Triple Crown Trail: Renegade rallies in Davis * The Racing Biz

Triple Crown Trail: Renegade rallies in Davis

Earns 20 Kentucky Derby points after running past longshot

Press Release
February 8, 2026

From where Tampa Bay Downs jockey Marcos Meneses was sitting, the 46th running of the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes was shaping up as one of the biggest upsets in the history of the race.

“I expected to stay behind the speed early,” said Meneses, who saw nothing but daylight aboard 48-1 shot Wayne’s Law, the only Florida-bred in the nine-horse field, at the top of the stretch. “He was doing it so easy and was very relaxed and I was feeling so comfortable, I thought he had it.”

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Then out of the corner of his eye, or perhaps his eye and ears, Meneses felt the presence of 6-5 favorite Renegade and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., bearing down on him and Wayne’s Law – and in a relative whoosh, second-place money was looking kind of good for Meneses and his courageous longshot.

*Renegade rallied to win the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Downs.*

“He passed me like a monster in the stretch. I knew I had horse left, but not like him,” Meneses said.

Renegade, who entered the race as a maiden (he had been disqualified after crossing the finish line first last October in a race at Belmont At The Big A), rolled through the stretch to dash the Cinderella dreams of Meneses, owner Herbert Sternlieb’s Baalbek Corporation and trainer Amador Merei Sanchez by 3 ¾ lengths. The Puma, making only his second career start, ran well to finish third, with Game for It fourth in the nine-horse field.

In the process, Renegade picked up 20 “Road to the Kentucky Derby” qualifying points while carrying Ortiz to the jockey’s fourth winner on the card, including the Suncoast Stakes earlier on sensational sophomore filly Zany.

Mike Repole, the owner of Zany under his Repole Stable banner, owns Renegade in partnership with the colt’s breeders Robert and Lawana Low. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Renegade is a son of Into Mischief out of the Curlin mare Spice Is Nice.

“It wasn’t an easy race,” Repole said of Renegade’s victory, achieved in a time of 1:43.54 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth distance on a fast main track. “But he got a nice pace up front. He was wide, but I think Irad knew he had the best horse. It is better sometimes to be wide and not caught in traffic than to get caught in traffic and be the best horse.

“Todd has done a great job with this horse and we think he can get better with age and more distance. If this is any indication, I am pretty excited,” Repole said.

KENTUCKY DERBY POINTS TOP 10

RANK	HORSE	OWNER	TRAINER	POINTS
1	Silent Tactic	John C. Oxley	Mark E. Casse	25
2	Renegade	Robert & Lawana L. Row & Repole Stable (Mike Repole)	Todd A. Pletcher	25
3	Intrepido	Dutch Girl Holdings LLC & Irving Ventures LLC	Jeff Mullins	23
4	Plutarch	Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor & Derrick Smith	Bob Baffert	23
5	Nearly	Centennial Farms (Donald Little)	Todd A. Pletcher	20
6	Golden Tempo	Phipps Stable (Daisy Phipps Pulito) & St. Elias Stable (Vincent Viola)	Cherie DeVaux	20
7	Talk to Me Jimmy	SEI Thoroughbreds & Rudy R. Rodriguez	Rudy Rodriguez	20
8	Litmus Test	SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Golconda Stable, Waves Edge Capital LLC & Catherine Donovan	Bob Baffert	19
9	Chip Honcho	Leland Ackerley Racing LLC	Steven M. Asmussen	14
10	Soldier N Diplomat	St. Elias Stable (Vincent Viola)	Steven M. Asmussen	13
11	Universe	4 G Racing LLC (Brent Gasaway), Gregg Day, Steven Crain & Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek)	Kenneth G. McPeek	13