(The Puma wins the G3 Tampa Bay Derby on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs / Photo Courtesy of Tampa Bay Downs)

From the Tampa Bay Downs Media Team / Lynne Snierson:

OLDSMAR, FL– The Puma stalked the field of nine talented three-year-olds and then pounced in the lane to capture the 46th running of the Grade 3, $400,000 ESMARK Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday and advance on The Road to the Kentucky Derby.

With the victory, The Puma jumped from the maiden ranks into the second spot on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard by earning 50 qualifying points to add to the six points he had acquired from his third-place finish in the Listed Sam F. Davis on this track in his previous start on February 7. The Sam Davis is the traditional prep race for the Tampa Bay Derby.

“We’re a small barn. We have to scout, we have to buy the horses. It’s more gratifying when you only get one or two horses at the sale, and they end up like this. It’s very satisfying. I’m very pleased. It’s not an easy thing when you enter a maiden in a stakes race. People think what are they doing? It’s a good thing when they respond on the track,” Gustavo Delgado, Jr., the assistant trainer to his father, Gustavo Delgado, Sr., told America’s Best Racing from the winner’s circle “From the first time he ran, I said that this is a very good horse, and I kept telling everyone.”

The Puma, who was ridden by Javier Castellano, broke alertly from the far outside post and settled off the pace as the field continued up the backside while 38.80 longshot Redland Rebels under Junior Alvarado set splits of 23.07 and 46.48 for the first half-mile in the 1 1/16 miles test over the fast main track. The Puma steadily advanced while commencing his bid on the far turn, and by the time he reached the readers at the top of the lane, he put his head in front. He dueled through the lane with Further Ado and the 1.50-1 favorite Canaletto, who was ridden by Flavien Prat, and then edged clear by three-quarters of a length at the wire in the final time of 1:43.23 to the delight of the on-track crowd of 9,070.

Further Ado, trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr., was the runner-up, and the Chad-Brown trained Canaletto finished a head behind him under Flavien Prat.

“Everybody was trying to save ground and there was a lot of traffic to get there from the outside post (No. 8). From there it’s really hard to go all the way to the inside. Nobody spilt up. I was tracking Canaletto with Prat all the way.  I really like my horse and what he did and the way he did it. He ran really good,” said Castellano, who took the 2016 Tampa Bay Derby with Destin. “With three-year-olds, you have to give them a chance to develop. In his first race he got beat by a really good horse. In the second race (the Sam Davis) it was his first time around turn turns. He started to figure it out today. When he got rolling, he did what he was supposed to do. I like the way he finished.”

Canaletto, who was a $1 million yearling buy for Coolmore, Peter Brant, and Brook T. Smith, was also attempting to handle the class hike from the maiden ranks. In his only previous effort he was an eight length winner in a maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park on January 25 under Prat.

“He was looking around. He never really traveled. They went fast and I was in deep water from the gate,” said Prat. Then he made a run, surprisingly, and I thought he was going to make a run at the three-eighths pole. He was brave enough to make a run, but I never really felt that I was traveling well.”

Spendthrift Farm’s Further Ado picked up 25 Kentucky Derby points by finishing second to add to the 10 points already in his column and Canaletto earned 15 points. Redland Rebels took home 10 points to get on the Triple Crown Trail and Talkin garnered 5 points to bring his total to 10. Powershift, representing Repole Stable and trainer Todd Pletcher; Thunder Buck, making his first start for trainer Brendan Walsh after competing three times for Brad Cox; Hulkamania, who is owned in part by former Major Leage Baseball Jayson Werth’s Icon Racing Stables; and Smith Ranch Stables Roger That Dana completed the order of finish.

The Puma, who is by Essential Quality and the Declaration of War mare Eve of War, was bred in Kentucky by Hidden Brook Farm and Brain Kahn and is owned by the partnership of OGMA Investments, JR Ranch, and High Step Racing. OGMA Investments campaigned Mage, winner of the 2023 Kentucky Derby, and now they have another colt to take them back to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.

“From the beginning (with The Puma) I said, ‘Let’s get everything’. Right now, it makes sense,” said Delgado, Jr.

The Puma, dispatched at 7.40-1 rewarded his backers with $16.80 for the $2 win wager as he picked up $210,000 from the purse for his efforts to increase his earnings to $244,280.

The Festival 46 Day crowd supported the enthusiastic crowd by betting $757,139 on track and the intra-state wagering total was another $441,601. The total inter-state handle was another $13,964,047.

Florida Oaks: Dandona

Tagermeen Racing’s Dandona made her first foray into stakes company a winning one as she rallied from the back of the pack to best a field of 10 other three-year-old fillies to capture the Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks in her third career outing for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.

Under a confident ride by Flavien Prat, she waited patiently behind a fast pace and then made a bold move on the far turn of the 1 1/16 miles test over a turf course rated as “good” before the pace picked up. Dandona stormed down the lane while inhaling the fillies in front of her and crossed the wire in the final time of 1:44.71. Time to Dream was 1 1/4 lengths behind with Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard and the 1.80-1 favorite Kokomotion, who led earlier in the race under John Velazquez, faded to third.

Said Prat, “She broke well and it felt like the pace was too hot for her so I gave her a chance. It didn’t feel like she wanted to be up in the race. She was traveling good considering the soft ground and I was able to get her outside and get her going and she showed up. I felt the pace was fair enough. I gave her a chance and she was grinding away.”

Laigina, Abigail, Bossy Candy, Special Wood, Alone Time, Backgammon, Bramble Blast, and Courageous Diane followed the leaders home.

Dandona is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Tiz the Law out of Tulsa Queen by Cactus Ridge. Her record is now 3-2-0-1  and her lifetime earnings are $121,000.