Kentucky Derby Road: Feb. 8 Sam F. Davis Stakes

Sam F. Davis Stakes, 1 1 /16 Mile at Tampa Bay Downs
In only his second start and first at two turns, John Hancock won with a sparkling time of 1:42.27, a new stakes record. Favored at 5-2 under Flavien Prat, the winner broke well and was always foremost although challenged strongly by Owen Almighty until eventually getting his way in the stretch, best by one-half length. Fractions were 22.75, 46.23 and 1:10.49. Poster settled well back early before coming on from the second half of the field to get up for third, beaten 2 3/4 lengths and a neck past Camp Hale. Huge longshot Very Bold was fifth at 84-1. Treaty of Rome looked out of sorts in the post parade and had a miserable trip to fade on the far turn and finish ninth. Brad Cox trains the winner for CHC, Inc. and WinStar Farm LLC. Bred in Kentucky by WinStar. Kentucky Derby points: 20-10-6-4-2.

John Hancock, a son of Constitution, debuted at Tampa going six furlongs on Jan. 8 and won by three lengths in front-running fashion to earn a 94 Equibase figure. Despite setting a stakes record in the Davis, John Hancock's Equibase figure initially regressed to an 87 but was changed to a 96. The winner of the Suncoast Stakes for 3yo fillies, La Cara, got the mile in 1:38.51 two races earlier and initially earned a 95, then revised to 94. In Beyer country, John Hancock was given an underwhelming 85 while La Cara got an 84.

Winning trainer Brad Cox (via telephone): “It was his first time facing winners, it was the second start of his life, it was his first time going long. It was a lot to ask from a young horse. He took a lot of pressure and stayed on well. I'm very, very impressed with him. He fought off a horse (Owen Almighty) that had multiple starts, and was a stakes winner. It was a big, big move forward for him and I'm very proud of the effort.

"We had a race over the track and broke our maiden on it, but we were a little short on seasoning. Once again, his talent showed up and it was a very big effort and we're very proud of him. This is a nice race to win and setting the new stakes record on top of it is very nice. I want to congratulate WinStar Farm and also Flavien Prat, who did a great job. I'm looking forward to how he comes out of it, and we'll get him back to Payson Park tonight and regroup and come up for a plan for the future."

Winning jockey Flavien Prat: "(Owen Almighty) did get ahead of me at the 1/8 pole. I was trying to give him a chance because he was pretty aggressive going into the first turn and going faster than I wanted to, but he switched off nice on the backside. The both of us made a very good run turning for home, he took the lead at the 1/8 pole but my horse was very game and came back.”

Brian Lynch, trainer of runner-up Owen Almighty: “He tried, he did give it everything he had. He just got beat by a better horse today. We’ll take a deep breath and let the dust settle. We’ll just regroup and put our heads together. I think our horse tried as hard as he can, maybe he’s a little discouraged but I don’t think he’s old enough yet to have worked all that out. Very happy with the way he ran. We’ll put our heads together with our crew and I’m sure we’ll stay the course. Brad’s horse ran really well and no excuse. He (John Hancock) was very impressive.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr., jockey on Owen Almighty: “My horse did great. It was a good pace and I felt like he was going good. That horse (John Hancock) fought back in the stretch, it was a good race and that’s a nice horse. We just got beat today, we’ll try to come back stronger next time.”

Eoin Harty, trainer of third-place finisher Poster and fifth-place finisher Very Bold: "I thought they both ran very well, considering how far back they had to come from and that they were both very wide. But they both rallied and finished strongly. I'm very happy with them, though I would have been happier if I'd won. They both showed up. That gives me optimism for moving forward with them both. It's a little early to make any plans for either. We'll give them a few days and see how they come back from the race and we'll go from there."