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A Saturday jaunt at Tampa WinStar Farm's highly regarded ANY GIVEN SATURDAY (Distorted Humor) opted for the Tampa Bay Downs route on the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail, following the precedent set by his stablemate Bluegrass Cat in 2006. The first step on that road came in Saturday's $146,000 Sam F. Davis S., one of three stakes on the card dubbed "Festival Preview Day," and the Todd Pletcher trainee capped an excellent day for the favorites with a professional 2 3/4-length tally as the 1-5 choice. Ridden for the first time by John Velazquez, Any Given Saturday stalked in third as the 33-1 longshot All I Can Get (Slew City Slew) set fractions of :23 4/5, :48 and 1:12 1/5. Velazquez had already managed to steer the dark bay into the clear on the outside and, turning for home, they ranged up to join the leader, with the pace-prompting Monster Drive (Commendable) racing between them. Although Monster Drive dropped back abruptly, the front-running All I Can Get fought on stoutly along the inside and tried his best to give the Derby hopeful a test. Any Given Saturday's class quickly began to tell, however, and the prohibitive favorite put away his honest foe. Shouldering the top weight of 122 pounds, six more than the runner-up, Any Given Saturday widened his margin in deep stretch. His final time of 1:44.27 was just .10 off the stakes record established last year by Bluegrass Cat. The rest of the field was well strung out. All I Can Get outran his odds to finish a dogged second, with the mildly rallying James Wilfred (Trippi) another 3 1/2 lengths adrift in third. Next came Divine Master (Montbrook), Brisco N Logan (Officer), Singapore Swing (Fusaichi Pegasus) and Monster Drive. Any Given Saturday furnished his legion of supporters with payouts of $2.40, $2.20 and $2.10. All I Can Get rewarded his backers with $8.20 and $2.10, ending the $29.60 exacta. The 15-1 James Wilfred returned $2.10, rounding out the $105.20 trifecta. The 3-5-6-1 superfecta yielded $751.60 with the 50-1 Divine Master in the fourth spot. With this first stakes victory on his resume, Any Given Saturday boosted his bankroll to $164,213 with a 4-3-1-0 line. After breaking his maiden in his career debut at Turfway Park last September, he scored impressively in a Keeneland allowance. Pletcher stepped him up into stakes company for his juvenile finale in the November 25 Kentucky Jockey Club S. (G2) at Churchill Downs. That was also his first race on a conventional dirt surface, having competed on Polytrack in his prior outings. Any Given Saturday waged a terrific duel with Tiz Wonderful (Tiznow), only to come up a half-length short at the wire, but his smart effort stamped him as a serious Triple Crown contender. The winner was bred by Racehorse Management in Kentucky and sold for $1.1 million at the 2005 Keeneland September Yearling sale. His dam, the winning Weekend in Indy (A.P. Indy), has also produced Grade 3 heroine Bohemian Lady (Carson City) and an unnamed yearling full sister to the winner. Weekend in Indy is herself a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Second of June (Louis Quatorze). This is the family of 1993 champion two-year-old filly Phone Chatter (Phone Trick). Any Given Saturday's next likely engagement is the $300,000 Tampa Bay Derby (G3) on March 17. One race earlier on the card, Pletcher and Velazquez teamed up to take the $108,750 Endeavour Breeders' Cup S. on the turf with Green Hills Farm's CASSYDORA (GB) (Darshaan). The five-year-old dark bay mare maintained a narrow advantage through soft splits of :24 4/5, :50 and 1:14 1/5, then drew off in the stretch to win with complete authority by three lengths. Sent off as the 4-5 choice, Cassydora completed 1 1/16 miles on the firm turf in 1:43 to pay $3.80, $2.60 and $2.40. Bright Abundance (Quiet American) overhauled Warrior Girl (War Chant) by three-quarters of a length for runner-up honors. Place returned $3.60 and $3 at 4-1, while show was good for $7.60 at 39-1. The exotics were worth $13.40 (exacta), $237 (trifecta) and $1,051.80 (2-7-6-4 superfecta). Cassydora improved her record to 10-4-1-1 with $248,479 in earnings. She began her career with John Dunlop in England, capturing the 2005 Oaks Trial S. at Lingfield and placing in the Nassau S. (Eng-G1) and Prix de la Nonette (Fr-G3) that same season. After missing all of 2006, she made a successful reappearance in a January 11 allowance at Gulfstream Park in her U.S. bow. Bred in Great Britain by Hesmonds Stud Ltd., the winner is the first registered foal from 2000 Premio Lydia Tesio (Ity-G2) queen Claxon (Caerleon), who is herself a daughter of 1994 Fred Darling S. (Eng-G3) winner Bulaxie (Bustino). The stakes action began with the $75,000 Suncoast S. for sophomore fillies, and even-money favorite AUTOBAHN GIRL (A.P. Indy) revved up in the lane and smashed the track mark for about one mile on the dirt. With Daniel Centeno aboard, the Nick Zito pupil stopped the teletimer in 1:38 1/5 to make her stakes debut a winning one. Autobahn Girl rated well off the early tempo of :23 and :47, took closer order through six furlongs in 1:11 4/5, switched to the outside for room in the stretch, and kicked clear en route to a three-length score. The Live Oak Plantation homebred returned $4.20, $2.80 and $2.60 while spearheading exotics of $32 (exacta), $314.20 (trifecta) and $1,711.80 (9-3-6-4 superfecta). The 8-1 Trainee (Silver Charm) was an honorable second, giving back $5.60 and $4.80. It was another 2 1/2 lengths back to Saint Barbara (Sweetsouthernsaint), who yielded $7.80 for third at 27-1. The Kentucky-bred winner now sports a mark of 7-4-3-0, $133,884. Out of Canadian champion older mare Saoirse (Cure the Blues), Autobahn Girl is a half-sister to multiple Canadian Grade 3 winner Hide and Chic (Seeking the Gold), the stakes-placed Saoirse Cat (Storm Cat) and a juvenile filly named El Saoirse (El Prado [Ire]).
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