Kentucky Derby Prep Races: Poster Tops Sam F. Davis Field
Trainer Chad Brown has been on a huge roll at Tampa Bay Downs. Lately, you buck Brown on Florida’s west coast at your wagering peril.
Brown looks to continue Saturday's success with Treaty of Rome in the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes for 3-year-olds. The Davis is the only race in this weekend's Kentucky Derby prep races offering 2025 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, with 20 going to the winner.
Owen Almighty. Coady Photo.
Brown's Winstreak on Kentucky Derby Prep Races
We’ll see if Brown’s hot hand continues with the colt who missed by only a neck last month in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
It’s hard to take a stand against Brown at Tampa. He is winning here at a 41% clip, with 11 wins from only 27 starters. Even his horses that don’t win usually hit the board. He already has 21 in-the-money finishes.
Last Saturday, Brown won four races here, including a pair of stakes: the Tampa Bay (G3) with Running Bee and the Endeavor (G3) with Saffron Moon.
We told you he was hot!
Other Contenders on the Spot
Treaty of Rome has hit the board in all three starts, including a maiden victory at Aqueduct. He’s a stalker, a style that plays well on this track.
The favorite role likely goes to Poster, winner of the Remsen (G2) at Aqueduct in December, who makes his season debut for trainer Eoin Harty.
It’s hard to argue with success. Poster is a perfect 3-for-3, having started his career with a pair of commanding turf wins in Kentucky.
Poster, a Godolphin homebred, switched to the main track for the Remsen and prevailed by a nose.
The Remsen win stamped Poster as the class of the 10-horse field going a mile-and-a-sixteenth.
Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. is back aboard Owen Almighty, looking to make amends for the fiasco in Tampa’s Pasco Stakes last month. Ortiz guided the 1-2 favorite to a front-running score only to be disqualified and placed fifth for slamming into Rookie Card.
The foul earned Ortiz a three-day suspension.
In the revised Pasco order of finish, runner-up Naughty Rascal was awarded the win. He returns here in pursuit of consecutive stakes victories.
While Poster has the class and Owen Almighty deserved a better fate last time, we won’t jump in front of the Chad Brown freight train.
For those who bet on horse racing ...
The picks: 1 Treaty of Rome 2 Poster 3 Owen Almighty
The field for the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, from the rail out, with jockey, trainer, odds:
1 Camp Hale (Brian Hernandez, Jr., Ian Wilkes), 20-1
2 Treaty of Rome (Dylan Davis, Chad Brown), 6-1
3 John Hancock (Flavien Prat, Brad Cox), 3-1
4 Dr Ruben M (Junior Alvarado, Doug O’Neill), 12-1
5 Gateskeeper (David Cohen, S Jade Cunningham), 30-1
6 Owen Almighty (Irad Ortiz, Jr., Brian Lynch), 2-1
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