Triple Crown Trail: Renegade Rallies in Davis
Earns 20 Kentucky Derby points after running past the long shot
Press release- February 8, 2026
From where Tampa Bay Downs jockey Marcos Meneses sat, the 46th running of the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes was shaping up as one of the biggest upsets in the race’s history.
“I expected to be behind the speed early,” said Meneses, who saw nothing but daylight aboard the 48-1 shot Wayne’s Law, the only Florida-bred in the nine-horse field, at the top of the stretch. “He did it so easily and was very relaxed and I felt so comfortable, I thought he had it.”
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Then, out of the corner of his eye, or perhaps out of 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 family member whooshthe second-place money looked pretty good for Meneses and his gutsy long shot.
“He passed me like a monster in the stretch. I knew I had a horse left, but not like him,” Meneses said.
Renegade, who entered the race as a girl (he was disqualified after crossing the finish line first in a race at Belmont At The Big A last October), rolled through the stretch to beat the Cinderella dreams of Meneses, owner Herbert Sternlieb’s Baalbek Corporation and trainer Amador Merei Sanchez by 3 ¾ lengths. The Puma, making only its 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 taking Ortiz to the jockey’s fourth winner on the card, including the Suncoast Stakes earlier on sensational sophomore filly Zany.
Mike Repole, owner of Zany under the Repole Stable banner, owns Renegade in partnership with the colt’s breeders Robert and Lawana Low. Renegade, trained by Todd Pletcher, 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 win, achieved in a time of 1:43.54 for the mile-and-a-half distance on a fast main circuit. “But he had nice pace up front. He was wide, but I think Irad knew he had the best horse. Sometimes it’s better to be wide and not get 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’m pretty excited,” Repole said.
KENTUCKY DERBY POINTS TOP 10
| RANK | HORSE | OWNER | TRAINER | POINTS |
| 1 | Silent tactics | John C. Oxley | Mark E. Casse | 25 |
| 2 | Defector | Robert & Lawana L. Row & Repole Stable (Mike Repole) | Todd A. Pletcher | 25 |
| 3 | Fearless | Dutch Girl Holdings LLC and Irving Ventures LLC | Jeff Mullins | 23 |
| 4 | Plutarch | Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor & Derrick Smith | Bob Baffert | 23 |
| 5 | Almost | Centennial Farms (Donald Little) | Todd A. Pletcher | 20 |
| 6 | Golden Age | Phipps Stable (Daisy Phipps Pulito) & St. Elias Stable (Vincent Viola) | Cherie DeVaux | 20 |
| 7 | Talk to me Jimmy | SEI Thoroughbreds and 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 | Stal St. Elias (Vincent Viola) | Steven M. Asmussen | 13 |
| 11 | Universe | 4G Racing LLC (Brent Gasaway), Gregg Day, Steven Crain and Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek) | Kenneth G. McPeek | 13 |
KENTUCKY DERBY POINTS RACES REPEAT
(Click on each line to see the repeat)
- Smarty Jones S. – Strategic risk
- Jerome S. – My world
- Lecomte S. – Golden Time
- Southwest S. – Silent tactics
- Holy Bull S. – Almost
- Robert B. Lewis S. – Plutarch
- Withers S. – Talk to me, Jimmy
- Sam F. Davis S. – Defector
- UAE 2000 Guineas – Six gears
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