OLDSMAR, Fla. - As trainer Chad Brown walked along the path from the paddock to the winner’s circle/unsaddling area at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday, he was met with congratulations from fans after his Domestic Product surged late to get in a photo win with No More Time in the Tampa Bay Derby. Having not seen anything official, Brown was still unsure and reticent to celebrate. “Did you get a good look? What do you think?” Brown said to one group. “What do you think?’ he said to another. When Brown arrived at the winner’s circle, the jockeys of the other nine horses in the race had dismounted and it sunk in that Domestic Product had won the Grade 3, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby. The official margin was a neck over No More Time, who was a head better than Grand Mo the First. Brown’s other horse, Good Money, finished a half-length back in fourth. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Following Good Money in the order of finish were Heartened, Sturdy, Crazy Mason, Everdoit, Catie Vizcaya, and Give Me Liberty. It was a wild finish to what had become a chaotic day at Tampa Bay Downs. A tote delay had impacted several tracks on the East Coast around 4:52 p.m., right after Tampa’s Grade 3 Florida Oaks was run. Prices could not be posted, nor could fans eventually cash their tickets on that race. There was no information given on how the multi-race wagers were being handled. After the Tampa Bay Derby entrants were tacked up they walked around the paddock for 35 minutes or so. The decision was made to run the race as a non-wagering event. It went postward at 5:51 p.m., 39 minutes after scheduled. Management also canceled the last race, an allowance scheduled for the grass. Peter Berube, the vice president and general manager of Tampa Bay, said he was still unclear what caused the tote problem. Berube said the last race was canceled “because I have no wagering and we have daylight issues.” He declined to comment when asked about this happening on the track’s biggest day. The delay did not seem to bother the 10 horses entered in the Tampa Derby. While a few got warm, no one really acted up. In the race, Good Money went to the lead under Irad Ortiz Jr. and, according to Equibase, set fractions of 25.25 seconds for the quarter and 51.14 for the half, with No More Time stalking him from the outside. Domestic Product, under Tyler Gaffalione, was fifth and in between horses down the backside, but only about two lengths off the posted pedestrian pace. Domestic Product came three wide turning for home after six furlongs were run in a posted 1:16.21. Good Money, making just his second start, fought on inside of No More Time, who was also battling down the lane. While No More Time and Good Money persevered to the wire, Domestic Product and Grand Mo the First brushed a few times. A determined Domestic Product surged to the wire, getting up in the last jump. “In the stretch, that horse on the outside was kind of leaning on him, I felt if I could get him free, I had plenty of horse,” said Gaffalione, who won this race 35 years after his father Steve did aboard Storm Predictions. “He’s still young, he’s still learning, but I was very proud he went and got that horse at the wire.” Domestic Product covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.47. Domestic Product (82 Beyer Speed Figure) earned 50 qualifying points on the road to the Kentucky Derby and now has 60 as he earned 10 for his runner-up performance in the Holy Bull on Feb. 3. “I was just really impressed with his heart and the fact he got his nose down on the wire,” Brown said. “This race will serve him well going forward. It’s why I wanted to run this horse again; he needed a race like this [to get] a little bit more experience and a little bit more seasoning.” Brown said he plans to run Domestic Product one more time before the Kentucky Derby. His options are likely the Blue Grass or Wood Memorial, both on April 6. “I don’t know that training a horse like this this far away from the Kentucky Derby gives you the best chance to win the race,” Brown said. “Certainly, we want to get this horse in with a chance to win. He’s got a pair of nice mile and a sixteenth-races where he was closing into a slow pace.” Jockey Javier Castellano was riding No More Time for the first time and said his horse “ran a great race. Unfortunately, that horse nailed me on the wire.” No More Time, who won the Sam Davis last month, now has 45 points to the Derby and will likely head that way, potentially without another start in between, according to trainer Jose Francisco D’Angelo. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.