Triple Crown Prospects in Sam F. Davis Stakes
By: Nicolle Neulist, Blinkers-Off
Sam F. Davis was a businessman in the Tampa area who served as president of Tampa Bay Downs from 1972 through 1980. The next year, the track inaugurated this
stakes for three-year-olds in his honor.It has been run on dirt at a mile and a
sixteenth every year but 1981 (one mile seventy yards) and 1985 (seven furlongs) and gained its Grade 3 status in 2009.
A prep for the Tampa Bay Derby, six horses have followed a win in this race up with a win in Tampa Bay Downs's richest event of the year: Phantom Jet (1987), Speedy Cure (1991), Marco Bay (1993), Thundering Storm (1996), Burning Roma (2001), and Destin (2016).
Though no one has yet won the Sam F. Davis and then one of the Triple
Crown races, three Todd Pletcher trainees have come close. Bluegrass Cat
(2006) finished second behind Barbaro on the first Saturday in May, and
also finished second behind Jazil in the Belmont.The aforementioned
Destin missed by just a nose to Creator in the Belmont, and Tapwrit came
close the other way: second behind McCraken in the 2017 running of the
Sam F. Davis. He went on to win the Belmont four months later.
Catholic Boy comes into the Sam F. Davis as the class of the field. He has never put forth a poor effort in four
career starts, and though most of them came on turf, he handled dirt well two
months ago with a decisive victory in the Remsen (G2). He hails from the barn of Jonathan Thomas, who
knows how to get a horse ready to fire off a lay,
and Catholic Boy himself ran a good fourth behind Mendelssohn in the Breeders'
Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) last year, first off a two-month freshening. The biggest question about Catholic Boy? The surface. It has
claimed so many before, horses who had such good form coming in but could not handle the deep, beach-sand
footing at Tampa Bay Downs. Even
though he has a few works over the surface, if there is a credible alternative
proven on race day, it's worth looking there.
Enter Vino Rosso. Though Vino Rosso will not be a massive
price -- probably the second betting choice after Catholic Boy – he is the only
one in the field with a victory over the Tampa Bay Downs dirt. The well-meant Todd Pletcher trainee got his
diploma at Aqueduct in November, then returned with a comfortable N1X allowance
score at Tampa on December 22. Rider
John Velazquez paired with Vino Rosso for both of those outings and returns to the irons here. This will be Vino Rosso's first test, but in
neither of his previous efforts did it look like he showed his bottom. He'll likely get the jump on Catholic Boy,
and just a reasonable step forward from his previous work gets Vino Rosso to
the wire here.
The other major contenders in this race include Flameaway, Hollywood Star, and Vouch.
Flameaway
has been strong on the turf, but his one effort on dry dirt
disappointed.
Hollywood Star
was scratched from the Holy Bull to run here, but he has the
same Tampa surface question as Catholic Boy and should both take to the surface
it seems Catholic Boy stands to out finish
him.
Vouch
has the most appeal among this group. He has major tables to turn on Catholic Boy
from the Remsen, sure. But, the cut back
to a mile and a sixteenth from the mile and an eighth last out may serve in
Vouch's favor. Though Flameaway
may give Vouch some contention on the front end, the son of Yes It's True has
shown some tactical speed and has more
trustworthy dirt form of the front-end pair.
And, though he has never raced at Tampa, he does come out for trainer
Arnaud Delacour and rider Daniel Centeno, who both know the racetrack (and its
winners' circle!) as well as anyone.
Selections:
#3 Vino Rosso
#6 Catholic Boy
#7 Vouch
Longshot: #1 Navy Armed Guard is the sole maiden in the field
but has been consistent enough to hit the board in four of his five outings to
date. What makes him most interesting is
his most recent race -- his first over the Tampa dirt, and his first at two
turns. Second,
beaten a neck, the Joan Scott trainee ran the best race of his career so far and proved he could handle the Tampa
surface. Navy Armed Guard is going the
right way and should be good enough to
rally late and invade the exotics at a big price here.
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