Racing Roundtable: Takeaways from the 2025 Tampa Bay Derby card

This week, the Racing Roundtable is once again joined by Tampa Bay Downs track announcer Jason Beem, host of the Jason Beem Horse Racing Podcast, to deliberate about the 2025 Tampa Bay Derby (G3), along with other results from Saturday's stakes-laden card.

What were your takeaways from the Tampa Bay Derby?

Vance Hanson: The connections of Owen Almighty were quite vocal going into the Tampa Bay Derby that they were using the race as a stepping stone toward the Pat Day Mile (G2), but "Derby Fever" might ultimately kick in, considering how easily Owen Almighty won. However, you couldn't have asked for an easier trip, and it would be one very hard to replicate in either another Derby prep or the Derby itself if that's the route they ultimately want to take. If their gut instinct was to make the Pat Day Mile Owen Almighty's main springtime goal, there's often something to be said for listening to it.

I thought the Chad Brown duo of Chancer McPatrick and Hill Road ran well, given the long layoffs both were coming into the race off of. Chancer McPatrick, who was returning from having minor surgery in the off-season, was sporting blinkers for the first time, and they seemed to work from the standpoint that he raced much closer to the pace than usual. The same went for Hill Road, who also raced with blinkers on and was closer in touch to the leaders than he had been in the Breeders' Cup. Neither performance was especially fast, but expect them both to take a step forward in the next round of preps.

Ashley Anderson: Owen Almighty had it easy on the front end, leading the way through a half-mile in 48.14 seconds and six furlongs in 1:12.54, but he turned it on when met with a challenge by post-time favorite Chancer McPatrick and drew away to win by 3 1/2 lengths with a final time of 1:42.30 — the second-fastest Tampa Bay Derby (G3) time behind Tacitus (1:41.90) in 2019. While trainer Brian Lynch stated after the race that he would prefer to turn back Owen Almighty to shorter distances and point toward the Pat Day Mile (G2) on the Kentucky Derby (G1) undercard, it may take some convincing with his owners. The son of Speightstown has secured 65 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and is almost guaranteed a spot in the Derby starting gate. The sophomore raced with a fuller blinker on Saturday, which jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. said made a difference with the colt, who ran his final 2 1/2 furlongs in :29.76.

Runner-up Chancer McPatrick and third-place finisher Hill Road — both trained by Chad Brown — added blinkers for the first time in the Tampa Bay Derby and were returning off a four-month layoff since their most recent starts in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). Brown said he believes both are Kentucky Derby contenders based on how they galloped out, with Chancer McPatrick going past the field. Hill Road made his first start for Brown since transferring to his barn and raced on his left lead through the lane, which he also did when third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. One will be pointed next toward the 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial (G2), the other toward the Blue Grass (G1) at the same distance.

Who stood out to you from the other stakes action at Tampa?

VH: There were no great surprises in the other stakes on the Tampa card, but perhaps recent activity made a difference between winning and losing in some of them. In addition to the outcome of the Tampa Bay Derby, Most Wanted was likely in need of a start when falling short to Skippylongstocking in the Challenger (G3), while South African import Gimme a Nother was a brave second in the Hillsborough (G2) to Saffron Moon following a spell of 11 months. Both races were good starting points for those horses.

I'd also mention Reagan's Wit as a horse on the rise after missing by a neck to Zulu Kingdom in the Columbia S. He had only just broken his maiden second out at Fair Grounds but wasn't beaten much by a vastly more experienced and accomplished rival. He's one to watch for in the three-year-old grass stakes in Kentucky this spring for trainer Cherie DeVaux.

