Three stakes including the $150,000 Pasco Stakes top the Tampa Bay Downs card on Saturday.
The 27th running of the Pasco, which in recent years has been captured by subsequent Grade I winners Book’em Danno (2024), Win Win Win (2019) and World of Trouble (2018), is Saturday’s main event on a 10-race Skyway Festival Day card that includes the 41st edition of the $150,000, 7-furlong Gasparilla Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, scheduled as the fifth race, and the 41st running of the $100,000, mile-and-a-sixteenth Wayward Lass Stakes for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward, which is the seventh race.
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Post time for Saturday’s first race is 12:30 p.m. Irad Ortiz, Jr., the five-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey, will be traveling from Gulfstream Park and has been named by trainer Brian Lynch to ride stakes winners Owen Almighty in the Pasco and Mrs Worldwide in the Gasparilla. Ortiz is also named on Peignoir for trainer Rodolphe Brisset in the Wayward Lass.
Junior Alvarado, who is also coming in from Gulfstream, has the assignment on Rookie Card for conditioner Danny Gargan in the Pasco and Dancing Magic for Michael Campbell in the Gasparilla. Alvarado will ride Little Jamie for trainer Robert Medina in the Wayward Lass.
Six Go in Pasco
Here is the field for the Pasco in post position order, followed by the horse’s jockey and trainer: 1. Juan Colorado, Cipriano Gil, Abraham Gardea; 2. Very Bold, Jesus Castanon, Eoin Harty; 3. Cockeyed, Antonio Gallardo, Terri Pompay; 4. Rookie Card, Junior Alvarado, Danny Gargan; 5. Naughty Rascal, Edwin Gonzalez, Gerald Bennett; 6. Owen Almighty, Irad Ortiz, Jr., Brian Lynch.
While the Kentucky Derby is 16 weeks away, horsemen looking to proceed more cautiously – and, perhaps, realistically – may have their sights trained on the Oldsmar oval’s two Grade III dirt stakes for 3-year-olds: the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes on Feb. 8 and the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby on March 8.
Both the Sam F. Davis and the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby are “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points races.
Gasparilla Draws Field of Seven
Here is the field for the Gasparilla in post position order, followed by the horse’s jockey and trainer:
- Tessitura, Willie Martinez, Eoin Harty; 2. Dancing Magic, Junior Alvarado, Michael Campbell; 3. Lynn’s Milky Way, Jose Ferrer, Luis M. Ramirez; 4. Vuela Paloma, Daniel Centeno, Gerald Bennett; 5. Another Cleeshay, Rosario Montanez, Gary Contessa; 6. Mrs Worldwide, Irad Ortiz, Jr., Brian Lynch; 7. Win N Your In, Miguel Vasquez, Carlos David.
The Gasparilla is a natural stepping stone toward the $150,000, mile-and-40-yard Suncoast Stakes on Feb. 8. The Suncoast is a “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” points race.
Nine Go to Post in Wayward Lass
Here is the field for the Wayward Lass in post position order, followed by the horse’s jockey and trainer:
- Peignoir, Irad Ortiz, Jr., Rodolphe Brisset; 2. Dream Concert, Jose Batista, Kathleen O’Connell; 3. Abundancia, Miguel Vasquez, Victor Barboza, Jr.; 4. American Retro, Antonio Gallardo, Ian Wilkes; 5. Literate, Samy Camacho, Martin Drexler; 6. Louder Than Words, Samuel Marin, Anthony Granitz; 7. Easy Come Easy Go, Sonny Leon, Renaldo Richards; 8. Little Jamie, Junior Alvarado, Robert Medina; 9. America’s Vow, Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr., Tim Hamm.
