OLDSMAR - Zydeceaux, who won the Pasco Stakes on Jan. 14 as the longest shot in the field, and Dreaming of Snow, a 38-1 shot winner of the Suncoast Stakes on Feb. 11, are among the top contenders for Sunday’s 20th annual Florida Cup Day at Tampa Bay Downs.

    The six Florida Cup races, each offering purse money of $110,000, have drawn a total of 53 entries. Post time for the first of Sunday’s 12 races is 12:20 p.m., with the Florida Cup portion of the program starting with the fifth race, the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore for 3-year-olds sprinting 7 furlongs on the main track.

    Top jockeys Irad Ortiz,Jr., Javier Castellano, Paco Lopez and Chantal Sutherland are making the trip from Gulfstream Park to compete, adding extra layers of excitement and intrigue to the event. Castellano won a record four Florida Cup races in 2018.

    Zydeceaux, a gelding owned by Stud Carmen Cristina and trained by Ramon Minguet, is 8-5 in the morning line for the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore – no surprise, given that his Pasco victory was also at 7 furlongs against open company. Jockey Samuel Marin will attempt to recapture the Pasco magic after a subsequent fifth-place finish in the Gr. III Sam F. Davis Stakes and a ninth in the Gr. III Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby.

    The 2-1 second choice in the six-horse field is Dangerous Ride, who has made all but one of his 10 career starts at Gulfstream Park. The stakes-winning colt is trained by Carlos David and will be ridden by Antonio Gallardo.

    Next up Sunday is the Grey Goose Turf Classic, for horses 4-years-old-and-upward at a mile-and-an-eighth on the turf. The 9-5 morning-line choice in the field of nine is Me and Mr. C, a 6-year-old gelding who won the race in 2021. Irad Ortiz Jr.., has the mount for trainer Mike Maker.

    Co-second choice at 3-1 is trainer Tim Padilla’s 6-year-old gelding Drama Chorus, who won last year’s Grey Goose Turf Classic at odds of 11-1. Regular rider Alonso Quinonez is back in the saddle.

    Sunday’s seventh race is the 7-furlong Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies for 3-year-old distaffers on the main track. Dreaming of Snow, whose Suncoast Stakes triumph came at the expense of Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Wonder Wheel, is the 4-1 second choice on the morning line in the eight-horse field.

    The even-money favorite for the race is the Todd Pletcher-trained Munnys Gold, who has wowed ’em in her two career starts: a 14 ½-length victory last June at Monmouth and a 6 ¼-length victory in January at Gulfstream. Ortiz liked Munnys Gold enough that day to accept Sunday’s assignment.

    The eighth race, the Equistaff Sophomore Turf for 3-year-olds at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the grass, has attracted eight colts and geldings, with trainer Mark Casse’s colt Boppy O the even-money morning-line selection. Six of Boppy O’s seven starts have come against stakes competition, with a victory in last year’s Gr. III With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga stamping him as a potentially elite runner. Castellano will be the rider.

    Second choice at 3-1 is the Kelsey Danner-trained colt Anamnestic, a potential tongue-twister for track announcer Jason Beem. Jockey Hector Rafael Diaz Jr., hopes to give Beem some practice.

    Sunday’s ninth race, the NYRABETS Sprint, produced the still-standing 6-furlong track record of 1:08.67 in 2012 when a devilishly fast 4-year-old filly named It’s Me Mom stuck it to the boys. With no fillies to contend with, two from the barn of trainer Jorge Delgado seem best suited to take a crack at a new mark, but it’s doubtful either will have an easy time of it in the nine-horse field.

    Delgado’s 4-year-old colt Lightening Larry, who will be ridden by Emisael Jaramillo, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite. Last year’s Gr. III Chick Lang Stakes winner at Pimlico won the Sunshine Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream in January.

    Lightening Larry’s stablemate, 5-year-old gelding Willy Boi, enjoyed stakes success last summer in the Gr. III Smile Sprint Invitational at Gulfstream, followed by a third in the Gr. I Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga. He’ll seek to regain that form under Sutherland.

    The final Florida Cup race is the Pleasant Acres Stallions Distaff Turf for fillies and mares 3-and-upward at a distance of a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the grass. An overflow field of 13 has been named, with 4-year-old Dreamster in need of a scratch to get into the race.

    Four-year-old Sweet Dani Girl, a two-time stakes-winner from the barn of Carlo Vaccarezza, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite. Castellano will be in the saddle. The 4-1 second choice is trainer Patrick Biancone’s 5-year-old Mona Stella, who finished third in last year’s running and will be ridden by Lopez. comments powered by Disqus