Gulfstream’s Fountain of Youth loss turns out to be Tampa Bay’s gain as Chance It (5-2) certainly brings excitement and an added measure of intrigue to the track’s signature event, the G2 Tampa Bay Derby.
A dozen have been entered, including the aforementioned second choice; Spa City (10-1), a big-figure maiden breaker around two turns at Gulfstream; Market Analysis (8-1) a confidently handled uber-good-thing maiden breaker for Todd at seven furlongs but wait, there’s more…
How about Bye Bye Melvin (20-1), a horse whose dirt form may be better than it appears and, of course, the Sam F. Davis winner and early line favorite, Sole Volente (2-1).
Chance It is fast, genuine, loves the game (6) 4-2-0, and will fight to beat you, as his Mucho Macho Man suggests. His half-mile blowout Monday was 4th fastest of 156 peers to work this week at Gulfstream Park.
Chance It loses Tyler Gaffalione to a prior Santa Anita commitment but given his brilliance, the #4 slip, and Paco Lopez, his chances are as good as they ever were. But we’re not going to get too fancy here, we’re going with a hot hand not named Joseph.
And that would be Patrick Biancone and Florent Geroux, who teamed up to win the Fountain of Youth with Ete Indien. But of greater consequence is his win over the track at today’s trip when he took the Sammy, and the turn of foot he demonstrated going so.
Yes, Independence Hall was tiring in his season’s debut, making the move appear even more dramatic, but he’s a high quality animal nonetheless. And is it written somewhere that Sole Volente won’t continue developing?
See if you agree. Revisit the Sam F. Davis on our homepage and watch that rally again on the Tampa Bay Today Video replay, RACE 11 on FEB 8. There will be more horses to pass this time but the pace should be more contested.
We’re betting Sole Volente to win with no price restrictions, boxing an exacta with Chance It and hoping to get fresh and pointed price shot, Bye Bye Melvin, into the super-exotics mix.
