Agate Road among dozen in Sam F. Davis

Feb 07, 2024 Vance Hanson/Brisnet.com

The defection earlier this week of Grade 1 winner Locked from Saturday's $250,000 Sam F. Davis (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs leaves the 1 1/16-mile Road to the Kentucky Derby prep with no clear-cut favorite.

Trainer Todd Pletcher will still be represented in the Davis by Agate Road, who has done his best work to date on turf. Victorious in the Pilgrim (G2) last fall, Agate Road subsequently finished fifth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) and then second as an odds-on choice in the Jan. 6 Dania Beach S., in which he couldn't catch lone speed Tocayo. In Agate Road's favor is that he missed by a nose in his debut in an off-the-turf maiden at Saratoga last August.

#9 Agate Road gets his first stakes victory in the G2 Pilgram S. at Belmont for trainer Todd Plecher with @iradortiz aboard! 🏆

Next stop: @breederscup!
✈️@repolestable

🎥 #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/ekI1r6jynF

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) October 4, 2023

Fulmineo, second to Agate Road in the Pilgrim and further up the track in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, was most recently second in a local allowance prep to Crazy Mason. The latter had been previously second to Patriot Spirit in the six-furlong Inaugural S. in early December.

West Saratoga, who landed the first Derby prep in the series, the Iroquois (G3) at Churchill Downs, will look to improve on his recent second-place effort in the Pasco S., in which he finished 12 lengths behind Book'em Danno. Dual stakes winner Copper Tax made little impact in a key renewal of the Remsen (G2) when last seen but should enjoy the class relief. No More Time, meanwhile, has some improvement to show following a fifth-place run in the Mucho Macho Man S. at Gulfstream.

Stepping up in class from the overnight ranks are Change of Command, a Gulfstream allowance winner for Shug McGaughey; Elysian Meadows, a two-time winner facing New York-bred company for Bill Mott; and the Pletcher-trained maiden scorer Tireless.

The Sam F. Davis awards Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis to the respective top five finishers, though any points earned by Patriot Spirit or El Principito will not automatically accrue as they are not currently nominated to the Triple Crown.

The Sam F. Davis has a scheduled post time of 5:15 p.m. ET and can be watched and wagered on at TwinSpires.com.