Dubyuhnell tops 12 in Sam F. Davis

Feb 08, 2023 James Scully/TwinSpires.com

The first of two Road to
the Kentucky Derby
series qualifiers at Tampa
Bay Downs
, Saturday’s $250,000 Sam F. Davis (G3) will award points on a
20-8-6-4-2 basis toward a berth in the Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 6. A full
field of 12 is set for the 1 1/16-mile race.

Last seen winning the Dec. 3
Remsen (G2)
at Aqueduct, Dubyuhnell
is the probable favorite in his return. The chestnut colt has won two straight
for Danny Gargan, registering a field-best 100 Brisnet Speed rating for his
half-length tally in the 1 1/8-mile Remsen, and Jose Ortiz retains the mount on
the stalker.

2. Top
rivals include Classic Legacy, Classic Car Wash, Dreaming of Kona, Litigate

Kentucky Derby winner Bill Mott captured last week’s Holy
Bull (G3) with stakes-debuter Rocket Can, and the Hall of Fame trainer will
send
Classic Legacy to the Sam Davis
off a sharp 3 1/2-length maiden score at Aqueduct in early December. By Into
Mischief, Classic Legacy is a half-brother to recent Pegasus World Cup (G1)
winner Art Collector.

Classic Car Wash will
try stakes competition off a pair of convincing wins at Gulfstream Park. The
chestnut gelding has shown his versatility for Mark Casse, winning his maiden
on dirt before romping over allowance rivals on the synthetic Tapeta track.

Dreaming of Kona,
who is trained by Anna Spieth and ridden by her husband Scott, exits a victory
via disqualification in the Jan. 1 Mucho Macho Man S. at Gulfstream. The gray
colt has experience at Tampa, finishing third in the Inaugural S. in early
December.

Two-time Kentucky Derby winner Todd Pletcher has won a record six editions of the Sam
Davis, and the 2022 Eclipse Award-winning trainer will seek a seventh with
Litigate, a first-out maiden winner at
Aqueduct who exits a runner-up finish to Cyclone Mischief in a Jan. 8 allowance
at Gulfstream Park. Luis Saez rides.

3. Locals runners
of interest

The top two finishers from the Jan. 14 Pasco at Tampa Bay
Downs,
Zydeceaux and Champions Dream, will stretch out in
distance for the Sam Davis.
Prairie Hawk
will make his third trip to Tampa this winter for Saffie Joseph, breaking his
maiden by nearly three lengths before recording a wire-to-wire allowance score
in mid-January.
Notah looks
promising for John Terranova, crushing maiden rivals at Tampa off a lengthy
layoff as the even-money favorite in his last outing.