EDITED TAMPA BAY DOWNS PRESS RELEASE
OLDSMAR, FL. – Florida-bred Wayne’s Law faces tough competition from powerhouse trainers Todd Pletcher and Brad Cox, who have combined to win the Kentucky Derby three times. Their entries comprise one-third of the nine-horse field for Saturday’s $250,000 Sam F. Davis set for three-year-olds going a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the main track at Tampa Bay Downs.
Pletcher has two Sam F. Davis entries in Renegade and Epic Desire, who will break from posts 6 and 2, respectively, while Cox has entered Confessional, who will break from the inside in post 1.
Finishing in the money in four starts with two wins and two thirds, longshot at 30-1, Wayne’s Law faces his 2026 debut after consistently working out at Gulfstream Park, with his last work coming on Jan. 31 breezing 49.05 for four furlongs on dirt to rank 30 out of 91 trainees that day.
Last time out on Nov. 26, he finished third in the black type Jean Lafitte at Delta Downs where he pressed the pace and was forwardly placed but just bested by the first and second finishers. He finished first at Gulfstream Park in the Aventura on Sept. 20, winning by seven and a quarter-lengths after a bobble at the start then drove past the leaders in the stretch to win pulling away in the mile race.
By Tiz the Law out of Mollie Merisa by Harlan’s Holiday, the colt was bred in Florida by Margaret McFarland of Ocala and is owned by Herbert Sternlieb’s Baalbek Corporation of Ft. Lauderdale.
Sternlieb purchased the horse out of the JP Thoroughbreds consignment at the Ocala Breeders’ Sale Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training 2025 for a tag of $25,000. The horse previously was consigned by Crowning Point Farm for the OBS winter sale as a yearling and RNA’d at $22,000.
Although Renegade is a maiden (non-winner), he is held in high regard by respected handicappers. On Oct. 17, he won a maiden special weight at a mile at Belmont at the Big A, but was disqualified and placed second behind Paladin for a bumping incident. In the Grade 3 Remsen Dec. 6 at Aqueduct, Renegade took the lead briefly in the stretch before falling victim by two lengths to Paladin’s late rally.
Confessional won his career debut Oct. 16 at Keeneland, then finished second by five lengths to the Pletcher-trained, Wind Hill Farm bred Florida-bred Nearly on Jan. 2 in an allowance/optional claiming race at Gulfstream Park. Nearly won his next start in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream, winning by five and three-quarters lengths to make Confessional’s last performance look a bit stronger.
The Sam F. Davis was won by Cox and jockey Flavien Prat last year with John Hancock. Irad Ortiz, Jr. will be aboard Renegade and Prat rides Confessional. Epic Desire’s jockey will be Samy Camacho. Prat has won the two most recent Eclipse Awards as North America’s Outstanding Jockey, with Ortiz winning the two before that and five of the previous six.
Pletcher has won the race a record seven times, including five times between 2010-2023 when the race was classified as a Grade 3. The conditioner’s first two Sam F. Davis victories played a vital role in the race achieving Grade 3 status in 2009. Pletcher’s first Sam F. Davis winner, Bluegrass Cat (2006), subsequently finished second in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby, Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, and won the Grade I Haskell Invitational.
Pletcher’s Sam F. Davis winner the following year, Any Given Saturday, was second in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby and won the Grade 2 Dwyer, the Grade I Haskell Invitational, and Grade 2 Brooklyn Handicap.
Pletcher’s sixth Sam F. Davis winner, Destin (2016), also won that year’s Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby and the Grade 2 Marathon presented by TAA and was second by a nose to Creator in the Belmont.
The full field for the Sam F. Davis in post position is as follows: 1 Confessional, 2 Epic Desire; 3 The Puma; 4 Game For It; 5 Ocelli; 6 Renegade; 7 Wayne’s Law; 8 Max Capacity; and Dr. Kapur.
Post time for the first race Saturday is 12:10 p.m. The Sam F. Davis is carded as race 11 going off at approximately 5:30 p.m.
The 46th edition of the Sam F. Davis is a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points race. At stake are 20, 10, 6, 4 and 2 qualifying points for the top five finishers. The Kentucky Derby is scheduled May 2 at Churchill Downs in Louisville. The Sam F. Davis is also the major prep race for the Oldsmar oval’s biggest race of the meet, the Grade III, $400,000 ESMARK Tampa Bay Derby, to be contested March 7.
Tammy A. Gantt contributed to this story.
Return to the February 6 issue of Wire to Wire
