No More Time Holds Off Agate Road in Sam F. Davis

More preparation time proved key for No More Time  in the $200,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) Feb. 10 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Deciding to scratch his 3-year-old from the Feb. 3 Holy Bull Stakes (G3) a week ago at Gulfstream Park, trainer Jose D’Angelo instead chose to await the Sam F. Davis, believing he could have a fitter colt before an important prep race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby through a week’s delay.

“Because I knew he needed one more workout,” D’Angelo said of a five-furlong breeze on Holy Bull Day at Palm Meadows Training Center.

The work appeared to leave him sharp. No More Time shot to the front in Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile dirt race under Paco Lopez and raced uncontested over the first portion of the race with fractions of :23.52 and :46.61 while tracked by Change of Command . Shrugging that one off, he was challenged on the second turn by Iroquois Stakes (G3) winner West Saratoga , who advanced from a stalking position into second, pushing No More Time into a six-furlong split in 1:10.81.

Again, No More Time had more left. He dispatched that foe, opened up by two lengths in mid-stretch, and held on for a comfortable, 1 1/4-length victory over late-rallying Agate Road .  He raced 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.26, though with a slow final sixteenth in :6.67. He paid $8.60 to win as the public choice.

“The trainer told me to put on the brakes out of the gate and sit third or fourth, but my horse broke unbelievable and I let him go,” said Lopez, who was aboard for the first time Saturday. 

4b674bfe196b4ce280375d3582a74553.jpgConnections of Sam F. Davis Stakes winner No More Time celebrate at Tampa Bay Downs

Flattening out to finish 5 1/4 lengths behind the runner-up, West Saratoga  showed, a head in front of fourth-place Elysian Meadows . Fulmineo  was fifth.

Disappointing was Change of Command, the 4-1 second-favorite, who weakened to finish 11th. A 12th competitor, 127-1 longshot Everdoit , unseated jockey Huber Villa-Gomez at the start. TVG reported the rider appeared to be OK after the incident.

  • The top five finishers in the Sam F. Davis earned qualifying points toward the May 4 Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis.
  • The Sam F. Davis often serves as a prep for Tampa’s richest race for 3-year-olds, the $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby (G3) over the same 1 1/16-mile distance March 9.

Had Agate Road, a graded stakes winner on turf last year in the Pilgrim Stakes (G2T), won Saturday, he would have given Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher a record-extending eighth victory in the Sam F. Davis.

Instead, D’Angelo, Lopez, and owner Morplay Racing won their first with No More Time.

Sales History, Pedigree

Bred in Iowa by MAMAS Thoroughbreds, No More Time improved to 2-1-0 in four starts in taking the Sam F. Davis. He made $120,000 to increase his career earnings to $156,780. He had been fifth in the Jan. 1 Mucho Macho Man Stakes over a mile in his only prior stakes start.

Out of the winning Speightstown mare Baroness Juliette , he was acquired at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the Legacy Bloodstock consignment.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Rich Mendez, a co-owner in Morplay Racing, said of winning the Sam F. Davis. “Our partner, Dean DeRenzo, bought him as a yearling for $40,000, and we ended up keeping him.”

His sire, Not This Time  , ranked eighth on the general sire list in 2023. Two grade/group 1 winners for him last year were Up to the Mark   and Sibelius , the latter a winner on the Saturday undercard at Tampa in the Pelican Stakes. Not This Time stands this year for a $150,000 fee at Taylor Made Stallions near Nicholasville, Ky.