OLDSMAR - As part of its centennial celebration, Tampa Bay Downs will host the 11th annual “Jockeys and Jeans” Fundraiser for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund on Friday and Saturday on the first floor of the Grandstand.

    Friday’s event from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. is billed as a “Once in a Lifetime” Autograph Meet & Greet event featuring such legendary riders as Steve Cauthen, Laffit Pincay Jr., Angel Cordero Jr., Pat Day, Chris McCarron, Jean Cruguet, Sandy Hawley, Jacinto Vasquez, Edgar Prado, Jorge Velasquez, Mike Manganello, Ramon Dominguez, Earlie Fires and others.

    Tickets are available for the “Once in a Lifetime” event for $40 apiece on the “Jockeys and Jeans” website at www.jockeysandjeans.com.

    On Saturday, active jockeys will be available for autograph signing from noon-2 p.m. on the first floor of the grandstand. A donation to the PDJF is requested.

    The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund is a 501 (c) (3) public charity that provides financial assistance to approximately 60 former jockeys who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries, predominantly paralysis and/or brain injuries.

    Festival Preview Day was filled with memorable performances. Victories Saturday by 3-year-old colt Renegade in the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes and Zany in the $125,000 Suncoast Stakes highlighted an outstanding day of racing.

    Renegade, who collared longshot leader Wayne’s Law in the stretch and rolled on to victory under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., is likely to make his next start on March 28 in the Arkansas Derby, according to both trainer Todd Pletcher and co-owner Mike Repole of Repole Stable. Renegade’s breeders and co-owners, Robert and Lawana Low, are Springfield, Mo., residents known as passionate Oaklawn Park supporters.

    Pletcher told racing journalist Lynne Snierson they will keep their options open, but ruled out a return to Oldsmar for the Gr. III, $400,000 ESMARK Tampa Bay Derby on March 7.

    A crowd of 5,261 turned out for the festivities in cool, sunny weather. Total all-sources wagering handle was $11,484,564.
Somewhat overlooked amid four exciting stakes races were strong undercard performances by a pair of 3-year-old maidens.

    In the sixth race, first-time starter Emerging Market, a son of Candy Ride out of an Empire Maker mare, rallied stoutly through the stretch to catch the favorite, fellow first-time starter Powershift, by three-quarters of a length. Flavien Prat was aboard the winner for owner Klaravich Stables and trainer Chad Brown.

    Emerging Market’s time of 1:39.11 for the mile-and-40-yard distance was .97 seconds off Golden Juan’s track record. Powershift finished 13 ½  lengths ahead of third-place finisher Make My Day.

    Three races later, another first-time starter, Kokomotion, rallied from dead-last early to post a resounding 8 ¼-length victory from Ati Girl in a mile-and-sixteenth turf event for maiden 3-year-old fillies. Jevian Toledo was aboard for the romp in the sunshine. Kokomotion is a daughter of Quality Road owned by Icon Racing Stable and trained by Whit Beckman.

    Turf Sprint Showcase Day is Saturday. Rezasrolex, a 5-year-old Florida-bred gelding who is riding a nine-race winning streak, is a probable entrant for Saturday’s $100,000, 5-furlong Turf Dash Stakes for older horses sprinting 5 furlongs on the Oldsmar turf course.

    Rezasrolex won his Tampa Bay Downs debut on Jan. 11 on the grass under jockey Edgard Zayas, scoring in :55.65 seconds for 5 furlongs. He is owned by his breeder Scott Herbertson and trained by Joseph Orseno.

    Last season’s Turf Dash winner, trainer Gerald Bennett’s 5-year-old gelding Rouki, is also among the probable starters.

    The other stakes race on the card is the $100,000, 5-furlong Lightning City Stakes for older fillies and mares on the grass. Trainer Victor Barboza Jr.’s 5-year-old mare and 2025 winner Great Venezuela is expected to return to defend.

    Rouki sprang a 20-1 upset last year in the Turf Dash for Bennett and owner Tropic Lightning Racing. He has five victories from 14 lifetime starts. Samy Camacho was aboard for the triumph. Great Venezuela, who is owned by Orlyana Farm, won the 2025 Lightning City under Leonel Reyes as the 2-1 favorite. Great Venezuela is 9-for-16 lifetime with four seconds.

    In the Turf Dash, Bennett may also start Team Equistaff’s 4-year-old gelding Aegon Targaryen. Other Turf Dash probables include multiple stakes-winner Coppola, from the barn of Dale Romans, and 5-year-old gelding and career millionaire and six-time stakes-winner My Boy Prince, a multiple Gr. I-placed Ontario-bred trained by Mark Casse.

    Two horses from the Casse barn are under consideration for the Lightning City: 5-year-old Creed’s Gold, who won the Gr. III Hendrie at Woodbine last July in her most recent start, and 4-year-old filly Abientot, a Gr. II winner. Expected to make her Oldsmar turf course debut is 6-year-old Love Appeals, a multiple stakes-winner trained by Miguel Clement.

    Around the oval. Daniel Centeno rode three winners today. He captured the first race on 6-year-old Florida-bred ridgling Copazo for owner GOP Racing Stable and trainer Gerard Ochoa, then added the sixth race with Blue Fashion, a 5-year-old mare owned by Amaty Racing Stables and trained by Jose A. Gallegos. Blue Fashion was claimed for $8,000 by trainer Gregg Sacco for new owner Elliot Mavorah.

    Centeno wasn’t done yet, winning the eighth aboard first-time starter Hulkamania, a 3-year-old colt owned by Hoolie Racing Stable, Blue Mist Racing and Icon Racing Stable and trained by Whit Beckman.

    All patrons attending the Wednesday, Feb. 18 racing program marking the 100th anniversary of the first race in track history will receive a season Grandstand pass for the 2026-27 meet.

