By Jill Williams
In a GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby delayed more than 30 minutes due to a tote issue plaguing much of the East Coast, Klaravich Stables homebred DOMESTIC PRODUCT (c, 3, Practical Joke–Goods and Services, by Paynter) won in a wild scramble at the finish. Recent GIII Sam F. Davis S. winner No More Time (Not This Time) was nosed out for the win and held second over recent Swale S. third Grand Mo the First (Uncle Mo), while pacesetter Good Money (Good Magic) just missed the board. The final time for the 8 1/2 furlongs was 1:45.47 in a race where the top five finishers all earned qualifying points on a scale of 50-25-15-10-5 for the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
As the Tampa Bay Derby runners circled for about 30 minutes in the saddling paddock prior to the race as the extent of the tote outage became apparent, officials at Tampa Bay Downs finally opted to run the Kentucky Derby points race as a non-wagering event. The final race on the card, scheduled to be run after the Tampa Bay Derby, was canceled altogether.
Most recently the runner-up to Hades (Awesome Slew) in the GIII Holy Bull S. Feb. 3, Domestic Product broke outward at the Tampa Bay Derby start, bumped slightly, and was unbothered as jockey Tyler Gaffalione eased into a covered-up position midpack while keeping his mount under a strong hold. Domestic Product's stablemate, fellow Chad Brown trainee Good Money, showed the way through tepid :25.25 and :51.14 early fractions as Gaffalione continued to ask Domestic Product to wait. Tipped wide off the turn, the winner joined a calvary charge bearing down on Good Money with the photo showing mere inches between Domestic Product and No More Time, as Grand Mo the First and Good Money also made noise as part of the final fray.
It was the first Tampa Bay Derby win for both Brown and Gaffalione, as well as for Klaravich Stables. Inaugurated in 1981 with a current purse of $400,000, the Tampa Bay Derby has featured one victor to date (Street Sense, 2007) who went on to win the roses on the first Saturday in May in Louisville.
Prior to his Holy Bull second last month, Domestic Product–an open-daylight winner in a nine-furlong maiden special weight Oct. 27 at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet–finished an unheralded seventh in the GII Remsen S. Dec. 2. The Remsen is proving to be a key race, as the winner, Dornoch (Good Magic), won last week's GII Fountain of Youth S.; the runner-up, 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), won the Feb. 17 GII Risen Star S.; and the third-place finisher, Drum Roll Please (Hard Spun), won the Jerome S. in his last start in January. Domestic Product's first start since, that runner-up trip in the Holy Bull, involved a bumpy start and a six-wide bid in which he outslugged Eclipse champion 2-year-old Fierceness (City of Light).
Pedigree Notes:
The first stakes winner out of a daughter of the late Paynter, Domestic Product is by Coolmore America's Practical Joke, the continent's current-leading fourth-crop sire of 2024 by both earnings and black-type winners. A son of Into Mischief, Practical Joke has 25 career graded winners and 37 stakes winners worldwide.
Unraced Goods and Services, the Tampa Bay Derby winner's dam, sold at the 2021 Keeneland November sale for $37,000 to Railway Street when Domestic Product was a weanling. The mare produced a 2022 filly by Complexity in New York, aborted to Honest Mischief for 2023, and was bred to Drain the Clock for this term.
#5 DOMESTIC PRODUCT wins the tight photo in the $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby (G3). He earns 50 points on the @SpendthriftFarm Road to the Kentucky Derby for trainer Chad Brown with @Tyler_Gaff in the irons. Domestic Product is sired by @CoolmoreAmerica's Practical Joke. pic.twitter.com/1q3IqJgMDh
— TVG (@TVG) March 9, 2024
Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs
LAMBHOLM SOUTH TAMPA BAY DERBY-GIII, $350,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 3-9, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:45.47, ft.
1–DOMESTIC PRODUCT, 120, c, 3, by Practical Joke
1st Dam: Goods and Services, by Paynter
2nd Dam: Indian Legend, by Cherokee Run
3rd Dam: Virginia Bee, by Virginia Rapids
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN.
O/B-Klaravich Stables (KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Tyler
Gaffalione. $210,000. Lifetime Record: 5-2-1-0, $314,200.
Werk Nick Rating: D+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–No More Time, 120, c, 3, Not This Time–Baroness Juliette,
by Speightstown. ($40,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Morplay Racing
LLC; B-MAMAS Thoroughbreds, LLC (IA); T-Jose Francisco
D'Angelo. $70,000.
3–Grand Mo the First, 120, c, 3, Uncle Mo–Lilies So Fair,
by Giant's Causeway. ($125,000 RNA Ylg '22 KEESEP; $135,000
Ylg '22 FTKOCT; $335,000 RNA 2yo '23 OBSMAR). O-Granpollo
Stables LLC; B-John D. Gunther (KY); T-Victor Barboza, Jr.
$35,000.
Margins: NK, HD, HF. Odds: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00.
Also Ran: Good Money, Heartened, Sturdy, Crazy Mason, Everdoit, Catire Vizcaya, Give Me Liberty.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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