Ky. Derby prep: Unbeaten Poster joins field for Sam F. Davis

After turning in an impressive five-furlong breeze Sunday on the Tampa Bay Downs main track, unbeaten 3-year-old colt Poster appears headed to Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, the centerpiece of the Oldsmar oval’s festival preview day.

Poster, whose workout time of 1:01.6 was best of 20 horses at the distance, is one of 10 horses considered likely to compete in the 45th running of the 1 1/16-mile race, which awards Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top five finishers on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale. Owned by his breeder, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Godolphin operation, Poster is trained by Eoin Harty.

A son of Munnings out of Pin Up, by Tapit, Poster concluded his 2-year-old campaign on Dec. 7 in the 1 1/8-mile Remsen Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct under jockey Flavien Prat with a nose victory over Aviator Gui. Poster’s first two victories came on the turf at Ellis Park and Keeneland.

The Sam F. Davis is one of four main-track stakes races on the festival preview day card. Three-year-old fillies will take the spotlight in the $150,000 Suncoast Stakes, a mile and 40 yard contest that awards Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top five finishers. The Godolphin-Harty duo is expected to have a top contender in homebred Deloraine, who won a optional-claiming allowance race on turf at Tampa Bay Downs on Dec. 13 by 8 1/4 lengths.

La Cara, a Grade 3 winner trained by Mark Casse who finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 1 at Del Mar, also is expected for the Suncoast, along with Grade 3-placed Italian Soiree, trained by John P. Terranova II, and Dancing Magic, who won the Gasparilla Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 11 for trainer Michael Campbell.

Stakes winner Her Laugh, trained by D. Whitworth Beckman, is a Suncoast possible.

Saturday’s menu of stakes offerings also includes the $125,000, six-furlong Pelican Stakes for horses 4-year-olds and upward and the $100,000 Minaret Stakes, a six-furlong test for fillies and mares 4 and up.

Most of the national attention will be squarely focused on the Sam F. Davis, which is the major prep race for the $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby (G3) on March 8.

The Sam F. Davis is also expected to attract Oldsmar trainer Gerald Bennett’s Naughty Rascal, a three-time stakes winner owned by Mr Pug and J.P.G. 2 who won the Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 11 via disqualification, and Almighty, trainer Brian Lynch’s colt who was dropped from first to fifth in the Pasco by the stewards for a bumping incident on the far turn.

Naughty Rascal breezed five furlongs at Tampa Bay Downs on Thursday in a sharp 1:00 1/5, while Owen Almighty breezed five furlongs in a minute flat on Saturday at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach.

Among the other Sam F. Davis probables are Very Bold, the official second-place finisher in the Pasco, who is trained by Harty; John Hancock, who broke his maiden at Tampa Bay Downs under jockey Samy Camacho on Jan. 8 sprinting six furlongs for trainer Brad Cox; and Smoken Boy, winner of the Clasico Agustin Mercado Reveron Stakes (G1) on Dec. 8 on a muddy track at Camarero in Puerto Rico, for trainer Jose Francisco D’Angelo.

Also expected as of Monday were Treaty of Rome, a stakes-placed Chad Brown-trained colt; Dr Ruben M, a well-bred son of Vino Rosso trained by Doug O’Neill; Camp Hale, second in all three starts for trainer Ian Wilkes; and Gateskeeper, trained by S. Jade Cunningham.

The field for the Pelican Stakes is expected to be headed by Chrome Ghost and Nutella Fella, who finished 1-2 here on Jan. 11 in a seven-furlong allowance optional claimer won by Chrome Ghost in a swift 1:22.32. The 5-year-old Florida-bred gelding is trained by Gerald Bennett.

Better known to most racing fans, even though he has made only four lifetime starts, is 4-year-old colt Nutella Fella. Trained by Gary Contessa, he won the 2023 Hopeful Stakes (G1) as a 2-year-old at Saratoga and was third the following year in the Woody Stephens Stakes (G1), also at Saratoga.

Other likely Pelican starters include 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding Pure Class, trained by David Fawkes and the winner of last season’s Florida Cup Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore Stakes; 5-year-old Dreaming of Kona, trainer Aldana Spieth’s stakes-winning, graded stakes-placed horse; and 5-year-old gelding Silver Slugger, rained by Juan Carlos Avila. Last year’s Pelican runner-up, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.’s 8-year-old Florida-bred gelding Mish, also was possible.

As of Monday, the Minaret Stakes was expected to draw 5-year-old mare Dazzling Blue, who has never finished out of the money in 10 career starts while earning $422,995. Trained by Brad Cox, her three victories to start her career have been followed by four graded-stakes placings, including a second last May in the Winning Colors Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs.

Other likely Minaret starters include trainer Arnaud Delacour’s graded stakes-placed 5-year-old mare Opus Forty Two, a two-time stakes winner at Tampa Bay Downs; stakes-winning 4-year-old filly Kant Resist It, trained by Jon Arnett; and stakes-winning, graded stakes-placed 4-year-old Miuccia, trained by Gustavo Delgado.

Trainer Bill Mott’s 5-year-old Florida-bred Nic’s Style, who won the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association Florida Sire Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Dec. 14 and is five-for-six lifetime, with a second in last fall’s Gallant Bloom Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct, also was under consideration.