By Joe Bianca
While there have been some good-looking efforts by sophomores early this season on the GI Kentucky Derby trail, as far as stakes performances go, it's hard to top the show put on by Live Oak Plantation's Win Win Win (Hat Trick {Jpn}) in the Pasco S. Jan. 19 at Tampa Bay Downs. Off last, the dark bay rallied widest of all and dusted his four rivals in the stretch to the tune of a 7 1/4-length romp, earning a 99 Beyer and setting the track record for seven furlongs. Saturday, the Michael Trombetta trainee will have a major question about his Derby prospects answered when he tries two turns for the first time in a quality renewal of the Oldsmar meet's centerpiece, the GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby.
A debut winner Nov. 3 at Laurel, Win Win Win steadily progressed in his next two outings, repeating in an optional claimer there Dec. 7 and running a good second in the Heft S. at the Maryland oval. None of that could've prepared his connections for what he did in the Pasco, however, and Trombetta passed on the GIII Sam F. Davis S. to give his charge more time to recover for this crucial test.
Contention runs deep, however, and it's led by John C. Oxley's well-regarded 'TDN Rising Star' Dream Maker (Tapit). A first-out victor last June at Churchill, the full-brother to GISW Dream Dancing was trained up to the GI Hopeful S., but could only manage a fifth-place run, and he was 12th as the favorite in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity S. Given the winter off, the gray impressed in his sophomore debut, romping by 8 1/2 lengths in an allowance over this trip Feb. 9 at Fair Grounds.
The Sam Davis hero returns in Stonehedge's Well Defined (With Distinction). A dominant victor of the FTBOA Florida Sire In Reality S. last September at Gulfstream, the homebred finished 12th in the GI Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile and fifth in the Mucho Macho Man S. Jan. 5 at Gulfstream. Sprinting to a clear lead in the Sam Davis, however, Well Defined put away favored Knicks Go (Paynter) and came home a convincing winner. He is likely to face more pace pressure this time around from the stretching-out Zenden (Fed Biz) to his outside as he attempts to legitimize that score.
Bill Mott, who already has a pair of Derby contenders in 'TDN Rising Stars' Hidden Scroll (Hard Spun) and Country House (Lookin At Lucky), confidently spots Juddmonte Farms' Tacitus (Tapit). The first foal out of these connections' champion Close Hatches (First Defence), Tacitus was fourth debuting Oct. 4 at Belmont before graduating by a hard-fought neck Nov. 10 at Aqueduct. The gray has drilled steadily at Mott's Payson Park base for this 3-year-old bow, most recently going a half-mile in :49 3/5 (14/32) Mar. 3.
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