AA: Tampa Bay Downs horse-for-the-course Skippylongstocking scored a three-peat in the Challenger (G3) on Saturday and did so in record time. The five-year-old Saffie Joseph trainee met just three rivals after four scratched from the field but still faced steep competition in Grade 3 winner Most Wanted, who entered the race with just one career defeat by a three-quarter-length margin. With the field that remained, Most Wanted was left to go to the front in the 1 1/16-mile event and set fractions of :23.89, :47.64, and 1:11:24 before Skippylongstocking overtook him to prevail by 1 1/4 lengths in a track record time of 1:41.20. Most Wanted was making his first start since the Nov. 29 Clark (G2) at Churchill Downs, while Skippylongstocking was coming off a third-place finish to stablemate White Abarrio in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus World Cup (G1). The win handed Skippylongstocking his eighth stakes win of his career and pushed his earnings past $3.4 million. He will attempt to defend another title in the Oaklawn H. (G2) on April 19.

Later on Tampa's Saturday card, Zulu Kingdom nearly set a track record as well when winning the Columbia S. on the turf in 1:33.24, just .33 seconds off the record. The three-year-old Irish-bred returned off a four-month layoff to collect his third stakes win, and his third by a neck margin. The Chad Brown pupil raced up close to a strong early pace before holding off a late-running Reagan's Wit, who also impressed in his stakes debut. The Cherie DeVaux trainee dominated by eight lengths two back when graduating at second asking in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight at Fair Grounds and registered a career-best 99 Brisnet Speed figure in his narrow runner-up effort on Saturday when cutting back to a mile. Following the Columbia, Brown noted Zulu Kingdom will likely point toward the Transylvania (G3) at Keeneland or the American Turf (G1) at Churchill Downs.

What else caught your eye from the weekend?

VH:  Perhaps we saw a filly that could seriously challenge Thorpedo Anna in the older female division this season on Saturday, when Cavalieri improved her record to 4-for-4 with a come-from-behind win in the Beholder Mile (G1) at Santa Anita. The late-developing daughter of Nyquist only began her career in late August but has been perfect so far around two turns and is now a dual graded stakes winner, having first notched the La Canada (G3) in January. She beat a respectable field, including stablemate Richi and multiple graded stakes winner Tarifa.

The Apple Blossom H. (G1) might come up too soon for Cavalieri to take a crack at Thorpedo Anna, but a race like the La Troienne (G1) at Churchill and/or the Ogden Phipps (G1) at Saratoga are logical spots for Cavalieri to point for this spring. Perhaps the Ogden Phipps will be the race where we'll see a showdown between the two.

AA: Coming off her 2024 Horse of the Year campaign as a sophomore, Thorpedo Anna made her four-year-old debut in the Azeri (G2) at Oaklawn on Saturday and won with style in the 1 1/16-mile test over a track labeled wet-fast. In her first start since her Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) victory in November, the Kenny McPeek trainee broke well and set the pace with a :24.27 opening quarter and a :48.59 half-mile. For a brief moment, she was challenged by multiple stakes winner Free Like a Girl in the stretch, but Thorpedo Anna promptly shrugged off the rival and drew away to win by 3 1/2 lengths to improve her career mark to 9-for-11. The Fast Anna filly recorded a 95 BRIS figure in the win and will now point toward the Apple Blossom (G1) next month at Oaklawn.

Over at Gulfstream on the same day, another older female stood out in the 6 1/2-furlong Hurricane Bertie (G3) at Gulfstream. Five-year-old Nic's Style accomplished her fourth straight visit to the winner's circle and first graded stakes tally over the weekend after she got up in time to win the Gulfstream Park fixture by a quarter-length in her second start of the season. The Uncaptured mare is now 7-for-8 lifetime, with her lone loss coming over a sloppy Aqueduct track in the 6 1/2-furlong Gallant Bloom (G2) last September. The win not only marked four in a row for Nic's Style, but it was the third time in four years trainer Bill Mott had the winner in the Hurricane Bertie. Likewise, regular rider Junior Alvarado celebrated his third win in five years in the graded stakes event. Multiple graded stakes victress Spirit Wind, the 2.20-1 second choice at post time, set a fast pace (:21.67, :44.13 splits) and led to midstretch before weakening to fourth. Nic's Style finished 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.53 and has now bankrolled $490,970 in lifetime earnings.