Trainer Mike Trombetta said Monday afternoon that Independence Hall will make his next start in the Feb. 8 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs, where the colt has been training for several weeks.
Independence Hall, who has emerged as one of the top early contenders for the 146th Kentucky Derby after winning his first three starts by a combined 21 lengths, also had been under consideration for the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans a week later.
“There were pros and cons in making plans for either spot,” Trombetta said earlier Monday by phone from Laurel Park. “You run out of your own stall at Tampa, but the purse and the points are bigger in New Orleans. We had to decide what’s in our best interests and go from there.”
Independence Hall, a dark bay son of Constitution, is owned by Eclipse Thoroughbreds, Twin Creeks Racing, and his original owners, Bob and Kathleen Verratti. He has not been seriously challenged in winning a Parx Racing maiden race and the Nashua and Jerome, both at Aqueduct.
Independence Hall now has had three breezes at Tampa, including a bullet five furlongs Sunday in 1:00 under Sarah Shaffer. Trombetta said he was “very pleased” with the Sunday breeze, which came in company over a fast track. “He did it comfortably and within himself, nice and smooth. We’re asking him to do a little bit more when we put him in company, but overall he’ll do whatever you want.”
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