Coming off an eight-week break, the Brad Cox-trained Tappan Street, with Luis Saez in the irons, took command of the Florida Derby in the last furlong and never let go. Breezing with dispatch around the speedy Neoequos and Madaket Road, who had been a pacesetters up the backstretch, Tappan Street took his almost electrically precise stride well outside the fading duelists to lay down his burst of power. He hit the wire going away by a length-and-a-quarter with a time of 1:49:27 over the mile-and-an-eighth. Coming off an eight-week break, he was fresh, to say the very least, and at 2-1, paid $6.80 on a $2 bet.

After he, too, rounded Neoequos and Madaket Road, the deep-closing top favorite Sovereignty, who went off at 8-5, made a game bid at Tappan Street but discovered that he’d left himself what the British trainers call “too much to do” to get by the victor. The line was upon him; he flashed through it in place.

Needless to say, trainer Cox was pleased with his newly-minted Derby prospect, but remained tightly focused on the mechanical realities of the run.

Noting the far-outside post position from the 9-hole, Cox told the press: “When you give ’em nearly, I guess, what, eight weeks between starts, there’s always a concern. ‘Does he know enough?’ But he’s a very smart horse, he’s intelligent. I felt he would break very, very well today, just the way he has been training. And he did. I think that put him in the race and really put him in a great position.”

As for Sovereignty’s deep closing style both in his prior win in the Fountain of Youth and in Saturday’s race, trainer Bill Mott, ever the open book, said this before the race: “I think we had a good draw the last time (in the Fountain of Youth) that helped him win. As narrow as the margin of victory was, the post helped him because he was able to save some ground around the first turn.”

With his outside post position, Sovereignty didn’t lose much ground in the longer Florida Derby, but neither did he do anything different than attempt his ordinary deep close. But his last week was four weeks back, as opposed to Tappan Street’s eight, and the trackside chatter was that he wasn’t as much on his game. When it came Sovereignty’s moment to pounce on the frontrunners, the pounce sufficed to put away Madaket Road and Neoequos, as his 8-5 odds would declare that he well should have. But the effort wasn’t nearly enough to get past Tappan Street’s vastly superior last-furlong kick.

The Florida Derby functioned entirely as it should have as a major Kentucky Derby prep, distilling and simultaneously refining the top talent. Noting the eight weeks of rest that Tappan Street had, Winstar Farm’s CEO Elliott Walden, who knows a thing or two about racehorses, said after the race: “I thought (Tappan Street was) traveling better. But Sovereignty’s a very good horse. He’s going to be a tough foe at a mile-and-a- quarter. (Tappan Street) had eight weeks, (Sovereignty) had four weeks. We’re on even ground now, (the Derby) will be a good race.”

Tappan Street’s jockey Luis Saez was more ebullient, having just finished riding his rocket minutes before. “I saw (Sovereignty) and I let my horse go a little bit more,” Saez said, “and he gave me a good turn of foot. When he came to the top of the stretch, I knew (we were) going to be tough to catch.”

Prerace favorite Sovereignty  appeared in position to produce another thrilling, victorious stretch run in the March 29 $1.02 million Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park.

WinStar Farm, CHC, and Cold Press Racing’s Tappan Street , however, was not to be overtaken.

Tappan Street, a bay son of Into Mischief  , made his move under Luis Saez heading into the far turn and took the lead entering the stretch before charging to a 1 1/4-length victory in the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds.

The Florida Derby awarded Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points on a 100-50-25-15-10 basis to the top five finisher.

Tappan Street, bred in Kentucky by Blue Heaven Farm, started for the first time since finishing second in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Feb. 1.

“When you give ’em nearly, I guess, what, eight weeks between starts, there’s always a concern. ‘Does he know enough?’” said trainer Brad Cox, whose colt broke from post 9. “But he’s a very smart horse, he’s intelligent. I felt he would break very, very well today, just the way he has been training. And he did. I think that put him in the race and really put him in a great position.”

Sovereignty, meanwhile, ran four weeks after capturing the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream. Winner of last year’s two-turn Street Sense Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs, the Godolphin homebred, another son of Into Mischief, was carrying Manny Franco because regular rider Junior Alvarado had been sidelined with a shoulder injury suffered last weekend.

