The marquee Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve qualifying race at Tampa Bay Downs is set for Saturday, March 8, as seven 3-year-old colts are set to compete for a total of 105 Derby points in the 45^th running of the $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby.

The 1 1/16-mile race distributes points on a 50-25-15-10-5 basis to its top five finishers. It has sent one winner on to capture the roses at Churchill Downs: Street Sense in 2007. In recent years, the Tampa Bay Derby has become more important overall as a Triple Crown prep, with winners such as Destin (2016), Tacitus (2019), and Tapit Trice (2023) finishing in the top three in Triple Crown races and Tapwrit (2017) winning the Belmont Stakes. Read about some of the best winners in this article.

This year’s Tampa Bay Derby is headlined by the 3-year-old debut of two-time Grade 1 winner Chancer McPatrick, and the race also drew several other talented prospects. It will be televised on “America’s Day at the Races” on FS2 and also on FanDuel TV, with a scheduled post time of 5:34 p.m. ET.

Read on for information about the Tampa Bay Derby contenders and some gambling insights.

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1. Owen Almighty (5-1 morning-line odds)

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

Trainer: Brian Lynch

Owner: Flying Dutchman Breeding and Racing

Career record: 5 starts – 2 wins – 2 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $274,310

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 97

Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 15

Pedigree: Speightstown – Tempers Rising, by Bayern

Color: Bay

Running style: Press the pace

Analysis: Owen Almighty is the leading local hope to win the Tampa Bay Derby after two good efforts on the track’s dirt surface. He set a contested pace in the seven-furlong Pasco Stakes in early January and outfinished Naughty Rascal to win by a length, but was disqualified and placed fifth for interfering with an opponent heading into the turn. Then, the Speightstown colt stretched out to two turns in the 1 1/16-mile Sam F. Davis Stakes and finished a half-length behind John Hancock in second after pressing that foe throughout the race. The nation’s leading jockey based on 2025 earnings, Irad Ortiz Jr., has been aboard this colt for his last three starts and retains the mount Saturday. Look for Owen Almighty to be among the early leaders in the Tampa Bay Derby along with Brodeur and Patch Adams, and his experience on Tampa’s surface could give him the advantage. However, even if he wins this race, Owen Almighty will be shortened up in distance for his summer campaign and will not start in the 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby, according to trainer Brian Lynch in comments to Tampa Bay Downs’ media office.

Walter Wlodarczyk/NYRA

2. Chancer McPatrick (8-5)

Jockey: Flavien Prat

Trainer: Chad Brown

Owner: Flanagan Racing

Career record: 4 starts – 3 wins – 0 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $535,000

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 95

Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 10

Pedigree: McKinzie – Bernadreamy, by Bernardini

Color: Bay

Running style: Closer

Analysis: This talented, accomplished colt makes his anticipated 3-year-old bow Saturday after missing time over the winter recovering from minor ankle surgery. He was one of the best of his age group last summer and fall, winning two Grade 1 races for 2-year-olds, the seven-furlong Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga followed by the one-turn, one-mile Champagne Stakes held at Aqueduct. Based on those wins, Chancer McPatrick was sent off as the 2.20-1 second betting choice in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by TAA Nov. 1 at Del Mar, but he disappointed in his two-turn debut, finishing a distant sixth of 10 in the 1 1/16-mile race that was won by front-running Citizen Bull. Trainer Chad Brown, who won last year’s Tampa Bay Derby with Domestic Product, has been pointing Chancer McPatrick to this race for weeks and his recent workouts in South Florida indicate he’s fit and ready to fire. Look for regular jockey Flavien Prat to position Chancer McPatrick near the back of the field early on, but perhaps not as far back as in his 2-year-old races, and the addition of blinkers for his comeback should help him focus. It’s always exciting to see how top 2-year-olds develop early in their 3-year-old season, and Brown’s patient handling should help Chancer McPatrick maximize his talent as he returns to competition.

New to racing? Let us explain…

Blinkers are cups that are placed on the outside of each eye on a horse prior to a race. They can be cut to different lengths and are used to restrict the horse’s field of vision, which ideally will enable him/her to perform better through improved focus on what is in front of him rather than what is behind.

