Owen Almighty crossed the finish line first in Saturday’s $92,500 Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, but was disqualified to fifth for interference going into the far turn. The beneficiary of the stewards’ decision was Naughty Rascal, who crossed the wire second but was elevated to first. Owen Almighty, the Ellis Park Juvenile winner in 2024, was making his first start since he finished second in the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes last September at Churchill Downs and was sent off the 1-2 favorite in the Pasco. Under Irad Ortiz Jr., Owen Almighty was racing on the lead outside of Rookie Card, ridden by Junior Alvarado. Going into the far turn, at the three-furlong pole, Owen Almighty and Rookie Card bumped and Alvarado had to take Rookie Card up sharply, basically eliminating him from contention. Naughty Rascal, who was sitting third under Edwin Gonzalez, pressed Owen Almighty from the outside around the turn and into the stretch. At the eighth pole, Ortiz asked Owen Almighty to run and he edged clear of Naughty Rascal to cross the wire one length in front in what appeared to be a successful 3-year-old debut. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. However, the stewards immediately posted the inquiry sign and after a review of the video ultimately decided that Owen Almighty and Ortiz were at fault. Since Rookie Card finished fifth in the race, Owen Almighty was placed behind him. Brian Lynch didn’t quibble with the decision. “It definitely is a good-news, bad-news situation,” Lynch said by phone from Tampa. “Thrilled with him running like he did off the layoff, definitely something went on there. If I was in that position, I probably would have made the decision to take him down. But he showed up for us and ran like we hoped he would.” Owen Almighty ran the seven furlongs in 1:22.50. Naughty Rascal, a Florida-bred son of Rogueish, won for the fourth time from six starts for trainer Gerald Bennett and owners Mr. Pug LLC and JPG 2 LLC. It was Naughty Rascal’s third stakes win including the Armed Forces on turf at Gulfstream on Nov. 2. “He’s as good as these horses,” Bennett said in a post-race interview broadcast on America’s Day at the Races. “I like him to be eyeball to eyeball [with horses] and going a distance of ground I think we’ll get that opportunity.” Naughty Rascal will likely get that chance to stretch out in the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam. F Davis Stakes going 1 1/16 miles on Feb. 8. That is also likely to be Owen Almighty’s next start, according to Lynch. Naughty Rascal returned $8.20 as the second choice in the race. He finished 4 1/2 lengths clear of Very Bold, who was followed across the finish line by Cockeyed, Rookie Card and Juan Colorado. Gasparilla Stakes Dancing Magic came with a solid late run under Junior Alvarado to pass the pacesetting Lynn’s Milky Way and win the $82,500 Gasparilla Stakes by two lengths. Lynn’s Milky Way was second by 2 1/4 lengths over Win N Your In. Mrs Worldwide, the 6-5 favorite, finished fourth, beaten 22 3/4 lengths. Vuela Paloma and Another Cleeshay completed the order of finish. Tessitura stumbled at the break, bore in and unseated jockey Willie Martinez. Dancing Magic, a daughter of Good Magic trained by Michael Campbell for Mellon Patch Inc., won for the second time from seven starts. She was coming off a third-place finish behind Mrs Worldwide in the Sandpiper Stakes at Tampa on Dec. 7. Alvarado, riding Dancing Magic for the first time, said his late-running filly certainly benefitted from a fast early half-mile of 44.83 seconds run by Lynn’s Milky Way. “She’s a filly who likes to finish, but it definitely helps when the pace is a little hot like today,” Alvarado said in a post-race interview broadcast on America’s Day at the Races. “I was very confident when I hit the three-eighths pole, I could feel she was ready for me and when I asked her she started picking it up. I was just hoping the horse that was on the lead didn’t keep going. My filly kept grinding and she got the job done today.” Dancing Magic covered the seven furlongs in 1:23.70 and returned $9 to win as the third choice. Dancing Magic would seem to be a candidate for the Suncoast Stakes at a mile-and-40-yards on Feb. 8. Meanwhile, Mrs Worldwide, coming off a solid victory in the Sandpiper, “didn’t show up today,” trainer Brian Lynch said. “She never got into the race at all when the running started.” Wayward Lass Alvarado won his second stakes race on the card when he guided Little Jamie to a 1 1/4-length victory in the $77,500 Wayward Lass Stakes for older fillies and mares. Little Jamie won despite having to race wide all the way around the track. However, while she had clear run, a ground-saving Peignoir, the even-money favorite, couldn’t get through on the inside under Ortiz, had to alter course but did show grit in getting up for second by a nose over the pacesetting Dream Concert, who was a nose better than American Retro. Easy Come Easy Go, Literate, America’s Vow, and Abundancia completed the order of finish. Little Jamie, a 4-year-old daughter of Collected owned by John and Jamie Williams and trained by Robert Medina, covered the 1 1/16-miles in 1:43.40 and returned $11.60 to win as the third choice. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.