A dozen Triple Crown hopefuls entered today for Saturday’s Grade 3 $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby, led by class riser Tapit Trice from post 6. The Todd Pletcher trainee is expected to be a short-priced favorite for the 1-1/16 miles test than includes Kentucky Derby qualifying points on the 50-20-15-10-5 scale from first to fifth.

Tapit Trice exits an authoritative allowance win at Gulfstream, his second in 3 starts, drawing away to score by 8 lengths. He’ll re-match with stablemate Shesterkin, a distant second that day, who starts the Tampa Bay Derby from post 9. Trainer Pletcher owns a Tampa Bay Derby record 5 victories in this race, but none since 2017.

Pletcher bypasses the race with local Sam F. Davis Stakes prep winner and Louisiana Derby-bound Litigate. The Davis' second-through-fifth finishers are all back looking to improve, led by runner-up Groveland (post 4).

Super Saver (2010) and Street Sense (2007) are the only 2 Tampa Bay Derby alumni to win the Kentucky Derby. The race has produced at last one Kentucky Derby starter each of the last 19 years.

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Tampa Bay Downs // Race 11 // 5:15 pm ET // $400,000 Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby // 1-1/16 miles

1-Lord Miles (Paco Lopez // Saffie Joseph Jr.)
2-Classic Car Wash (Emisael Jaramillo // Mark Casse)
3-Classic Legacy (Irad Ortiz Jr. // Bill Mott)
4-Groveland (Daniel Centeno // Eoin Harty)
5-Mikey Bananas (Pablo Morales // Tim Hamm)
6-Tapit Trice (Luis Saez // Todd Pletcher)
7-Freedom Road (Hector Diaz Jr. // Greg Sacco)
8-Dreaming of Kona (Scott Spieth // Aldana Spieth)
9-Shesterkin (Edgard Zayas // Todd Pletcher)
10-Champions Dream (Antonio Gallardo // Mark Casse)
11-Zydeceaux (Samuel Marin // Ramon Minguet)
12-Prairie Hawk (Samy Camacho // Saffie Joseph Jr.)