TAMPA BAY DOWNS PRESS RELEASE

OLDSMAR, FL. – Florida Cup Day, a collection of six $110,000 stakes races bringing together the top state-bred horses in training, is Sunday, March 24 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Nominations for the 21st annual event closed March 10, with a total of 119 nominations across the six races. Horses must be FTBOA registered Florida-breds to compete.

The event has produced outstanding winners. Munnys Gold set the Oldsmar oval’s 7-furlong main track record of 1:20.09 in winning last year’s Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies Stakes. World Approval, a two-time Florida Cup winner (2015 Equistaff Sophomore Turf and 2017 Turf Classic) went on to win the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Mile. Imperial Hint, a four-time Grade I winner and 2017 TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up won the 2016 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore Stakes and the 2018 NYRABETS Sprint.

World Approval and Imperial Hint went on to become Florida Horse of the Year.

The Florida Cup celebrates the state’s rich tradition of breeding, raising, and racing champion Thoroughbreds. All-time great Florida-breds include 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed; Kentucky Derby winners Unbridled, Silver Charm, Carry Back, Needles, and Foolish Pleasure, along with world record holder Dr. Fager; Holy Bull; and Afleet Alex.

The race lineup remains unchanged from last year. ESMARK, a Pittsburgh-based company focusing on steel services, oil and gas exploration, aviation, real estate, technology, and sports management has joined as a new sponsor.

The ESMARK Turf Classic is a mile-and-eighth race on the turf course for Florida-breds 4-years-old-and-upward. The 22 nominees include trainer Michael Maker’s 7-year-old gelding Me and Mr. C, who won the race in 2021 and was second last year, and trainer Kelsey Danner’s 4-year-old colt Otago, who won last year’s Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore.

There are 22 horses nominated to the NYRABETS Sprint, a 6-furlong race on the main dirt track. Top nominees include 5-year-old gelding Dean Delivers, a Grade III winner from the barn of Michael Yates; Grade III winner Octane, a 5-year-old gelding trained by Juan Alvarado; and Mish, trainer Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.’s 7-year-old gelding who just missed upsetting Sibelius here in last month’s Pelican Stakes.

There are 21 horses nominated to the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore, a 7-furlong race for 3-year-olds on the main track. The nominees include Pure Class, a David Fawkes-trained colt who has finished first or second in five of six career starts, and unbeaten (4-for-4) Sugar Boy, trainer Jose Francisco D’Angelo’s colt who has done all his running at Hipodromo Camarero in Puerto Rico.

The Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies, for 3-year-old females going seven furlongs on the dirt, attracted 16 nominees. Entered is Joseph’s R Harper Rose, a Grade III winner who is 4-for-5, Maker’s Let Them Watch and Herman Wilensky’s Chi Chi who finished 1-2 at the track on Dec. 2 in the Sandpiper Stakes.

The Pleasant Acres Stallions Distaff Turf for fillies and mares 3-and-upward at a mile-and-a-sixteenth attracted 21 nominees. Grade III-winning 4-year-old Mohawk Trail, trained by Danner, and defending champion Sweet Dani Girl, a multiple-stakes winner trained by Christophe Clement, are on the list.

The Equistaff Sophomore Turf, for 3-year-olds traveling a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the turf, drew 17 colt and gelding nominees. Standing out on paper is Danner’s colt Shards, who has not raced since finishing fifth on Nov. 3 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita, beaten only 2 ¼ lengths by winner Big Evs.

Florida Cup Day is also FTBOA member day which includes free admission, a program, and a buffet served from noon-3 p.m. under the big tent adjacent to the paddock.

Return to Wire to Wire