Tampa Bay Derby

The TDN Derby Top 12: Forte Crowns Himself The New Kingpin

A trio of graded stakes preps in Florida, California and New York yielded a reshuffled deck this past weekend as we edge within the two-month mark for the May 6 GI Kentucky Derby. 1) FORTE (c, Violence--Queen Caroline, by Blame) 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Repole Stable & St. Elias Stable; B-South Gate Farm (KY); T-Todd Pletcher. Sales history: $80,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $110,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: Ch. 2yo Colt, MGISW, 6-5-0-0, $1,833,230. Last start: Won GII Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park Mar. 4. KY Derby Points: 90....

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Report: Classic Causeway Transferred To McPeek

Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway), winner of this year's GIII Sam F. Davis S. and GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, has been transferred from trainer Brian Lynch to Ken McPeek, Daily Racing Form reports. One of just three members from his sire's final crop, the chestnut was a splashy Saratoga debut winner last September before finishing third to Rattle N Roll (Connect) in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity and to 'TDN Rising Star' Smile Happy (Runhappy) in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Both winners are trained by McPeek. A...

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The Week in Review: Charge It Looks Like a Future Star

No matter how talented a horse might be, going from a maiden win into a race like the GI Curlin Florida Derby is supposed to be too much to ask. You're not seasoned, experienced or battle tested, and those things matter. That's why I thought 3-1 was a ridiculous price on Charge It (Tapit) in Saturday's Florida Derby. Was I ever wrong. After finishing second in his debut in January, the Todd Pletcher-trained colt returned Feb. 12 to win a Gulfstream maiden by 8 1/2 lengths. It was a big...

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Taking Stock: Tampa Bay's Big Day Showcased Top Outfits, Bloodstock

Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Florida, is a gem of a racecourse that doesn't get the accolades it should. Owned by Stella Thayer, president of the track and a member of The Jockey Club, and her brother, Howell Ferguson, Tampa Bay Downs is expertly managed day to day by Peter Berube, vice president and general manager, and Margo Flynn, vice president of marketing. This was obvious on Saturday--"Festival Day 42"--when the track showcased its signature event, the Gll Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, one of five black-type events on the...

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The Week in Review: Classic Causeway Visually Impressive, but Still Light on Key Metrics

Sometimes when a film gets released, the reviews are great but box-office numbers are subpar. A rough parallel on the GI Kentucky Derby trail is when a prep race looks visually appealing, but the underlying metrics--final time, internal splits, speed figures, perceived quality of the field--give cause for pause when trying to assess just how good the performance actually was and what it will mean moving forward. A case in point is Classic Causeway's GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby win Saturday. For the second straight stakes, this final-crop son...

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Classic Causeway Coast To Coast in Tampa Bay Derby

Where it comes to Kentucky West Racing LLC and Clarke M. Cooper's Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway), mapping out race strategy is a fairly straight-forward undertaking. For the second time in as many starts as a sophomore, the handsome chestnut found the front after breaking like a shot and widened his advantage late to take the GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby and secure a berth in the starting gate in the GI Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in eight weeks' time. "That early speed is a great asset to have...

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Classic Causeway Looks To Hold Serve in Tampa Bay Derby

Currently ranked number one on the TDN Triple Crown Top 12, Kentucky West Racing LLC & the Clarke M. Cooper Family Living Trust's Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) will attempt to further cement his position as a chief protagonist of the 2022 sophomore crop when he jumps a warm favorite in Saturday's GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby on what projects a pretty wet afternoon on Florida's Suncoast. One of three from the final crop of the 'Iron Horse' and one of two in the race, the blaze-faced chestnut made the...

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A Small Stable with Big Dreams, Eddie Barker Eyeing Derby

Since he ran his first horse in 1994, Eddie Barker's routine has never changed. Every day, he gets up at an ungodly hour and heads to his work, which is his barn on the NYRA backstretch. The reward has been some winners here and there, but never more than 23 in a single year and not one of them a graded stakes winner. The GI Kentucky Derby? It's a race he watches on television. In a sport dominated by the likes of the Bob Baffert, Todd Pletcher, Chad Brown, Steve...

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From 'Collector's Item' to Derby Trail Kingpin

The Week in Review by T.D. Thornton Five months ago, when Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) caught bettors napping on the final Saturday of the Saratoga season by unleashing a 6 1/2-length, front-running smackdown at 13-1 odds in his first career start, trainer Bryan Lynch told TDN he knew he had a "collector's item" on his hands. Although a shimmering debut didn't hurt, the significance of Lynch's appraisal was pegged to the colt being one of only three named foals from the abbreviated final crop of prolific sire Giant's Causeway. Now,...

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Pletcher Lays Out Plans For Top 3-Year-Olds

With less than three months remaining before the running of the GI Kentucky Derby, trainer Todd Pletcher, with 42 horses nominated to the Triple Crown, will be active in a number of Derby preps as he prepares his troops for his annual invasion of Churchill Downs. Pletcher divulged his plans during this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast, which will be available Wednesday afternoon. Despite finishing third as the favorite in last Saturday's GIII Holy Bull S. at Gulfstream, Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) may represent Pletcher's best chance of winning a...

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Green Gets to the Derby His Way

One after another, the lights were turning red on the young Leonard Green. He had a bad stutter that made him an introvert in mixed company. Dyslexic, too. Couldn't keep numbers in his head: hardly, as such, an accountant in the making. Sure enough, he'd now been fired from a fourth job in a row. "I didn't even know what an entrepreneur was," Green recalls now. "But it turned out to be somebody who thought outside the box, and took calculated risks, and spotted opportunities. And--boom! I suddenly realized that...

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Hidden Stash Works for Derby

BBN Racing's Hidden Stash (Constitution) began preparations for a likely start in the GI Kentucky Derby by working a bullet half-mile in :47.80 Wednesday morning at Keeneland shortly after the track opened for training at 5:30 a.m. The work was the fastest of 23 at the distance for the morning. A well-beaten fourth in Keeneland's GII Toyota Blue Grass S., the GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby runner-up currently ranks 21st on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. A few horses ahead of Hidden Stash are considered not likely to...

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