Rafting Set for 2016 Debut in Sam F. Davis

Last seen registering a decisive stakes victory in his final start of 2015, Wertheimer and Frere's Rafting will try to open his 3-year-old season in similar fashion against an expected six other sophomores in the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes (gr. III) Feb. 13 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Conditioned by Graham Motion, Rafting has put together a nice string of works for his seasonal debut in the 1 1/16-mile Davis. The Tapit   colt has registered a half-dozen drills this season at Palm Meadows Training Center, earning the bullet in half of those moves, including a five-furlong breeze in 1:00.90 Jan. 30, when he was fastest of 29 at the distance.

After finishing off the board in a turf route for his career debut, Rafting has excelled on the main track. He won his second start by 2 1/2 lengths, going seven furlongs on the dirt in a maiden special weight at Saratoga Race Course, then finished third in an allowance race at the Keeneland fall meet and closed out the season with a 2 1/4-length score in the Smooth Air Stakes going a mile on the main track at Gulfstream Park West.

In that stakes win, Rafting rated behind horses early before he edged to the lead in the turn and drew off to the clear victory under jockey Edgar Prado, who returns for Saturday's mount.

The race doesn't carry Road to the Kentucky Derby points, but it is intriguing as horsemen are trying to find out a bit more about where there 3-year-olds stand this winter.

In his previous start, Mercedes Stable's Morning Fire advanced on the Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II) road when the son of Friesan Fire   scored a front-running win in the seven-furlong Pasco Stakes Jan. 23. Morning Fire has finished first or second in seven straight races, including four runner-up finishes in stakes during that stretch. He'll try two turns for the first time Saturday.

"He's plenty fit and I don't know if he's ever been better," said Morning Fire's trainer, Keith Nations "I've been looking forward to stretching him out (in distance) and it will be interesting to see how he handles it.

"It's always a good thing to play in your own backyard and not have to ship, and I think (the Pasco victory) will benefit him. If he handles the distance and gets a good trip, I think he should fit well with those horses."

Also coming out of the Pasco is third-place finisher Awesome Slate, who previously won a stakes race at Northlands Park.

Gary Barber's Whatawonderflworld also enters off a stakes win, a clear victory in the OBS Championship Stakes division for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles. A winner of three straight races, the Tiz Wonderful gelding will try dirt for the first time, as those other two wins came on the turf at Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trainer Todd Pletcher will send out a pair of promising starters in Twin Creeks Racing Stables' Destin, a son of Giant's Causeway   who finished fourth in the Lecomte Stakes (gr. III) Jan. 16 and WinStar Farm's Gettysburg, a son of Pioneerof the Nile   who posted an easy, front-running win in a Jan. 9 maiden test at Gulfstream Park.