Sovereignty captured both of his two wins by storming in the stretch to overtake the leader and cross the line first.

Nevertheless, WinStar Farm’s Elliott Walden said he was not overly concerned at seeing Bill Mott-trained Sovereignty appearing behind Tappan Street in the lane.

“I thought we were traveling better,” Walden said. “But Sovereignty’s a very good horse. He’s going to be a tough foe at a mile and a quarter. We had eight weeks, he had four weeks. We’re on even ground now, it’ll be a good race (in the Kentucky Derby).”

Saez said he noticed who was trailing his colt.

“I saw (Sovereignty) and I let my horse go a little bit more, and he gave me a good turn of foot,” the jockey said. “When he came to the top of the stretch, I knew it was going to be tough to catch (us).”

Madaket Road  and Neoequos  ran to the lead out of the gate and into the first turn. Madaket Road, ridden by Mike Smith and trained by Bob Baffert, set fractions of :23.37, :47.22, and 1:11.61.

Smith had replaced Tyler Gaffalione, who suffered a broken ankle March 26.

Neoquos and rider Edgard Zayas edged ahead of Madaket Road entering the stretch, before Tappan Street overtook the leaders and ran to victory in a winning time of 1:49.27.

Tappan Street paid $6.80 to win, followed by Sovereignty, Neoequos, Madaket Road, and Disruptor .

“Everything went to plan. He broke from there pretty well. He was in good position. The whole way I had a lot of horse,” Saez said. “We knew the speed was inside and we followed the speed. Everything came out perfect.”

Smith sounded impressed by the colts who finished ahead of Madaket Road.

“Let me tell you something, those two or three horses in front of us are serious, man, because I was running,” Smith said. “I could hear him and I could feel him, and it was getting to him a little bit, but it’s not because of a lack of try. He still kicked.”

Mott, whose colt broke from the outside post in the 10-horse field, was not discouraged by the outcome.

“The winner ran good. It was a good race,” Mott said. “This doesn’t have to be his (Sovereignty’s) best race. Sometimes you can look at it and say, ‘Maybe that’s a good thing.’ You don’t want their best race before the big event.

“This is a very important race, but I think the fact that he ran very big last time and ran very well this time, maybe he’ll continue to improve. I don’t think the fact that he didn’t win doesn’t mean he didn’t run a good race.”

Tappan Street was purchased as a yearling for $1 million at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton’s The Saratoga Sale by CHC, Siena Farm, and Maverick Racing. 

Walden said he wanted to name the colt after Siena Farm’s owner Anthony Manganaro, who died in August 2023, just two weeks the colt was purchased. Because the name had been taken, though, the connections chose to name the colt after the street on which Manganaro grew up.

“Into Mischief’s been really good to us,” Walden said. “He’s a big, strong colt, great physique. The kind of horse that we envisioned being able to win races like this.”

With the victory, Tappan Street now sits third on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 110 points, with Sovereignty fourth, also with 110 points. No Kentucky Derby (G1) prep has produced more winners of the Run for the Roses than the Florida Derby, from which 25 horses have gone on to win the first leg of the Triple Crown. Florida Derby runner-up Mage   was the last to triumph in the Kentucky Derby in 2023.

From 1995-2017, the seven Florida Derby participants who were victorious in the Run for the Roses also captured the Florida Derby.

Tappan Street is the 23rd grade 1 winner for six-time leading sire Into Mischief, who stands at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington for an advertised fee of $250,000. In addition to Tappan Street and Sovereignty, Into Mischief is also represented on the Road to the Kentucky Derby by Citizen Bull  and Barnes .

The Big Dance heats up on Saturday night with Elite Eight matchups between Texas Tech (3) and Florida (1) and Alabama (2) and Duke (1).

In tonight’s opener, SEC Tournament champ Florida (33-4, 14-4 SEC) will look to stay hot against the best team it has seen in the West Region, the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Florida reached this stage with wins over 16-seed Norfolk State, 8-seed UConn and 4-seed Maryland, sandwiching blowouts of the Spartans and Terrapins around a close call vs. the Huskies in the round of 32.

