4 stakes showcase shipping stars on Tampa Bay undercard

The stars will shine Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs, and not just in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby. The card includes four other stakes that have attracted some of the most recognizable names in racing.

The 27th edition of the $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes (G2) going 1 1/8 miles on the turf at 4:31 p.m. EST has attracted a salty field of 10 older fillies and mares. Chad Brown, who has trained a record six winners of the race, has three entrants. Six-year-old mare Saffron Moon won the Endeavour Stakes over the same track on Feb. 1. Four-year-old filly Spaliday is a Grade 2 winner. Five-year-old Venencia was a late-charging third in the Endeavour.

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Trainer Graham Motion, a finalist on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot, guns for his third Hillsborough victory 6-year-old Sparkle Blue, who won last year, and 5-year-old Gimme a Nother, a 7-for-7 South Africa import who makes her first U.S. start.

Motion also will shoot for his third triumph in the Florida Oaks (G3) on the turf with Smart Union and Pretty Lavish.

While maintaining his winter base in South Florida at Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Motion keeps about 12 horses stabled at Tampa Bay Downs in the hands of his assistant Anne Sinchak. She, like Motion, came up through the ranks under the late Hall of Fame conditioner Jonathan Sheppard.

Motion, a two-time winner of the Tampa Bay Derby, said he points many of his horses to this card every year for a variety of reasons.

“The timing works well for us. These races fit in real well with some of our horses’ schedules, and the turf course is very appealing,” Motion said. “The grass holds up so well there. They take good care of it, and it’s a fairer course than a lot of others we run on, especially this time of year.”

Trainer Christophe Clément also is on the Hall of Fame ballot, and he hopes to capture his second Hillsborough with 5-year-old Eternal Silence. She makes her first start since an allowance victory in July.

Clément also has Revolutionnaire in the 19th edition of the $125,000 Columbia Stakes on the turf at 3:28 p.m. EST, a race he has won three times.

Mark Casse, a member of both the U.S. and Canada halls of fame, has 3-year-old fillies Nitrogen and Smudge in the 42nd running of the $200,000 Florida Oaks (G3) on the turf at 5:03 p.m. EST. He also has Dream On in the Columbia and Brodeur in the Tampa Bay Derby.

Bill Mott, another Hall of Famer, entered 6-year-old entire Bendoog in the 34th running of the $125,000 Challenger (G3) for older horses at 1 1/16 miles on the main track at 2:21 p.m. EST.

In career accomplishments, Challenger favorite Skippylongstocking has set a high bar. Few Thoroughbreds in training are as popular as 6-year-old Skippy, who has won 9 of 29 starts while amassing $3,365,985 in earnings.

Purchased for $37,000 as a 2-year-old by owner Daniel Alonso, Skippylongstocking has raced at 15 different tracks in the care of trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. His graded-stakes victories include the Charles Town Classic (G2) twice, the Oaklawn Handicap (G2), the Harlan’s Holiday (G3), the West Virginia Derby (G3) and the last two runnings of the Challenger.

Skippy’s jockey Tyler Gaffalione is part of the South Florida jockey colony traveling to Tampa Bay Downs for Saturday’s card. So are Hall of Famer Joel Rosario, reigning Eclipse Award champion Flavien Prat, Irad and José Ortiz, Florent Géroux and Dylan Davis.

Frankie Dettori also will be at Tampa Bay Downs for the first time. He will ride Avenue Niel in the Hillsborough, Celtic Motif in the Florida Oaks, Versus in the Columbia and Gold Stamp in the 12th race.

Dettori has ridden 20 graded-stakes winners since moving his tack to the United States in 2024.

“Everyone knows who he is, and he’s well-received wherever he goes,” said his agent, Ron Anderson. “He’s a bit of a rock-and-roll star. He is positive about the game, and he gets just as excited about a $20,000 claiming race as a Grade 1 stakes.”

“I’ve seen (Tampa Bay Downs) on TV many a time, and I enjoy new challenges. It’s another tick in the box in my career,” said Dettori, now based at Gulfstream Park. “I like traveling, and I always welcome these kind of things with open arms. ... I’ve ridden all around the world to become as good as I can be, and I’m looking forward to coming to Tampa.”

Dettori’s enthusiasm is well-known, and his performances have strengthened his bonds with his American fans. Anderson, who also represents Rosario and has worked for Fernando Toro, Jerry Bailey, Gary Stevens, John Velazquez, Garrett Gómez and other top jockeys, said Dettori possesses an aura all his own.

“Frankie is a different spirit, and that is something that is always needed,” Anderson said. “He’s a special guy and a special rider.”

Dettori is 54, but you don’t have to squint hard to envision him as he appeared at the start of his career in the late 1980s, especially during a race.

“Whatever little physical (edge) might not be the same, the guys who ride at that level into their 50s outthink the other riders,” Anderson said. “Mike Smith, Johnny V., Frankie. Their thought process is brilliant from doing it so many years.”