What's On This Weekend: US Champion Storm the Court is back, Got Stormy at Tampa, More Jubilee

Virtually every weekend from now until the Kentucky Derby is going to have some delicious horse racing for millions of passionate horseplayers to snack on.

Champions are returning to the races, some are getting ready for the Derby and others are older horses setting sail on a 2020 campaign.

Canadians have already cheered on a multiple Sovereign Award champion this year, STARSHIP JUBILEE, and she is back in action this weekend in the Grade 3 Suwanee River Stakes at Gulfstream. The track preview of the race is below.

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The track to watch Saturday, Feb. 8, is TAMPA BAY DOWNS, which has a slate of many stakes races including events for 3-year-olds and older horses.

The $250,000 Sam F. Davis (Grade 3) , the Tampa stepping stone to the Tampa Bay Derby. has Derby dreamers such as unbeaten INDEPENDENCE HALL (Constitution – Kalahari Cat by Cape Town) who will be trying a 2-turn distance for the first time. From the first crop of the exciting young sire Constitution, by Tapit, Independence Hall won the Nashua and Jerome Stakes in New York.

The field is very tough, however.

Check out the race preview from Tampa Bay Media:

Eight 3-year-old Thoroughbreds are entered in the Sam F. Davis, a mile-and-a-sixteenth race on the main track. The Sam F. Davis is part of the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” qualifying series, with points awarded to the top four finishers on a 10-4-2-1 scale.

The Sam F. Davis is scheduled as the 11th race on a 12-race card. Post time for the first race Saturday is 12:12 p.m. Several of the top jockeys in the country will be in Oldsmar for Festival Preview Day 40, including John Velazquez, Jose Ortiz, Joel Rosario, Julien Leparoux and Tyler Gaffalione.

Independence Hall, who won the Grade III Nashua on Nov. 3 at Aqueduct by 12 ¼ lengths and the Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct on Jan. 1 by 4 lengths, will be racing around two turns for the first time in four career starts while carrying co-top weight of 122 pounds. Those factors didn’t stop the morning-line handicapper from making him a 6-5 favorite.

Jose Ortiz will be in to ride Independence Hall.

“In horse racing, there are a lot of circumstances that can come into play,” said Michael Trombetta, the trainer of Independence Hall. “You have a lot of horses testing the waters (Saturday) to see how good they are, and all of us have the same goal: to see how far they can take us. We’d love to show up and run big and win the race, but the big picture is a little further down the line.”

Referring, of course, to the 146th Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on May 2 at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

Back to the Sam F. Davis and Independence Hall, who breezed 4 furlongs here Sunday in 48 3/5 seconds. Despite his sterling credentials and the impressive appearance he has made here since his arrival in Oldsmar a month ago, most, if not all, of the others will be trying to establish themselves as serious candidates for the next round of Kentucky Derby prep races by leaving Independence Hall on the statehouse steps.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, who won the 2016 Sam F. Davis Stakes with Ocean Knight, is sending his colt Ajaaweed, a Shadwell Stable-owned homebred who finished a fast-closing second in the Grade II Remsen Stakes on Dec. 7 at Aqueduct. That race was a mile-and-an-eighth, the second time he has raced around two turns.

Rosario will ride Ajaaweed, who has turned in a string of solid workouts at McLaughlin’s Palm Meadows Training Center base in Boynton Beach, Fla., in preparation for the Sam F. Davis.

McLaughlin praised Ajaaweed’s performance in the Remsen, in which he missed catching Shotski by a half-length despite racing wide on the final turn. “The race was on a track that had been favoring speed all day, and he was the only one who really closed,” McLaughlin said.

“He was unlucky not to win, but we were very pleased with his effort. He’s doing very well and we’re excited about getting his 3-year-old campaign started and taking the first step to the first Saturday in May, if he’ll take us there,” McLaughlin said.

The very attractive INDEPENDENCE HALL has his own Facebook page

Three other stakes races, two of which are graded, add luster to a lucrative Festival Preview Day card featuring total stakes purse money of $750,000.

