Grade 1 Winners Duel in Stacked Hillsborough

If the trainers of grade 1 winners Marketsegmentation  and Aspen Grove  were hoping for a soft return spot from off the bench, the Tampa Bay Downs racing office had other plans. Tampa's staff compiled a competitive and star-studded field for the March 9 $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes (G2T), making the race a worthy undercard predecessor to the day's featured $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby (G3).

There are many directions one could take in handicapping the 1 1/8-mile Hillsborough. In looking at recent form, Head of Plains Partners' Fluffy Socks  has turned in two back-to-back near-win performances for trainer Chad Brown over the winter. A heartbreaking runner-up in Del Mar's Matriarch Stakes (G1T) in December she subsequently rallied wide to grab fourth, 1 3/4 lengths behind the victorious Didia , in the Jan. 27 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational Stakes (G2T) at Gulfstream Park.

A millionaire and multiple graded stakes winner for Chad Brown, the daughter of Slumber   has been the picture of consistency throughout her career, despite lacking that coveted grade 1 win.

Irad Ortiz will be aboard Fluffy Socks while his brother Jose will be aboard Brown's other entrant, Klaravich Stables' grade 1-winning mare Marketsegmentation.  

Marketsegmentation enjoyed a breakout year in 2023, capturing both the Beaugay Stakes (G3T) and New York Stakes (G1T) at Belmont Park in forward fashion. A wire-to-wire winner of the New York Stakes, it's likely the daughter of American Pharoah  , breaking from the 2 post Saturday, will once again attempt to control the early tempo. Unraced since a fourth-place finish in the Diana Stakes (G1T) last July, expect a fresh horse rolling from the gate.

European imports Aspen Grove and Elusive Princess  capitalized on their North American ventures, scoring top-level wins in last summer's Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) and Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes (G3T), respectively.

Glen Hill Farm homebred Aspen Grove, raced in partnership with Coolmore's M.V. Magnier, turned heads with an electrifying late rally to win the Belmont Oaks but failed to hit the board in her two starts since. The Justify   filly was fifth against the boys over a yielding turf course in the Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) and was then transferred from the barn of Irish trainer James Stack to United States-based conditioner Jack Sisterson. In her first outing for Sisterson, she was a non-threatening sixth in Woodbine's E. P. Taylor Stakes (G1T).

Ridden by what will be her sixth different jockey in 10 trips to the post, Javier Castellano takes the reins on Aspen Grove as she returns from a five-month freshening.

Elusive Princess, group 1-placed in France, made a giant splash in her North American debut in the Saratoga Oaks, garnering a 109 Equibase Speed Figure. Like Aspen Grove, she was also moved to the barn of a U.S. trainer and joined Arnaud Delacour's stable in the fall before a fourth-place effort in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland. Campaigned by LNJ Foxwoods, Elusive, NK Racing, and Church Street Stable, Elusive Princess is only one of two in the eight-horse field that won't need to ship, as she is stabled at Tampa.