Domestic Product Wins Tampa Bay Derby, Toteboard Crashes
Domestic Product wins Tampa Bay Derby in a thriller that was marred by an unexpected turn of events that crashed tote systems from coast to coast and left bettors frustrated amidst chaos and technical glitches. The race, delayed by more than half an hour due to a tote-system crash, witnessed a blanket finish at the wire.
Owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables and trained by Chad Brown, Domestic Product, a 3-year-old colt sired by Practical Joke, emerged victorious in the slowly run, purse-only renewal of the Grade 2, $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby. Under jockey Tyler Gaffalione, Domestic Product split horses down the stretch to seize the lead in the final strides by a narrow neck and nailing No More Time at the wire. Grand Mo the First, Good Money, and Heartened completed the top five.
The winning time for the 1 1/16-mile race on the fast main track was 1:45.47. This was the second slowest winning time for the Tampa Bay Derby since 1994. Early fractions of 25.25, 51.14, 1:16.21, and 1:39.36 were set in pedestrian fashion by stablemate Good Money who faded to finish fourth and earn his first 10 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.
Domestic Product entered the race as a maiden winner, having previously finished seventh in a muddy Remsen (G2) at Aqueduct and second in the Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream Park. His victory in the Tampa Bay Derby catapults him into the spotlight on the @SpendthriftFarm Road to the Kentucky Derby.
The top finishers earned 50-25-15-10-5 points toward qualifying for the Kentucky Derby. Prior to the Tampa Bay Derby, Domestic Product was 31st on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 10 points. After Saturday’s victory, he springs into a second place tie on the board with Dornoch and his 60 points.
