Saturday’s US Horse Racing Tips: Tom Collins is confident Bridge will do the job

Last week’s ‘banker double’ of Up To The Mark and Forte on Gulfstream’s Fountain Of Youth card returned the goods, so I’ve opted for a very similar route this Saturday.

There is no denying that the fare lacks the same kind of sparkle as seven days ago, but there’s still a key Kentucky Derby trial in the shape of the $400,000 Grade 3 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (10.15 Tampa), which allows contenders to throw their hat into the ring while earning valuable points. 

Seven of the 12 runners that are set to go to post faced off against one another in the Grade 3 Sam F Davis Stakes on their most recent start. Groveland, who was sent off at 20/1, did best of them by finishing second for trainer Eoin Harty, though I was more taken by the performance of third-placed finisher Classic Car Wash, who closed well from an unpromising position on a track with a significant pace bias.

I’m pretty confident that he will reverse that form with Groveland and beat the Sam F Davis battalion, especially given this race is set to be run at a similarly fast pace, though he is still likely to come up short given the presence of Todd Pletcher’s Tapit Trice in this field. 

This grey son of Tapit began his career with an eyecatching third over a mile at Aqueduct back in November, before going two places better in a highly impressive performance at the same track a month later. The runner-up that day, Slip Mahoney, has subsequently boosted the form by breaking his maiden and then finishing second in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes for trainer Brad Cox.

Tapit Trice then rocked up in an allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream in February and looked a potential star in the making. Ridden by Luis Saez, he sat just off the speed before launching a big and sustained effort that saw him move clear of closest pursuer Shesterkin, who reopposes, to win by eight lengths on the wire. 

This is a horse that is only going to improve as he gets older and begins racing over longer trips. However, the set-up in this year’s Tampa Bay Derby will play to his strengths and he could easily prove to be a cut above on a talent level. Expect a slow start but a fast finish.

We head south for the other selection in Saturday’s double, which is undoubtedly my best bet of the day. The $86,000 allowance optional claimer (9.36 Gulfstream Park) may look competitive on paper, but this could quite easily develop into a one-horse affair. Far Bridge is the horse in question.

Christophe Clement’s three-year-old son of English Channel drew the inside post on his debut in a hot maiden special weight contest here on January 21, and a slow break forced him to race further back than jockey Joel Rosario would have wanted. However, he made a nice move against the rail down the backstraight, before appearing to get outpaced on the turn for home.

Far Bridge just kept galloping and somehow managed to close the six-length deficit on Carl Spackler to get up on the line to win by a head. The pair drew six lengths clear of the third, who should be a good thing in a similar race next time, and earned themselves lofty speed figures in the process.

I tipped Carl Spackler to confirm that form in a maiden a couple of weeks ago and he duly bolted up by eight-and-three-quarter lengths, so I see no reason as to why Far Bridge can’t follow up here. He now faces winners and has drawn gate nine, which means will have to overcome trouble via a wider trip, but this horse is likely to be Graded quality and his rivals aren’t up to that level.

He’s been put in as the 5/2 favourite on the Morning Line and I will be snapping that up if British traders match the price, as they normally do. Anything bigger than 5/4 appears fair. 

Saturday’s US Horse Racing Tips

Far Bridge (9.36 Gulfstream Park) @ 5/4 or bigger (5/2 M/L)
Tapit Trice (10.15 Tampa Bay Downs) @ 10/11 or bigger (8/5 M/L)

Prices used are a value guide as none were available at the time of writing. Opening show will be taken for P/L purposes.