Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher continued his supremacy in the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, winning the $210,000 Kentucky Derby (G1) prep for a record-extending eighth time—this year with 2025 Remsen Stakes (G2) runner-up Renegade.
For Repole Stable and Robert and Lawana Low's Renegade, the Sam F. Davis marked his first career victory, but he entered the race as no ordinary maiden. After a distant third in his Aug. 16 debut at Saratoga Race Course, he crossed the wire first ahead of the promising Paladin in an Oct. 17 maiden race at Aqueduct Racetrack, only to be disqualified and placed second for interference. He then raced again at Aqueduct in the Dec. 6 Remsen, running second to Paladin, beaten 2 lengths, after launching an early move and racing wide.
Paladin is one of the early favorites for the May 2 Kentucky Derby.
Renegade again took an outside journey in the Sam F. Davis, but it didn't matter against the foes he faced Saturday. Closing from eighth in the field of nine, he reeled in minor stakes winner Wayne's Law through the stretch and pulled away to score by 3 3/4 lengths under Irad Ortiz Jr. He clocked 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.54, topped by a closing sixteenth of a mile in :05.97. He paid $4.40 to win as the favorite.
"This is one of the best maiden wins I've ever had in my life," quipped co-owner Mike Repole of Repole Stable in an interview on FOX Sports.
Ortiz notched a third victory in the Sam F. Davis after piloting Classic Causeway (2022) and Ocean Knight (2015) to victory for other trainers.
Front-running longshot Wayne's Law, who set fractions of :23.80, :48.30, and 1:12.81, held second by 2 1/4 lengths over show finisher The Puma, the second favorite who had been runner-up in a well-rated maiden race in his only other start last month. Game for It ran fourth, and Epic Desire was fifth.
One of the other favorites, Confessional, weakened to seventh after encountering stretch traffic.
With the Sam F. Davis part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby, the top five finishers earned qualifying points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale toward the May 2 first leg of the Triple Crown at Churchill Downs. Officials there use qualifying points as a preference system when the race draws more than its capacity field size of 20 horses.
Coupled with 5 points he grabbed for his runner-up finish in the Remsen, Renegade has 25 points with still one more race slotted for him before the Derby. That start could come in the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) March 28 at Oaklawn Park.
Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying points standings
Pletcher's first Kentucky Derby winner, Super Saver, also made his way to Oaklawn before success in the Run for the Roses in 2010, finishing second in the Arkansas Derby after a third-place finish in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) in the kickoff race to his 3-year-old campaign.
Pletcher's other Derby winner, Always Dreaming, won the 2017 Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park before the Kentucky Derby. Pletcher is likely to run Holy Bull Stakes (G3) winner Nearly in the March 28 Florida Derby this year.
No Sam F. Davis participant has yet won the Kentucky Derby. Since 1983, horses exiting the race have compiled a 0-1-2 record from 31 Derby starts. Bluegrass Cat's runner-up finish in the 2006 Derby reflected the top performance. He was Pletcher's first Sam F. Davis winner.
Renegade, a bay 3-year-old colt by Into Mischief out of the graded stakes-winning Curlin mare Spice Is Nice, now has earnings of $199,000.
The Lows bred him in Kentucky and partnered with Repole Stable to race the colt after West Bloodstock signed for the colt's purchase on behalf of Repole Stable for $975,000 from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Into Mischief, sire of 2025 Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty, is a seven-time leading general sire. He stands this breeding season for $250,000 at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky.
Video: Sam F. Davis S. (BT)
Zany Remains UnBeaten in Taking SunCoast
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 earlier on the Saturday card for Repole Stable, Pletcher, and Ortiz.
In traffic early and later sent wide around the second turn in rallying from midpack, 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 Ortiz, 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 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) on the same scale as the Sam F. Davis.
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.
Road to the Kentucky Oaks qualifying points standings
"This is her third public workout. I mean, that's the way I would put it," Mike Repole said on 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.
