Solitude Dude wins easily at Tampa Bay Downs, Courtesy Ben Baugh
Ben Baugh
OLDSMAR, FL – It was a day for favorites in the juvenile stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Dec. 6, the 40th running of the six furlong Inaugural for 2-year-old colts and geldings and the 48th running of the six furlong Sandpiper Stakes for juvenile fillies, with both winners making things looks easy.
The day’s second race, the running of the $125,000 Inaugural Stakes, saw a dark bay son of Yaupon, win by daylight, toying with the competition as Chris Fountoukis’ Solitude Dude, the 1-9 favorite, separated himself from the competition winning by eight lengths. The 2025 OBS June 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age sales graduate, that was purchased by Solitude Dude’s conditioner Saffie Joseph, Jr., for $300,000, was ridden to victory by jockey Edgard Zayas.
“I thought he was a really classy horse,” said Zayas. “He has a lot of ability, and he showed up today.”
The change in environment from Gulfstream Park to Tampa Bay Downs didn’t seem to bother Solitude Dude who took to the racetrack seamlessly. Solitude Dude set a new stakes record in the Inaugural, covering the distance in 1:09.07.
“I love Tampa, I enjoy the crowd here, I enjoy the track, the turf is amazing,” said Zayas. ‘There’s nothing better than coming with my man Saffie. We’ve been very lucky together, very successful.”
Solitude Dude broke his maiden at first asking in his initial bow at 6 ½ furlongs at Gulfstream Park on Nov. 1, winning authoritatively, by 9 1/2 lengths.
Solitude Dude was coming into the race off a work on Nov. 28 at Palm Meadows Training Center, with his breeze being the fastest of 35 runners at the half mile distance that day, working in 46.75. The Yaupon colt was the first foal of the Into Mischief broodmare After the Party. Solitude Dude’s second dam Defy Gravity won the Small Halo Stakes at Laurel Park. Defy Gravity is the dam of stakes winner Green Destiny.
Could a start in the Run for the Roses be on the horizon. It may be premature to have those types of thoughts. However, under Solitude Dude’s fourth dam, Supercharger, she is a full sister to the 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Girolamo.
Sneaky Good is Stealthy Excellent in Winning the Sandpiper
There was no hiding in the shadows for NK Racing’s and LNJ Foxwoods’ Sneaky Good as the Into Mischief filly was sent off as the race favorite in the $125,000 Sandpiper Stakes. The 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sales graduate, who sold for $450,000, didn’t disappoint as she won by 2 ¾ lengths under the confident handling of Antonio Gallardo. Brad Cox conditions the winner. Her score in the Sandpiper followed an impressive maiden special weight victory at Keenland by 4 ¾ lengths on Oct. 5 at the same distance.
“She’s a nice filly, she showed up the first time when she won, and today she showed up again,” said Gallardo. “I had a good post. I had the outside post (Sneaky Good broke from the 10-hole). There was a lot of speed on the inside. The only thing I had to do was take a good position and make my move, and she gave it to me.”
Sneaky Good’s dam Gale won the Geisha Stakes at Laurel and her second dam Windy Forecast won the Pleasanton Oaks. The filly’s third dam Scapegoat is a half-sister to stakes’ winnersHighland Park and All About Style.