3. Hill Road (4-1)

Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione

Trainer: Chad Brown

Owner: Amo Racing USA

Career record: 3 starts – 1 win – 0 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $191,496

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 98

Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 9

Pedigree: Quality Road – Exotic Notion, by Lemon Drop Kid

Color: Bay

Running style: Closer

Analysis: This intriguing contender makes his 3-year-old debut with new trainer Chad Brown and will line up in the starting gate next to his stablemate and probable post-time favorite Chancer McPatrick. While most of the runners in last November’s FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by TAA have been monitored closely by Kentucky Derby pundits and handicappers over the winter months and when they returned to racing, Hill Road fell off of the radar and his return in the Tampa Bay Derby is somewhat surprising and very ambitious. He was a 69.10-1 longshot in the Juvenile at Del Mar, shipping in from England after making two starts on turf and winning once, and he outran those odds by a wide margin as he rallied to edge Getaway Car for third place behind winner Citizen Bull and runner-up Gaming. Since then, the son of accomplished dirt racehorse and good sire Quality Road remained in the United States and has been transferred to multiple Eclipse Award winner Brown, who told Daily Racing Form that his new charge has been moving forward in his training in recent weeks and deserves a shot in a Derby prep. Like Chancer McPatrick, Hill Road will be fitted with blinkers for the Tampa Bay Derby to sharpen his concentration. Look for him to be running late in the stretch with a chance to fill out the trifecta once again in a big-time race.

Coady Media

4. Brodeur (15-1)

Jockey: Jose Ortiz

Trainer: Mark Casse

Owner: D. J. Stable

Career record: 3 starts – 2 wins – 0 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $145,278

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 99

Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 0

Pedigree: Nyquist – Tea Time, by Pulpit

Color: Bay

Running style: Pacesetter/press the pace

Analysis: Brodeur is the lone Tampa Bay Derby starter without previous stakes experience, so he’ll be testing his ability at a higher level Saturday; that said, he enters off of two consecutive wins and showed determination in both of them. In his second career start back in December, the son of Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist set a pressured pace and held off a late-running challenger to prevail by a head in a six-furlong maiden race on a muddy track at Oaklawn Park. He next stretched out to 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn in late January, and once again took some heat while racing on the lead, put away his early competition, and was all out to hold off a deep closer, this time winning by a half-length. The final time for this race was slow and Brodeur’s Equibase Speed Figure dropped from a 99 in his maiden win to an 89 in his two-turn debut. He’ll need to do much better Saturday as he faces a solid field, and look for first-time rider Jose Ortiz to put Brodeur on the early lead again with possibly Owen Almighty and Patch Adams close behind. Brodeur’s dam (mother) was a multiple stakes-winning sprinter but he has some good stamina influences deeper in his pedigree.

Susie Raisher/NYRA

5. Filoso (15-1)

Jockey: Dylan Davis

Trainer: Chad Summers

Owner: Gold Square

Career record: 4 starts – 1 win – 0 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $120,875

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 84

Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 3

Pedigree: City of Light – Kenda, by Bodemeister

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Closer

Analysis: Like Chancer McPatrick and Hill Road, Filoso is set to make his 3-year-old debut in the Tampa Bay Derby. He picked up three Kentucky Derby qualifying points last October with a late-running third in the 1 1/16-mile Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, finishing 9 ½ lengths behind winner East Avenue and 4 ¼ lengths back of runner-up Ferocious, and then checked in a disappointing sixth in his final juvenile race, the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes in November at Churchill Downs. Based on his running style and speed figures, Filoso will be up against it in the Tampa Bay Derby; on the positive side, he’s been training well in south Florida for this race and there’s always the chance he’s improved significantly in the three-plus months he’s been away from racing. Another plus is that Filoso will be reunited with jockey Dylan Davis, who rode him in his first two starts last summer at Saratoga, including his win in a one-mile maiden race. He’ll be coming from off the pace Saturday along with the aforementioned Chancer McPatrick and Hill Road and will also be wearing blinkers for the first time. Filling out the trifecta or more likely the superfecta appears to be his ceiling.

