Tampa Bay Downs 5/13 Race 4 Preview: Big-Ticket Onward Still Seeking First W for Clement

OLDSMAR, FL – Trainer Christophe Clement’s Onward, a big-ticket $600k purchase as a yearling, will make his sixth attempt at breaking his maiden status in race 4 at Tampa Bay Downs on Wednesday, May 13.

Onward is one of eight sophomore males entered to go 6 furlongs over the Tampa Bay Downs main track. Local post time for the race is 2:30 PM Eastern. Here is a full preview of the field:

1. Branco Maria (3/1) – Phoenix Thoroughbred III plunked down $385k for this Candy Ride colt when he was a yearling and sent him to trainer Mike Stidham, who will saddle him for his debut. Stidham has won 17% of his maiden special weight entries in the past five years, though that number dips to 12% with first-time starters.

2. Onward (2/1) – After failing to break his maiden in four starts as a juvenile, he took time off before returning to make his 2020 debut at Gulfstream Park, where he finished seventh in a 6-furlong dirt sprint. Clement is adding blinkers for the first time to the Street Sense colt, who has posted three straight bullet workouts at Payson Park leading up to this appearance.

3. Falkirk (4/1) – He debuted last September in a 6-furlong dirt sprint at Churchill Downs against a pair of next-out winners, finishing fifth after languishing at the rear for much of the early running. He has been absent since then, but trainer Ian Wilkes has a 21% win rate with horses returning from layoffs of at least 180 days, so the Cairo Prince colt should be ready to fire under the meet’s leading rider, Antonio Gallardo.

4. Mukulwitz (7/2) – The St George Stable homebred takes a slight class drop after only managing a pair of third-place efforts in six prior starts, all at Gulfstream Park. Trainer Fausto Gutierrez most famously campaigned the 2018 Mexican Triple Crown champion Kukulkan, who put together 14 straight wins to kick off his career.

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5. Five Star Colonel (15/1) – He cuts back slightly for this spot after setting the pace, then fading to a well-beaten sixth in a local 7-furlong event on April 22 for trainer Tim Glyshaw. The Indiana-bred Colonel John gelding will likely send early and try to hold on under Harry Hernandez.

6. Luca Drew the Ace (15/1) – The Andrew Dion homebred makes his debut in this race for trainer Robert Raymond, who has yet to win with a first-time starter in 16 attempts over the past five years. His sire, Field Commission, has seen his offspring win 10 of 90 inaugural appearances to date.

7. Real Grace (20/1) – Owner/trainer Bernell Rhone will likely hope for much better pre-race behavior from this Mineshaft gelding in his second start. In a local maiden special weight over this same course and distance on April 1, Real Grace was restless in the post parade and in the gate, then bobbled at the start and never recovered after spotting the field 19 lengths.

8. Detective (8/1) – Trainer Mike Tomlinson’s Malibu Moon colt has a chance to break his maiden on debut, thanks to Tomlinson’s 14% win rate under such conditions in the past five years. If he does, he will bring Tomlinson and jockey Alonso Quinonez their first victory together; to date, they have a record of 16-0-0-4.