The Grade III, $175,000 Lambholm South Endeavour Stakes, a mile-and-a-sixteenth event on the turf for fillies and mares 4-and-upward, is the eighth race. The Lambholm South Endeavour features a standout in 5-year-old mare Got Stormy, a multiple-Grade I stakes winner who was a finalist for the 2019 Eclipse Award in the Turf Female category.

Got Stormy will break from the No. 7 post position in an eight-horse field. Got Stormy, who is 8-for-18 lifetime with career earnings of $1,430,578, is trained by Mark Casse and will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione.

The Grade III, $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes, at a distance of a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the turf for horses 4-years-old-and-upward, is slated as the 10th race. The nine-horse field is headed by No. 6 Halladay, trained by Todd Pletcher with Velazquez in the saddle, and No. 4 Caribou Club, trained by Tom Proctor and to be ridden by Jose Ortiz. Woodbine trainer will saddle champion ADMIRALTY PIER in the Tampa Bay Stakes.

The remaining stakes is the $150,000 Suncoast Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going a mile-and-40-yards on the main track. The Suncoast, which is the ninth race, is a “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” qualifying race, awarding points on a 10-4-2-1 scale.

The betting favourite is likely to be Florida-bred Two Sixty, who won the 7-furlong Gasparilla Stakes here by a neck on Jan. 18. Owned by Gary Barber and trained by Casse, Two Sixty will be ridden by Gaffalione. Top trainer Steve Asmussen has supplemented Comical to the race; she won the Grade III Schuylerville last summer at Saratoga and has two Grade I placings. Joel Rosario will be aboard.

Starship Jubilee’s Fairy Tale Continues in Saturday’s Suwanee River
Claimer-Turned-Grade 1 Winner Seeks Sixth Graded-Stakes Score

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Blue Heaven Farm’s Starship Jubilee will seek to add another heartwarming chapter to her claimer-turned-Grade 1-stakes-winner fairy tale Saturday, when the 7-year-old mare returns to action in the $150,000 Suwanee River (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

Claimed for $16,000 at Gulfstream Feb. 12, 2017, Starship Jubilee has gone on to win eight stakes, including five graded stakes, and more than $1 million in purses.

The Florida-bred daughter of Indy Wind, who has won nine of her 17 starts over the Gulfstream turf course, joined some elite fillies and mares when she captured the $600,000 E. P. Taylor (G1) at Woodbine Oct. 12.

“There have been some great mares who have won it who have gone on to become great broodmares. If you look at the number of Canadian-based trainers who have won it, it’s a very short list. It goes to show you how hard it is for a locally based horse to win that race,” trainer Kevin Attard said. “I always had a little concern about her going a mile and a quarter. I think it’s a little bit beyond her best [distance]. She had a great ride that day by [Luis] Contreras. It was just a pleasure watching her run down the long E. P. Taylor course we have at Woodbine and see her hold on and win the race.”

Starship Jubilee is a Sovereign Award finalist in the female turf category, while Attard is a finalist for the Sovereign Award as Canada’s top trainer.

Starship Jubilee enters the Suwanee River, a 1 1/8-mile turf stakes for older fillies and mares, off a seemingly effortless three-length victory Jan. 18 at Gulfstream Park, winning the $150,000 Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf for the third year in a row.

“When you look at her, she’s not a big filly. You wouldn’t know that by her attitude on the racetrack. Where she started and where she is today – capped off with the E. P. Taylor, which is not an easy race to win – it’s been quite the ride,” Attard said. “There was talk of her retiring, but you say to yourself, ‘How do you replace a horse like this?’” They don’t come by often. She’s done right by us, so when the time comes when she doesn’t want to do it anymore, she will be retired.”

Starship Jubilee followed up her E. P. Taylor score with a second-place finish in the Nov. 28 Cardinal (G3) over a yielding turf at Churchill Downs, where she rallied from seventh to take the lead in mid-stretch, only to come up short and finish second.

“You could tell she wasn’t liking the turf, but she still gave it all she had and tried her best. She was just second best that day,” Attard said.

Back on familiar turf at Gulfstream, Starship Jubilee exerted her class over her Florida-bred rivals in the Sunshine Millions without having to be extended.

“She came out of it great. She’s been training well in the interim. It was a pretty easy race for her, so it didn’t seem like it took much out of her,” Attard said.

