Irad Ortiz Jr.’s face was flushed with excitement as he sought out trainer Brian Lynch in the winner’s circle after three-year-old colt Owen Almighty’s scintillating victory in the Grade III, $400,000-guaranteed Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby.
“I tapped him on the shoulder when they started getting close to me,” Ortiz said, his voice hushed but excited, “and ‘whoosh.’”
Whoosh, indeed. The three-year-old colt accelerated like the proverbial freight train, extending his winning margin at the wire to 3 ½ lengths from dual Grade I winner Chancer McPatrick. Hill Road rallied for third, another 2 ¾ lengths in arrears, while the betting favorite, Patch Adams, finished fourth in the seven-horse field.
The winning time of 1:42.30 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth distance was the second fastest in race history, bettered only by the 1:41.90 mark of Tacitus in 2019.
The winning Beyer Speed Figure was 92.
The marvelous finish of the 45th edition of the Oldsmar oval’s showcase race came near the end of an outstanding day of Thoroughbred racing, which included a track record by Skippylongstocking in the Grade III Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes and a stakes record by Nitrogen in the Grade III Florida Oaks.
The day was full of drama and emotion, with a crowd of 7,810 eager to debate those who insist horse racing is a dying sport. Total all-sources wagering handle of $17,630,538 was the second highest in track history, and the on-track handle was $863,599.
Owen Almighty, who had been disqualified after finishing first here in the Pasco Stakes on Jan. 11 and was a valiant second to John Hancock on Feb. 8 in the Sam F. Davis Stakes, earned a cool $210,000 for his first graded-stakes victory. He also earned 50 “Road to the Kentucky Derby” qualifying points, although Lynch recently expressed his belief Owen Almighty might be better off targeting 7-furlong or 1-mile races later this year.
But in the Tampa Bay Downs winner’s circle, Payton Boersma – the COO of ownership group Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing and son of founder Travis Boersma – seemed to have other thoughts.
“He (Owen Almighty) really showed what he is made of today,” Payton said. “He’s going to be really tough going into that Derby – the Kentucky Derby, of course.”
Ah, what a pleasant dilemma for Lynch, who collected his second Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby victory after winning in 2022 with Classic Causeway.
“There will be conversation. But if I was to have my way I’d still stick to the plan and go to the Pat Day Mile” (on the Kentucky Derby undercard), Lynch said in a TV interview.
Lynch knows inquiring minds want to know (everything), but he deserves time to savor this one.
“I’m just thrilled. He’s run two crackerjack races here (the Sam F. Davis and today) and of course this Derby is the big race of the meet, so it’s nice to see him take it in the fashion he did,” Lynch said. “This is a good field of horses and it’s not to say the (Kentucky) Derby winner couldn’t come out of it, but he was the best today.
“It was a great ride by Irad. I didn’t give him any instructions – I just said one thing to him I learned from Bobby Frankel: ‘class horse, class rider. You two are a perfect match.’ Irad was just waiting (at the quarter pole), he knew he had plenty of horse.
“This (the Boersma family’s Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing) is a wonderful ownership group.”
Ortiz has won so many big races in his career, it was surprising in a way to see him so over the moon about this one. Then again, maybe it’s that natural enthusiasm that contributes to his excellence.
He had believed Owen Almighty was capable of this kind of performance, but the proof was in the hearts and hooves that needed just a little more hands-on prep work.
“We had some cheater blinkers on him last time and they were still too little,” Ortiz explained. “I talked to Brian and we decide to give him a little fuller blinkers today, and I think it helped. He was there for me when I asked him to go. I tapped him on the shoulder at the quarter-mile pole and he jumped on the bridle and I thought, that’s what I was looking for before. I knew he had more, but he had not really given it to me before today. He was just waiting on horses and kind of looking around.
“Today when I tapped him, he jumped on the bridle and I said ‘Let’s roll.’ I didn’t wait for nobody and he didn’t wait for nobody, so that was huge.”
PEDIGREE NOTES (from CT)
The late Speightstown was a Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) winner for Eugene Melnyk and he has been a notable stallion. Owen Almighty was a $360,000 weanling purchase at the Keeneland November Sale in 2022 and a $350,000 yearling purchase in 2023 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.
Owen Almighty’s dam, Tempers Rising, by Bayern, was stakes-placed and won one of 14 races, earnings $311,462. This is her first foal. Second dam Marchmont is the dam of stakes winner Mac the Man and the stallion Can the Man.
Mark Stanley bred Owen Almighty.
NITROGEN EXPLODES IN FLORIDA OAKS
It was a hit-and-miss day for trainer Mark Casse at Tampa Bay Downs as his two good juveniles from Woodbine in 2024 had mixed results in stakes races.
NITROGEN (Medaglia d’Oro – Tiffany Case by Uncle Mo) surged in the last furlong of the Florida Oaks to win that $200,000 turf race by half a length in course record time of 1:40.42 for 1 1/16 miles. She earned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure according to Daily Racing Form.
Nitrogen is owned and was bred by D.J. Stables and she won the Ginger Brew Stakes at Gulfstream in her previous race. She is a finalist for a Sovereign award for Champion Two-Year-Old Filly based on her third-place finishes in the Grade 1 Natalma and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Casse was delighted to score his second Florida Oaks victory, the first coming 13 years ago with Dixie Strike. This one came for the D. J. Stable of Leonard and Jonathan Green.
“I don’t know how she does it, she just gets there,” said a spent Casse, who almost looked as if he had run the distance himself. “I thought ‘Oh boy, I gotta run this horse [Lush Lips] down.’
“I love this place, I love to come here and win. Just happy.”
So was Jose Ortiz, who had ridden Nitrogen in her previous two starts – a third in the John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar and a victory on Jan. 4 in the Ginger Brew Stakes at Gulfstream – and knew she relishes attempting late whirlwind rallies.
“That other filly [Lush Lips] broke well and was not contested on the lead, so I knew she was going to be tough to beat,” Ortiz said. “I decided to wait on the backside and brought my filly back a little and tried to save ground and make a run.
“When I asked her, she gave me a good turn of foot. Sometimes it takes her a little bit to get going, but when she does she has a big (kick).”
Nitrogen’s dam Tiffany Case has produced one other foal, Woodbine stakes winner Love to Shop. A five-time winner and stakes-placed, Tiffany Case is a half-sister to Indiana Oaks (G3) winner Talk Veuve to Me.
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