Candy Man Rocket Faces Pletcher Pair in Tampa Bay Derby
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Photo: SV Photography
Jockey Junior Alvarado shares a moment with Candy Man Rocket after winning the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs
Between Hall of Famer Bill Mott and 2021 Hall of Fame finalist and all-but-certain inductee Todd Pletcher, the two trainers have combined to win the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) seven times, including five times over the last eight runnings.
That winning trend may continue March 6 in the $400,000 race, where two-time Tampa Bay Derby winner Mott has the probable favorite in Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) winner Candy Man Rocket and five-time Tampa Bay Derby winner Pletcher has a pair of promising last-out maiden winners in Promise Keeper and Unbridled Honor. The three are some of the headliners in the 1 1/16-mile race, an official Road to the Kentucky Derby prep that offers points on a 50-20-10-5 scale to its first four finishers.
Even before the points system began in 2013, the race had an impact on the Triple Crown. Its 2007 winner, Street Sense , won the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) that year, and Super Saver took the Derby three years later after a third-place finish in the Tampa Bay Derby.
More recently, Tapwrit won the Tampa Bay Derby and Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) in 2017.
Saturday's Tampa Bay Derby could be run on a wet track. As of 9:30 a.m. ET March 4, the National Weather Service forecast an 80% chance of showers Saturday in Tampa with the potential for a half-inch of precipitation.
Candy Man Rocket, a son of Candy Ride owned by Frank Fletcher Racing Operations, is 2-for-3, having won a maiden special weight race at Gulfstream Park in his second career start after a debut seventh in the slop at Churchill Downs. Then stretching out for the first time in the Sam F. Davis, he pulled ahead in the lead and opened up a 2 1/2-length lead in midstretch before lasting by a length over stablemate Nova Rags, who is skipping the Tampa Bay Derby.
Video: Sam F. Davis S. (G3)
Quick-working Hidden Stash, third in the Sam F. Davis, does return, as does Boca Boy, the fourth-place finisher and early pacesetter. The latter is a dual winner in the slop.
Promise Keeper splashes home to break his maiden at Gulfstream Park
Promise Keeper, a son by Constitution owned by Woodford Thoroughbreds, WinStar Farm, and Rock Ridge Racing, will likely be the shorter odds of Pletcher's two entries, coming off a second-out victory over a sloppy Gulfstream Park track by five lengths Feb. 6. That followed a fourth to Candy Man Rocket in his Jan. 9 debut at Gulfstream for the Rock Ridge Thoroughbreds-bred runner.
Unbridled Honor took longer to graduate, winning by a half-length in his third start, also Feb. 6, though over the Tampa Bay Downs surface as a race on the Sam F. Davis undercard. The Honor Code homebred colt for Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm has fired two bullet works at Palm Beach Downs leading into the Tampa Bay Derby.
Also entered are stakes winners Super Strong, Helium, and Sittin On Go. Super Strong adds blinkers, while another entrant, Awesome Gerry, races with blinkers off.
Unlike in most stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, the use of Lasix is prohibited for starters in the Tampa Bay Derby, a requirement by Churchill Downs officials for the race to remain eligible for Kentucky Derby qualifying points. Four of the 12 entrants, including the Pletcher duo, raced with Lasix in their previous starts.
The Tampa Bay Derby is one of five stakes at the track on Saturday, including the $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes (G2T), the $200,000 Florida Oaks (G3T), and the $100,000 Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes (G3).
Tampa Bay Downs, Saturday, March 06, 2021, Race 11Entries: Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1My Liberty (KY)
Tomas B. Mejia
117
Maria Ines Mejia
30/1
2
2Super Strong (KY)
Antonio A. Gallardo
117
Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
8/1
3
3Candy Man Rocket (KY)
Junior Alvarado
119
William I. Mott
2/1
4
4King of Dreams (KY)
Samy Camacho
117
Juan Carlos Avila
20/1
5
5Boca Boy (FL)
Angel S. Arroyo
119
Cheryl Winebaugh
15/1
6
6Awesome Gerry (KY)
Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr.
117
Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
15/1
7
7Moonlite Strike (KY)
Daniel Centeno
117
Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
20/1
8
8Hidden Stash (KY)
Rafael Bejarano
117
Victoria H. Oliver
4/1
9
9Unbridled Honor (KY)
Julien R. Leparoux
117
Todd A. Pletcher
20/1
10
10Helium (KY)
Jose C. Ferrer
117
Mark E. Casse
6/1
11
11Promise Keeper (KY)
Luis Saez
117
Todd A. Pletcher
8/1
12
12Sittin On Go (KY)
Roberto Alvarado, Jr.
119
Dale L. Romans
20/1