Luis Saez is named to ride Starship Jubilee, replacing Javier Castellano who will ride Tapit Today.

At Santa Anita on Sunday, American Champion 2-year-old of 2019 Storm The Court, upset winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), makes his sophomore debut in the San Vicente (G2):

Reigning Juvenile Champion Storm the Court heads a field of six sophomore Derby hopefuls going seven furlongs Sunday as he makes his 3-year-old debut in the Grade II, $200,000 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita.

An upset winner of the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at 1 1/16 miles Nov. 1, Storm the Court, who is conditioned by Peter Eurton, will be making his fifth career start and will again be ridden by Flavien Prat.

Although Storm the Court is the marque horse of the moment, Bob Baffert’s Nadal, an ultra impressive first-out maiden winner going 6 ½ furlongs here on Jan. 19, could well be the post time favorite. Baffert will also send out Ra’ad, a handy six furlong Los Alamitos maiden winner in early December.

STORM THE COURT

Owner: Exline Border Racing, LLC, David Bernson & Dan Hudock

Trainer: Peter Eurton

A $60,000 Ocala Sales April 2-year-old in Training Sale purchase, this colt by Court Vision continued to exceed all expectations with a game head victory at odds of 45-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Nov. 1. Out of the Tejano Run mare My Tejana Storm, he was a first-out maiden winner going 5 ½ furlongs Aug. 10 and subsequently lost all chance in the Grade I, seven furlong Del Mar Futurity Sept. 2, when Prat was unseated shortly after the break. A well beaten third at 19-1 by highly regarded Eight Rings in the Grade I American Pharoah Stakes Sept. 27, Storm the Court has been double digits in the wagering in all four of his starts, but figures to go favored on Sunday. Although he’s already got $1,172,951 in the bank, a win in the San Vicente would undoubtedly further enhance his Derby status.

NADAL

Owner: George Bolton, Arthur Hoyeau, Barry Lipman & Mark Mathiesen
Trainer: Bob Baffert

A Kentucky-bred colt by Blame, he was an awesome first-out maiden winner, driving to the lead after the first half mile and winning as much the best by 3 ¾ lengths under J.C. Diaz, Jr., while earning a San Vicente-best 98 Beyer Speed figure. A $700,000 Fasig Tipton March 2-year-old in Training Sale graduate, Nadal will get the services of leading rider Joel Rosario as he starts down the Derby trail.

GINOBILI

Owner: Slam Dunk Racing, Richard Baltas, Jerry McClanahan & Michael Nentwig

Trainer: Richard Baltas

An impressive gate-to-wire maiden winner in his second start going six furlongs, Ginobili got an 83 Beyer Speed figure for his efforts, which ranks third among San Vicente starters. Subsequently fourth, beaten five lengths in the Del Mar Futurity, Ginobili was then a close fourth in the five furlong turf Speakeasy Stakes as the 5-2 favorite here on Oct. 6. Although he’s got plenty to prove against solid competition, Ginobili has plenty of natural speed and looms dangerous as a fresh horse in what will be his fifth start.

RA’AD

Owner: RRR Racing, Inc.
Trainer: Bob Baffert

A well-beaten fourth in his debut by last Saturday’s Grade III Robert B. Lewis Stakes winner Thousand Words, this colt by Twirling Candy was a solid 2 ½ length maiden winner at 3-5 going six furlongs over a wet track at Los Alamitos on Dec. 7. A $500,000 Ocala Sales 2-year-old in Training Sale graduate, Ra’ad is out of the Suave mare Tough Market and like so many in Baffert’s care, appears to have a very bright future. Fitted with blinkers in both of his starts, Ra’ad will be ridden back by Drayden Van Dyke.

THE GRADE II SAN VICENTE STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 7 of 8 Approximate post time 3:30 p.m. PT

Fast Enough–Tiago Pereira–124
Ra’ad–Drayden Van Dyke–120
Party Town–Jorge Velez–120
Nadal–Joel Rosario–120
Storm the Court–Flavien Prat–124
Ginobili–Abel Cedillo–120
First post time for an eight-race card on Sunday is at 12:30 p.m