 2022 Suncoast Stakes winner Nest, who received an Eclipse Award that 12 months as Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, Pletcher is excessive on Zany’s future. “Zany has trained very well,” he mentioned. “We’re optimistic she can be competitive in some of the same races as Nest.”

Life of Joy, a daughter of Gun Runner owned by Will Stroud, Andrew Farm, Mountmellick Farm and For the People Racing Stable, LLC, will break from the No. 5 put up underneath Prat. She is 2-1 on the morning line.

The Suncoast is a “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” prep race, with 20, 10, 6, 4 and a couple of qualifying factors awarded to the highest 5 finishers towards qualifying for the Longines Kentucky Oaks on May 1.

Although Ortiz and Prat seem like aboard the highest two in every 3-year-old race, Thoroughbreds mature at completely different charges and a longshot (or two) might be ready for a career-best efficiency that can take them to the winner’s circle. That’s why they run the races.

Some observers consider older horses are usually extra constant, which can bode effectively for coach Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.’s 5-year-old Florida-bred mare Mystic Lake in Saturday’s fourth race, the $125,000, 6-furlong Minaret Stakes for older fillies and mares. The morning-line, even-money favourite, she’s going to break from the No. 1 put up underneath Prat.

Mystic Lake, who’s owned by Miller Racing, LLC, BAG Racing Stables, LLC and Stefania Farms, LLC, is 11-for-21 in her profession with earnings in extra of $1.46-million. She is a three-time graded-stakes winner who’s 2-for-2 at Tampa Bay Downs.

And but. … Mystic Lake completed third in her most up-to-date begin, the Dec. 20 Sugar Swirl Stakes, received by 6-year-old Ms. Bucchero. That Florida-bred, who’s owned and educated by Diane Morici, is 10-for-19 lifetime, and though she has by no means run in a graded stakes, Ms. Bucchero’s greatest may be sufficient to tug off a 2-1 “upset” within the six-horse area.

The remaining stakes is the $125,000 Pelican for older horses sprinting 6 furlongs, to be contested as the ten^th race. The 3-1 morning-line favourite is 7-year-old gelding Concrete Glory, owned by Big Frank Stable and educated by Joseph. Ortiz might be aboard from the No. 3 put up. Concrete Glory is a throwback sort of horse, with 17 victories from 40 begins. He has competed at 14 tracks (he completed eighth right here within the 2021 Inaugural Stakes).

Second alternative at 7-2 is coach George “Rusty” Arnold, II’s Track Mate, a 6-year-old horse owned by Calumet Farm. He will break from the No. 5 put up underneath Prat. Arnold started in the present day’s racing with 1,998 profession victories.

Others with good photographs within the Pelican embrace Victoria’s Ranch’s 6-year-old gelding Silver Slugger, educated by Juan Carlos Avila and to be ridden by Sonny Leon; Wound Up, a 6-year-old gelding educated by Jose Francisco D’Angelo and to be ridden by Samuel Marin; and three horses from the barn of coach Gerald Bennett, all Florida-breds – 6-year-old gelding Chrome Ghost, 5-year-old gelding EL Principito and 4-year-old colt Naughty Rascal.

The two different entrants on what seems to be essentially the most wide-open stakes on the cardboard are 4-year-old colt Rolando, educated by Fausto Gutierrez, and Beach Colt, a 7-year-old gelding from the barn of Amador Sanchez.