Ky. Derby trail: Freedom Road gets 'better and better' for Sacco

When he arrived at Tampa Bay Downs last fall, trainer Gregg Sacco thought his then-2-year-old colt Freedom Road might be a candidate for the Grade 3, $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby, the centerpiece of Saturday’s card at Tampa Bay Downs.

And even though he has competed only once at the meet, winning a six-furlong optional-claiming allowance race Jan. 21, Freedom Road has done nothing to change Sacco’s opinion.

“He’s come out of each of his workouts since then better and better, and as far as his fitness and energy levels go he is right on cue,” said Sacco, who trains the son of Malibu Moon out of Lovable Lady, by Not For Love, for partners Pinnacle Racing Team and Madaket Stables.

“The Tampa Bay Derby is a very prestigious race, and we’ll be honored and privileged to be a part of it,” Sacco said. “I feel that if he displays the same strong kick he has sprinting, he will be competitive. He’s got the home-court advantage and he’ll be able to walk over from his own barn.

“It looks like there are going to be a lot of talented horses running, and a lot of unknowns. But you’ve got to take a swing in the batter’s box to connect,” Sacco added. “If he runs to our expectations it opens up a wide range of races for us, and if he doesn’t, we know we have a talented sprinter.”

Now 5: 2-1-1, with a third-place finish in October in the Laurel Futurity, Freedom Road is one of at least 10 3-year-olds expected for the 1 1/16-mile Tampa Bay Derby, a major Road to the Kentucky Derby prep race awarding 50 qualifying points to the winner and 20, 15, 10 and 5 to the next four finishers.

The winner of the Tampa Bay Derby will join the Kentucky Derby trail in full force, and most if not all of the others will be forced to regroup. The unknown factor is heightened upon consideration that only one of the probable entrants, trainer Ramon Minguet’s Zydeceaux, has won three races.

The Florida-bred Zydeceaux captured the seven-furlong Pasco Stakes on Jan. 14 then set the pace to the far turn in the 1 1/16-mile Sam F. Davis (G3) on Feb. 11 before finishing fifth, 3 1/4 lengths behind winner Litigate.

That Todd Pletcher-trained colt is being pointed toward the Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds on March 25, but the Hall of Fame conditioner won’t be empty-handed for Tampa Bay Downs’s premier event. He is expected to enter two Tampa Bay Derby runners on Wednesday: Tapit Trice and Shesterkin, the 1-2 finishers in a Feb. 4 optional-claiming allowance dirt mile at Gulfstream Park.

Tapit Trice finished eight lengths clear of his stablemate, and some handicappers are speculating he will be favored to give Pletcher his sixth Tampa Bay Derby triumph.

Others expected to enter included the second- through fourth-place finishers in the Sam F. Davis: trainer Eoin Harty’s Groveland, Mark Casse’s gelding Classic Car Wash and Bill Mott’s Classic Legacy. Also anticipated for the Tampa Bay Derby are Zydeceaux, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.’s colts Prairie Hawk (unplaced in the Sam F. Davis) and West Coast Cowboy (third in the Holy Bull (G3) on Feb. 4 at Gulfstream) and trainer Tim Hamm’s gelding Mikey Bananas, second on Feb. 12 in an optional-claiming allowance at Tampa Bay Downs in his most recent start.

Sacco’s belief that Freedom Road belongs was strengthened by his four-furlong breeze Saturday in 48 1/5 seconds under Hector Rafael Diaz Jr., who was aboard for his maiden score July 23 at Monmouth and will ride him Saturday.

“We’ve had this race in mind since he won in January, and the spacing between that race and each of his workouts has him right on target,” Sacco said. “He has done nothing wrong in any of his races. In the one-mile Sapling at Monmouth (Aug. 27, a fifth-place finish going two turns), he was rank early and didn’t really settle, but he ran steady through the wire and didn’t give an indication he couldn’t go two turns.”

Given his breeding (deceased Malibu Moon sired 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb and more than 100 stakes winners, while dam Lovable Lady won three stakes and almost $400,000), Freedom Road was a real bargain at the 2022 Ocala Breeders’ Sales March sale of 2-year-olds in training. He was picked out by Sacco’s son and assistant, Will, for Michael Ravallo’s Pinnacle Racing Team and purchased for $20,000, with Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stables buying in after his 2-year-old campaign.