By Joe Bianca
Live Oak Plantation's Win Win Win (Hat Trick {Jpn}), a track record setter in his latest start at Tampa Bay Downs, will get his first two-turn test in the GII Tampa Bay Derby Mar. 9 at the Oldsmar oval, trainer Michael Trombetta confirmed to TDN Monday. The homebred was under consideration for the prep for that event, this Saturday's GIII Sam F. Davis S., but will instead be trained up to the meet centerpiece, with his performance likely to go a long way in determining whether the colt is ultimately pointed for the GI Kentucky Derby.
“The Sam Davis would certainly have been a great option for us, but I elected to pass on that to give him a little bit of extra time to prepare properly going into the other race,” Trombetta said. “That would've been back in three weeks off a pretty fast race.”
That pretty fast race was indeed the swiftest seven furlongs in Tampa Bay Downs's 93-year history, as Win Win Win overcame a slow start in the Jan. 19 Pasco S. to stop the timer in 1:20.89 while romping by 7 1/4 lengths (video). No horse had ever before run a sub-1:21 seven panels over Tampa's notoriously deep main track.
“It was a lot of fun, we went down for the race and I was expecting him to do well, but did I think he would break the track record? No,” Trombetta said. “He really showed up in a good way.”
Now the dark bay prepares for the most important crossroad of his young career, as his connections attempt to figure out whether they have simply a dynamite sprinter or a potential superstar.
“I think he should be fine with it, but obviously it's still a big unknown for us,” Trombetta said. “We haven't done two turns with this guy yet, but he has four races under him, two [5 1/2-furlong] sprints and two seven-eighths so I think he's ready to transition over and give it a try.”
Trombetta has experience with this specific scenario–training a dazzling sprinter early in his sophomore season who could be Kentucky Derby-bound if he can prove his mettle around two turns–and it's an experience that actually led the veteran Maryland-based conditioner to saddling the 2006 Derby favorite, Sweetnorthernsaint (Sweetsouthernsaint). That taught him to trust in the talent of his animal above all, something he'll do again with Win Win Win.
“It's familiar territory,” Trombetta said. “It's been a while, but I had Sweetnorthernsaint in 2006 and he broke his maiden and ran, if I remember right, a 102 Beyer sprinting at Aqueduct. All those same questions were asked–'Will he rate?' 'Will he go long?'–and all that kind of stuff. I think the good ones can do a lot, and we just have to see if he's one of those.”
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