Zany, one of the top 2-year-old fillies of 2025, improved to 3-for-3 in kicking off her 2026 season with an ears-pricked 2 3/4-length victory in the $100,000 Suncoast Stakes Feb. 7 at Tampa Bay Downs.
In traffic early and later sent wide around the second turn in rallying from midpack, Repole Stable's Zany pulled clear from Rags to Riches Stakes winner Life of Joy in the lane despite racing greenly. Reluctant to switch leads until midstretch, she lugged in under Irad Ortiz Jr., who never needed to use his riding crop to encourage the 1-5 favorite to victory.
The Brad Cox-trained Life of Joy, the second choice in the race at 5-2 odds, finished a clear second ahead of Zany's Todd Pletcher-trained stablemate, Kadabra, in third. Justamomentplease was fourth and Tremont Tammy fifth in the seven-horse race for 3-year-old fillies.
She raced a mile and 40 yards in 1:40.56, the slowest winning time in the race since Curlin's Catch ran the distance in 1:40.89 in 2021. Early splits of :24.89, :49.55, and 1:13.38 in the race were established by Kadabra.
Zany paid $2.40 for a $2 win wager.
The Suncoast provided qualifying points toward the May 1 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis to its top five finishers. Officials at Churchill Downs use qualifying points as a preference system when the Oaks is oversubscribed beyond its maximum field size of 14 horses.
Zany elevated her points total to 30 with Saturday's victory, placing her third on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard. She earned 10 points last year in taking the Dec. 6 Demoiselle Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack, which followed a 6 1/2-length maiden romp on debut Nov. 2 at Gulfstream Park. She has earnings of $221,500.
"This is her third public workout. I mean, that's the way I would put it," owner Mike Repole of Repole Stable told FOX Sports.
Three of the past four winners of the Suncoast went on to have grade 1 stakes success: La Cara (2025), Power Squeeze (2024), and Nest (2022). None of those three won the Oaks, with Nest performing best with a runner-up finish in the prestigious race at Churchill Downs for 3-year-old fillies.
Ortiz, Pletcher, and Repole Stable won the Suncoast for the second time after their initial success with Nest, who Repole Stable campaigned in partnership with Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House.
Zany, bred by the Len and Jon Green-headed D. J. Stable in Kentucky, is a daughter of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah out of the Uncle Mo mare Mo' Green. West Bloodstock purchased her in 2024 on behalf of Repole Stable for $350,000 from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment to Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale in Upstate New York.
After his retirement from racing, American Pharoah stood at Coolmore's Ashford Stud near Versailles, Ky. Relocated for the 2026 breeding season, he is now standing at the Shizunai Stallion Station in Japan before a scheduled return to Ashford Stud in July.
