(Flameaway nips Catholic Boy in the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay / Photo Courtesy of Tampa Bay Downs)

From the Media Team at Tampa Bay Downs / Mike Henry:

Eleven 3-year-olds will attempt to take a major step toward Thoroughbred immortality this coming Saturday in the Grade 2, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, the centerpiece of Festival Day 38 at Tampa Bay Downs.

The Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, which is a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” Prep Race awarding 50 points to the winner and 20, 10 and 5 points to the next three finishers toward eligibility for the May 5 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve at Churchill Downs, is the 11th race on a 12-race program.

Post time for the first race is 12:12 p.m. The first 7,500 fans through the gates will receive a beach-style cooler bag with paid admission.

The 38th edition of the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, a 11/16-mile event on the main dirt track, is one of three graded stakes on the program and five stakes overall. Total stakes purse money is $1-million, a Tampa Bay Downs record.

The Grade 2, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes, 11/8-mile event on the turf for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward, has drawn a field of 10. It is scheduled as the ninth race.

Saturday’s other graded stakes is the Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks for 3-year-old fillies, to be run at a distance of a 11/16-mile on the turf. There are 12 horses entered for the Florida Oaks, which is the 10th race.

The other stakes are the $100,000 Challenger for horses 4-years-old-and-upward at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the main track, slated as the eighth race, and the $75,000 Columbia for 3-year-olds at a mile on the turf, which has drawn a field of 14 and will be the seventh race on the program.

Four graded-stakes winners are entered in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, including Grade I winner Free Drop Billy, who is also entered in the Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct in New York. Owned by Albaugh Family Stables and trained by Dale Romans, Free Drop Billy won the Grade I Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity in October at Keeneland.

The other graded-stakes-winning entrants include Grade 2 winner Enticed (also entered in the Gotham), from the barn of trainer Kiaran McLaughlin; Untamed Domain, who won the Grade 2 Summer Stakes last September at Woodbine on the turf, trained by H. Graham Motion; and Flameaway, a dual-Grade 3 winner trained by Mark Casse who captured the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes on Feb. 10 at Tampa Bay Downs in his most recent start.

The Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby has produced two winners of the Kentucky Derby: Street Sense in 2007 and Super Saver (third in the Tampa Bay Derby) in 2010.

Here is the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby field in post position order, with trainers and jockeys:

  1. Arazi Like Move, Aldana Gonzalez, Scott Spieth;
  2. Tiz Mischief, Dale Romans, Joel Rosario;
  3. Vino Rosso, Todd Pletcher, John Velazquez;
  4. Grandpa Knows Best, Kenneth McPeek, Julien Leparoux;
  5. Flameaway, Mark Casse, Jose Lezcano;
  6. Enticed, Kiaran McLaughlin, Antonio Gallardo;
  7. Free Drop Billy, Dale Romans, rider unnamed;
  8. World of Trouble, Jason Servis, Irad Ortiz, Jr.;
  9. Untamed Domain, H. Graham Motion, Jose Ortiz;
  10. Quip, Rodolphe Brisset, Florent Geroux;
  11. Caloric, Michelle Winters, rider unnamed.

The Hillsborough Stakes has attracted three Grade I stakes winners, all conditioned by top trainers. That collection of accomplished runners includes reigning Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown’s 6-year-old mare Off Limits; Daddys Lil Darling, a 4-year-old filly trained by Kenneth McPeek; and La Coronel, a 4-year-old trained by Casse who finished second here last month in the Grade III Lambholm South Endeavour Stakes on the turf.

Here is the Hillsborough Stakes field in post position order, with trainers and jockeys:

  1. Tricky Escape, Lynn Ashby, Christopher DeCarlo;
  2. Off Limits, Chad Brown, Joel Rosario;
  3. Fourstar Crook, Chad Brown, Irad Ortiz, Jr.;
  4. Bonita, Chad Stewart, Daniel Centeno;
  5. Daddys Lil Darling, Kenneth McPeek, Julien Leparoux;
  6. Lovely Bernadette, James DiVito, Florent Geroux;
  7. Dynatail, Michael Dini, Antonio Gallardo;
  8. Lovely Loyree, Michele Boyce, Jesus Castanon;
  9. La Coronel, Mark Casse, Jose Lezcano;
  10. Proctor’s Ledge, Brendan Walsh, Jose Ortiz.

The Florida Oaks will be run on the turf course for the eighth time. Among the leading sophomore fillies entered are trainer Chad Brown’s French import, Grade III-placed Salsa Bella, and Almond Roca, trained by Motion, who won both the Sandpiper and Gasparilla Stakes here on dirt.

Here is the Florida Oaks field in post position order, with trainers and jockeys:

  1. Beckoning, William Mott, John Velazquez;
  2. Altea, Chad Brown, Jose Ortiz;
  3. Peach of a Gal, H. Graham Motion, Scott Spieth;
  4. Almond Roca, H. Graham Motion, Pablo Morales;
  5. Andina Del Sur, Tom Albertrani, Julien Leparoux;
  6. Closer Still, Mark Casse, Jose Lezcano;
  7. Cash Out, George R. Arnold, II, Florent Geroux;
  8. Over Thinking, Victoria Oliver, Samy Camacho;
  9. Goodthingstaketime, Jorge Abreu, Joel Rosario;
  10. Jehozacat, Arnaud Delacour, Daniel Centeno;
  11. Souper Striking, Michael Trombetta, Antonio Gallardo;
  12. Salsa Bella, Chad Brown, Irad Ortiz, Jr.