OLDSMAR, FL — A maiden no more.
The Puma stalked the pace before unleashing a powerful move in the stretch to win Saturday’s $400,000 ESMARK Tampa Bay Derby (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs, stamping himself as a legitimate contender on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
The result continued a surprising theme that’s been developing along this year’s Derby trail: lightly raced horses stepping up in a big way. The Puma entered the race still a maiden, but he handled the class jump with ease and instantly went from an unproven prospect to a major player for the first Saturday in May.
With the victory, The Puma vaulted into second place on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard after earning 50 qualifying points. Combined with the six points he earned finishing third in the Listed Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on February 7, the colt now firmly sits inside the Derby picture.
Assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado, Jr., speaking for his father Gustavo Delgado, Sr., couldn’t hide his pride after taking the bold step of entering a maiden in a major Derby prep.
“We’re a small barn. We have to scout, we have to buy the horses. It’s more gratifying when you only get one or two horses at the sale and they end up like this. It’s very satisfying. I’m very pleased. It’s not an easy thing when you enter a maiden in a stakes race. People think what are they doing? It’s a good thing when they respond on the track,” Gustavo Delgado, Jr., the assistant trainer to his father, Gustavo Delgado, Sr., told America’s Best Racing from the winner’s circle “From the first time he ran, I said that this is a very good horse and I kept telling everyone.”
Ridden by Javier Castellano, The Puma broke sharply from the far outside post and settled just off the early pace while longshot Redland Rebels set fractions of 23.07 and 46.48 through the opening half-mile of the 1 1/16-mile contest over a fast track.
Castellano began advancing on the far turn, and by the time the field straightened for home, The Puma had surged to the front. He battled through the lane with Further Ado and the 1.50-1 favorite Canaletto, ultimately pulling clear to win by three-quarters of a length in a final time of 1:43.23 in front of a crowd of 9,070.
Further Ado, trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., finished second, while Canaletto, trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Flavien Prat, was another head back in third.
Castellano praised the colt’s development after the race.
“Everybody was trying to save ground and there was a lot of traffic to get there from the outside post (No. 8). From there it’s really hard to go all the way to the inside. Nobody spilt up. I was tracking Canaletto with Prat all the way. I really like my horse and what he did and the way he did it. He ran really good,” said Castellano, who took the 2016 Tampa Bay Derby with Destin. “With three-year-olds, you have to give them a chance to develop. In his first race he got beat by a really good horse. In the second race (the Sam Davis) it was his first time around turn turns. He started to figure it out today. When he got rolling, he did what he was supposed to do. I like the way he finished.”
Juliana Colombo/Eclipse Sportswire/CSM
Canaletto entered the race with major hype after breaking his maiden by eight lengths at Gulfstream Park on January 25. The $1 million yearling purchase owned by Coolmore, Peter Brant, and Brook T. Smith was stepping into stakes company for the first time.
Prat said the trip never quite developed the way he hoped.
“He was looking around. He never really traveled. They went fast and I was in deep water from the gate,” said Prat. Then he made a run, surprisingly, and I thought he was going to make a run at the three-eighths pole. He was brave enough to make a run, but I never really felt that I was traveling well.”
With the runner-up finish, Spendthrift Farm’s Further Ado picked up 25 Kentucky Derby points, adding to the 10 he already owned. Canaletto earned 15 points, while Redland Rebels collected 10 to join the Derby trail. Talkin received 5 points.
Completing the order of finish were Powershift, Thunder Buck, Hulkamania, and Roger That Dana.
The Puma is by Essential Quality out of the Declaration of War mare Eve of War and was bred in Kentucky by Hidden Brook Farm and Brain Kahn. He is owned by OGMA Investments, JR Ranch, and High Strep Racing.
OGMA Investments previously campaigned 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, and now they appear to have another colt with Churchill Downs in their sights.
“From the beginning (with The Puma) I said, ‘Let’s get everything’. Right now, it makes sense,” said Delgado, Jr.
Sent off at 7.40-1, The Puma returned $16.80 on a $2 win ticket while earning $210,000, pushing his career bankroll to $244,280.