    OLDSMAR - Three-year-old colts trained by Todd Pletcher and Brad Cox, who have combined to win the Kentucky Derby three times, comprise one-third of a nine-horse field for Saturday’s $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, one of four stakes races on Tampa Bay Downs’s annual Festival Preview Day card.
    The 46th edition of the mile-and-a-sixteenth race for 3-year-olds on the main track is a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points race. At stake are 20, 10, 6, 4 and 2 Run for the Roses qualifying points for the top five finishers. The Kentucky Derby is scheduled May 2 at Churchill Downs in Louisville.
    The Sam F. Davis is also the major prep race for the Oldsmar oval’s biggest race of the meet, the Grade III, $400,000 ESMARK Tampa Bay Derby, to be contested March 7.
Pletcher has two Sam F. Davis entries in Renegade and Epic Desire, who will break from the Nos. 6 and 2 post positions, respectively, while Cox has entered Confessional, who will break from the inside No. 1 post.
    Post time for the first race Saturday is 12:10 p.m. The Sam F. Davis is carded as the 11th and final race at approximately 5:30 p.m.
    It’s a busy week at Tampa Bay Downs, with an eight-race card on Thursday offering fans five consecutive days of racing. The track will also race Wednesday through Sunday next week.
    The $125,000 Suncoast Stakes, at a mile-and-40-yards for 3-year-old fillies on the main track, is a “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” points race, awarding 20, 10, 6, 4 and 2 qualifying points to the top five finishers. It is the fifth race on the card. There are eight sophomore distaffers entered, headed by unbeaten Zany, the potential-laden daughter of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah trained by Pletcher.
    Also on tap Saturday are a pair of $125,000, 6-furlong sprint stakes for older horses. The 45th edition of the Minaret Stakes for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward, which is the fourth race, has attracted six entrants, headed by 5-year-old mare Mystic Lake, a multiple-Grade II winner and career millionaire, from the barn of trainer Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
    The remaining stakes on the card is the 42nd running of the Pelican Stakes for male sprinters 4-years-old-and-upward, which is the 10th race. Nine-time leading Tampa Bay Downs trainer Gerald Bennett has a strong hand for the Pelican with three entrants, including his three-time stakes-winning 4-year-old Florida-bred colt Naughty Rascal, who won last season’s Pasco Stakes via disqualification; 6-year-old Florida-bred gelding Chrome Ghost, winner of his last two starts; and 5-year-old stakes-placed Florida-bred gelding El Principito.
    Of course, the focus of a majority of racing fans Saturday will be on the Sam F. Davis Stakes, won by Cox and jockey Flavien Prat last year with John Hancock. Both Renegade and Confessional will be ridden by world-class jockeys, with Irad Ortiz, Jr., aboard Renegade and Prat on Confessional. Epic Desire’s jockey will be Samy Camacho.
    Prat has won the two most recent Eclipse Awards as North America’s Outstanding Jockey, with Ortiz winning the two before that and five of the previous six.
    Pletcher has won the Sam F. Davis a record seven times, including five times between 2010-2023 when the race was classified as a Grade III stakes. The conditioner’s first two Sam F. Davis victories played a vital role in the race achieving Grade III status in 2009.

    Pletcher’s first Sam F. Davis winner, Bluegrass Cat (2006), subsequently finished second in the Grade III Tampa Bay Derby, the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes and won the Grade I Haskell Invitational.
    The trainer’s Sam F. Davis winner the following year, Any Given Saturday, was second in the Grade III Tampa Bay Derby and won the Grade II Dwyer Stakes, the Grade I Haskell Invitational and the Grade II Brooklyn Handicap.
    Pletcher’s sixth Sam F. Davis winner, Destin (2016), also won that year’s Grade II Tampa Bay Derby and the Grade II Marathon Stakes Presented by TAA and was second by a nose to Creator in the Belmont Stakes.
Although Renegade is a maiden (non-winner), he is held in high regard by respected handicappers. On Oct. 17, he won a 1-mile maiden special weight race at Belmont At The Big A but was disqualified and placed second behind Paladin for a bumping incident. In the Grade II Remsen Stakes on Dec. 6 at Aqueduct, Renegade took the lead briefly in the stretch before falling victim by 2 lengths to Paladin’s late rally.
    Confessional won his career debut on Oct. 16 at Keeneland, then finished second by 5 lengths to the Pletcher-trained Nearly on Jan. 2 in an allowance/optional claiming race at Gulfstream Park. Nearly won his next start, Saturday’s Grade III Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream, winning by 5 ¾ lengths to make Confessional’s last performance better-looking.
The full field for the Sam F. Davis in post position is as follows: No. 1, Confessional, No. 2, Epic Desire; No. 3, The Puma; No. 4, Game For It; No. 5, Ocelli; No. 6, Renegade; No. 7, Wayne’s Law; No. 8, Max Capacity; and No. 9, Dr. Kapur.
Pletcher appears to have a heavy favorite for the Suncoast in Zany, who posted a 2-for-2 mark as a 2-year-old. She will be ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. The Repole Stable-owned filly broke her maiden by 6 ½ lengths on Nov. 2 at Gulfstream, then went north to capture the Grade II Demoiselle Stakes on Dec. 6 at Aqueduct at the demanding mile-and-an-eighth distance. She won by 6 ½ lengths in a time of 1:50.55, .42 seconds faster than Paladin’s Remsen time six races later.

Around the oval. Tampa Bay Downs is instituting a daily purse increase of $1,500 for each overnight claiming (non-allowance) race. The increase, which will take effect with the Feb. 11 card (condition book 4), is attributable to increases in wagering handle throughout the first third of the mee