Neither the Suncoast Stakes nor the Sam F. Davis Stakes, both run at Tampa Bay Downs, are graded stakes races, but that doesn't seem to bother trainer Todd Pletcher. He has made it no secret that he loves to put some of his best 3-year-old candidates on the Tampa route to Churchill Downs, and he will be doing so again on Saturday.
Zany (American Pharoah), currently ranked No. 1 in the TDN's Top 10 poll for the GI Kentucky Oaks, will make her 3-year-old debut in the Suncoast, where she will be heavily favored. In 2022, Pletcher launched the 3-year-old campaign of Nest (Curlin) in the Suncoast, and she went on to win an Eclipse Award that year as the sport's champion 3-year-old filly.
Six races later on the Tampa card, Pletcher will send out one of his top 3-year-old colts in Renegade (Into Mischief). Although technically a maiden, he was second behind the well-regarded Paladin (Gun Runner) in the GII Remsen Stakes and crossed the wire ahead of that same rival in an Aqueduct maiden, only to be disqualified for interference. Pletcher will be seeking his eighth win in the Sam F. Davis.
He said he likes the timing of the Suncoast and the fact that it is run around two turns. The first two 3-year-old filly preps at Gulfstream for the Kentucky Oaks are around one turn.
“It's really about the timing and the two-turn aspect of these races,” Pletcher said. “With Zany, she's already won going a mile and an eighth in the Demoiselle. I just didn't feel like it made sense to back her up at Gulfstream, either into the Forward Gal or the Davona Dale, since they are both one-turn races. I like that there was good spacing from the Demoiselle to this, and it gives us ample time to get ready for the [Apr. 3] Ashland at Keeneland.”
Todd Pletcher | Sarah Andrew
Pletcher did not have Zany ready for the GI NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, but had her extra sharp by the time of the GII Demoiselle at Aqueduct Dec. 6. She won by 8 1/2 lengths and earned a Beyer figure of 89.
“It was the way that she did it, the way she showed a high cruising speed and showed that she'll handle the distance very well,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. “She's a filly that's always trained exceptionally well.”
The offspring of American Pharoah typically prefer the turf, but owner Mike Repole was willing to spend $350,000 on Zany at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale and, according the Pletcher, the plan all along was to turn her into a dirt horse.
“She never gave us any reason to think about anything besides dirt,” Pletcher said. “She's out of an Uncle Mo mare [Mo' Green], who's turning out to be a tremendous broodmare. I think she's getting a lot of influence from the Uncle Mo side. She's just always done everything very professionally.”
Zany was one of 11 fillies nominated to the Triple Crown. Pletcher said he's not interested in running her in the Derby, but wanted to keep his options open.
“She's a filly that we think will handle plenty of distance,” the trainer said. “Of course , the Belmont this year will be at a mile and a quarter again. We did run Nest a few years ago in the Belmont and she finished second. We just like to leave our options open. We're not necessarily pointing for the Belmont, but you never know.”
Pletcher will also start Kadabra (Good Magic) in the Suncoast. She's a filly that has only broken her maiden and has never gone beyond 6 1/2 furlongs, but Pletcher believes this may be a good spot for her to earn some black type.
“I think she's better than she ran last time,” Pletcher said. “She was stuck on the inside and under pressure the whole way from the one pole. I think, being a daughter of Good Magic, she might be better stretching out. But I realize she would have to jump way up and move way forward to be in Zany's category. Some black type could be important for her.”
Renegade inside of Paladin before he was disqualified and placed second in a MSW during the Belmont at the Big A meet Oct. 17 | Coglianese
Pletcher said that he likes the Sam F. Davis for many of the same reasons he likes the Suncoast.
“It's much the same scenario as the Suncoast,” he said. “Good timing, a mile and a sixteenth, two turns. The race puts you in a position to come back in four weeks in the Tampa Derby or some other spots, or you could take a little more time and point for another race. We're kind of thinking Sam Davis, Arkansas Derby. This race puts you in a good position with a lot of options. I also feel like it's a good safe surface, and we've had pretty good luck prepping there at Tampa over the years.”
Though Renegade wasn't able to win the Remsen, Pletcher liked what he saw that day.
“I thought he handled the mile and an eighth really well,” the trainer said. “If you watched that race, it seemed like the horses that were in post five and inside got pretty good trips, and the horses who broke from the six post out had it pretty rough. Going into the first turn, they got stuck pretty wide. I thought he ran very well. I think he showed that he's going to handle the trip and, for only his third start, I thought it was an excellent performance. And I love the way he's been training coming into this.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount on both Zany and Renegade.
Renegade will be attempting to become Pletcher's second winner in a GI Kentucky Derby prep race within a week. The other winner, of course, is Nearly (Not This Time), the impressive winner of the GIII Holy Bull Stakes. Nearly's win came just days after it was announced that Pletcher's top 3-year-old, Ted Noffey (Into Mischief), had been taken off the Kentucky Derby trail due to bone bruising.
“That's the world we live in,” Pletcher said. “Every day is a roller coaster. You come in every day hoping they're healthy and ready to move forward, but you know that they're living, breathing creatures that sometimes have issues. And so in Ted Noffey's case, we felt like it was a tough call the day before. The day before we did some tests, he galloped a mile and a half, and we were in full training. But he was just giving us some signs that he wasn't as good as he was last fall. And we just felt like we had to make a decision sooner than later.
“If you wait another 30 days, another 45 days, you put yourself in a position,” he said. “If the horse needs 90 days off, you could almost blow the whole year. So we had to make a tough decision early in the year to hopefully make sure that we have a horse in really good condition for the summer and fall.”
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