New To Horse Racing? Let Us Explain...

A superfecta or trifecta filler: We're suggesting that you might want to add the horse to your bet if you’re playing a superfecta (picking the first four finishers) or a trifecta (first three finishers), and using this horse in the third and fourth slot but not to win or finish second.

Eclipse Sportswire

6. Naughty Rascal (20-1)

Jockey: Samy Camacho

Trainer: Gerald Bennett

Owners: Mr Pug and J.P.G. 2

Career record: 7 starts – 4 wins – 1 second – 1 third

Career earnings: $224,630

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 95

Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 0

Pedigree: Rogueish – Baby Doll, by Smarty Jones

Color: Bay

Running style: Press the pace/stalker

Analysis: Naughty Rascal is the most experienced Tampa Bay Derby entrant with seven career starts, and he’s already tallied four wins. Three of them came last year during a productive 2-year-old campaign, including stakes wins sprinting six furlongs on dirt and routing one mile on turf. The other one came two starts back, when he finished second by a length to Owen Almighty in the seven-furlong Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs but was moved up to first after that runner was disqualified for interfering with another horse. After the Pasco, Naughty Rascal started in the Sam F. Davis Stakes and pressed the early pace set by eventual front-running winner John Hancock before tiring on the far turn of the 1 1/16-mile event and finishing sixth of 10, 13 lengths behind the winner and 12 ½ lengths behind runner-up Owen Almighty. Needless to say, this Florida-bred must shake off that defeat and run back to his speed figures in the Pasco Stakes (93) and Inaugural Stakes (finished second, 95) in order to hit the board in the Tampa Bay Derby, and his pedigree is not too encouraging for route races either. On the positive side, Naughty Rascal will get the services of Tampa Bay Downs mainstay jockey Samy Camacho for the first time Saturday. Camacho memorably won the 2020 Tampa Bay Derby aboard longshot King Guillermo.

Eclipse Sportswire

7. Patch Adams (2-1)

Jockey: Florent Geroux

Trainer: Brad Cox

Owners: CHC and WinStar Farm

Career record: 3 starts – 1 win – 0 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $132,125

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 113

Kentucky Derby qualifying points: 4

Pedigree: Into Mischief – Well Humored, by Distorted Humor

Color: Bay

Running style: Press the pace/stalker

Analysis: Due to the presence of Chancer McPatrick in the Tampa Bay Derby, there’s a good chance this son of leading sire Into Mischief will not be the post time favorite in a race for the first time in his young career. Patch Adams was sent off at odds lower than even money in all three of his prior starts – a third-place finish in his six-furlong debut last October at Keeneland, a romping 10 ½-length win in a seven-furlong maiden race at Churchill Downs in November, and then when he made his 3-year-old debut in a competitive edition of the Southwest Stakes in late January at Oaklawn Park. He was the 4-5 odds-on favorite in that nine-horse field, and truth be told, did not run that badly in finishing fourth by 2 ½ lengths to pacesetting winner Speed King. His Equibase Speed Figure earned in the Southwest, a 97, is still competitive with the other Tampa Bay Derby starters, and his winning figure of 113 from last November at Churchill is 14 points higher than the next-best figure in the field (a 99 from Brodeur, in a sprint race). If he can improve in his second try in a route and on a track that has a reputation as being difficult to handle for horses that race on it for the first time, Patch Adams has a good chance of getting right back on the Kentucky Derby trail with a victory.

New to racing? Let us explain…

When a horse is bet down to even-money odds in the parimutuel win pool, those are represented as 1-1 on the tote board and mean that if he or she prevails, the bettor will receive the amount of money wagered as winnings. A $2 win bet will thus return $4, $4 will return $8, and so on. Odds-on favorites are horses that are bet at odds equal to or less than even money by the time the wagering pools closed. This means that if you were to bet $2 on a horse that goes off at 4-5 odds, you would receive $3.60 back – four-fifths of each dollar wagered plus your $2 investment.