Texas Tech (28-8, 15-5 Big 12) needed a furious late rally and overtime to survive vs. Arkansas (10) on Thursday night. This team beat a 14-seed (UNC Wilmington) in the first round and an 11-seed (Drake) in the second ahead of the Sweet 16 battle with Arkansas. The way those teams were seeded undersells how stiff the Red Raiders’ NCAAT competition has been, though.

Texas Tech vs. Florida Odds: Spread, ML, Total

The player to watch tonight is TT star JT Toppin, who won Big 12 Player of the Year after averaging just over 18 points and 9 rebounds per game. Florida boasts a star of its own in Walter Clayton Jr., but how Toppin fares on the block will likely have more impact on who wins, as the heavily favored Gators are balanced enough to survive a quiet night from Clayton.

The Red Raiders could* also get a boost from All-Big 12 Second Teamer Chance McMillian, who is a 43.4 percent 3-point shooter, but he’s been listed as day-to-day for multiple weeks now.

*Key word “could.” As of Saturday morning, it was unclear whether McMillian would return tonight from an oblique strain he suffered in his team’s Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal matchup vs. Baylor.

How to Watch Texas Tech vs. Florida

• Tipoff: 6:09 p.m. ET
• Channel: TBS/truTV

Best Texas Tech vs. Florida Player Prop

Thomas Haugh o11.5 points (+100 at FD) — 1 units

The balanced Gators are not an easy team to target on the props front, but one particular player on Florida’s deep bench appears primed to have a huge night.

Sophomore big man Thomas Haugh has come off the bench in all but five games this year, but his minutes and production are trending in the right direction right now.

Obviously, if starter Alex Condon is hobbled or has to miss this game, Haugh’s ceiling is sky-high. But even if Condon manages to both suit up and be effective tonight, Haugh is playing too well right now not to get minutes.

His numbers in just 22 minutes vs. Norfolk State (No. 178 per KenPom) should be taken with a grain of salt, but are still worth mentioning: 13 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks.

His production vs. Connecticut and Maryland doesn’t need a caveat, though.

Haugh had 7 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists vs. in 27 minutes vs. the reigning national champs, and he was even better in an extended appearance (32 minutes) vs. the Terps, with 13 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.

Against a Texas Tech frontcourt that boasts not only one of the best back-to-the-basket scorers in the country in Toppin, but also 6-foot-6 battering ram Darrion Williams, Haugh will be needed, even if Condon is 100 percent healthy.

Haugh’s rebounds prop — Over 6.5 Rebounds (+100 at bet365) — is also extremely tempting at even money.

These prices and lines will change in a big way if Condon is ruled out, so if these interest you, now is the time to hop on them.

Florida vs. Texas Tech Prediction, Best Bets

I’ve got two takes on this matchup. Unfortunately, they kinda contradict each other, but bear with me here as I explain myself:

• JT Toppin won’t be as effective as usual offensively.
• Texas Tech will keep this close

If you just look at the box score from Thursday night, you’ll see that Maryland big man Derik Queen lit the Gators up for 27 points on 8-for-17 shooting. But that doesn’t mean Toppin is positioned for the same kind of production. Queen did his damage off the dribble, and that is not how Toppin operates.

It’s hard to deny that Florida’s ceiling is higher than Texas Tech’s, especially if Condon is anywhere near 100 percent and McMillian remains sidelined.

Florida, however, was sloppy at times vs. both Connecticut and Maryland — some of the mistakes were caused by great defense, but a number of them were not — and I think we’ll see some lulls from the Gators again tonight.

Ultimately, though, Florida is well-suited to contain Toppin and Williams — who are two of the biggest bullies (in a good way) in the country — and it has the firepower in the backcourt to pull this thing out.

It won’t be a cakewalk, though.

Remember, Texas Tech is the only team in the country that has beaten Houston since February. Also keep in mind that the Red Raiders pulled that off on the road in a game they essentially played without Toppin, who was ejected in the first five minutes.

Obviously, Texas Tech won’t be able to hang with Florida if it starts this contest in a shooting funk like the one it was in for most of the Arkansas game. That being said, I do like the underdogs to keep this thing competitive from start to finish (cover).

Florida vs. Texas Tech Best Bets

• Texas Tech +7 (-110 at bet365) — 1 unit

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