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McCraken sets Tampa Bay Downs record in Sam F. Davis Stakes win

 
Published Feb. 12, 2017

OLDSMAR— McCraken is one cool customer.

In the Tampa Bay Downs paddock Saturday, he hardly moved as trainer Ian Wilkes saddled him. A sponge soaking to his face and neck ensued, and minutes later, McCraken waited patiently for the starting gate to open in the Grade III $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes.

McCraken started slowly — customary for the Whitham Thoroughbreds homebred 3-year-old colt — and when jockey Brian Hernandez eventually asked the Kentucky-bred for his best on the lightning-fast dirt surface, the rising talent responded with the fastest 1-1/16th-mile clocking in the Downs' 91 years.

McCraken, the undefeated son of Ghostzapper, rallied to win the Sam F. Davis by 11/2 lengths over Tapwrit. The winning time of 1 minute, 42.45 seconds erased the mark of 1:42.82 by Destin in 2016. General Quarters had the stakes record of 1:43.54 in 2009.

McCraken, the 3-2 favorite, doubled his Kentucky Derby qualifying points to 20 with his fourth win in his first start in 78 days. A return trip to the Grade II $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby on March 11 is likely, his connections said.

It was the first Sam F. Davis win for Hernandez and Wilkes.

"Riding a horse like (McCraken) puts a lot of confidence in you, and you've got to go out there and ride him with the confidence we do … and he gets us there," Hernandez said. "When I first got to the half-mile pole, I asked him for a run and he hesitated a bit. But I think it was him telling me, 'Hey, jock, don't worry. We're going to get there when it's my time.' And he did.

"When he got to moving and he got to those horses (in front of him) so quickly, I just said okay, we're good from this point. Now, we just have to give him a clean path and let him run home."

McCraken was in front of only two challengers midway through the nine-horse event when Hernandez pushed his button. McCraken swung four-wide and picked off the leaders.

"He broke the track record, he circles around (the horses), the track is holding speed, and everything's winning on the front end (Saturday)," Wilkes said. "He overcame the (speed) bias and won."

State of Honor set the pace through fractions of 23.63, 47.15 and 1:10.90 for 6 furlongs. He finished third, a length behind Tapwrit. Wild Shot was fourth followed by Fact Finding, No Dozing, Six Gun Salute, Chance of Luck and King and His Court. McCraken paid $5, $3.60 and $2.80. Tapwrit returned $8.20 and $5.20, and State of Honor paid $6.20. The top four finishers received Kentucky Derby points on a sliding scale of 10-4-2-1.

McCraken raised his career bankroll to $310,848 with the $120,000 paycheck.

Clay Whithan, 57, the youngest of five children to McCraken ownership group leader Janis Whitham, felt comfortable before the race.

"I was really impressed in the saddling paddock that he was acting cool," he said. "He didn't turn a hair. We're just so happy with the horse. He's still a pretty lightly-raced horse, and obviously to keep going further, he has to keep getting better."

Attendance for the Festival Preview Day card was 5,420, with all-source handle of $9,488,680 on the 12 races.