If Patriot Spirit takes to the Tampa Bay Downs surface as well in the afternoon as he appears to have in the morning, he’ll be awful tough to beat in Saturday’s Inaugural Stakes for 2-year-olds going six furlongs. The Inaugural, for males, and the Sandpiper, for juvenile fillies, are the first two stakes of the 92-day Tampa Bay meet. Both races are listed as having $100,000 purses, but $50,000 of that is dedicated to Florida-breds. Patriot Spirit, a Kentucky-bred son of Constitution, was an impressive debut winner of a seven-furlong maiden race on Aug. 25 at Colonial Downs. Under Jesus Castanon, Patriot Spirit stalked from second the 4-5 favorite Linzer and, without Castanon asking, Patriot Spirit sailed on by to win by six lengths. The manner in which he won, the way he galloped out, and his pedigree prompted trainer Michael Campbell to try Patriot Spirit at a mile in the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs. Campbell said Patriot Spirit got too amped up in the paddock and in the race he ran off, setting fast fractions on the lead, before finishing sixth, beaten seven lengths. Campbell then tried him in the Bowman Mill, a six-furlong race at Keeneland, where Patriot Spirit broke slowly and was down on the inside of horses, tugging hard at his rider, Flavien Prat. He finished fourth, beaten 4 3/4 lengths. Prat suggested that Campbell remove the blinkers from Patriot Spirit’s equipment, which Campbell will do for this race. Patriot Spirit was without blinkers on Nov. 16, when he was credited with a five-furlong workout in 57.80 seconds over Tampa’s main track. “He galloped out that fast, I worked him a half,” Campbell said. “We never asked this colt for anything. He’s a really good horse.” Patriot Spirit was purchased out of the OBS March sale for $235,000. The horse worked for that sale in blinkers, and Campbell said he considered taking them off for his debut but left them on. “After that first race, you figure he’s doing so well with them, but then he started to change. I think it was a function of seasoning,” Campbell said. “I was having various people tell me he was better without blinkers, but you’re afraid to make a change when you’re the favorite for $400,000 and then for another $200,000.” Patriot Spirit is a son of Constitution out of the mare Mistical Plan, who was a Grade 1 winner sprinting but also won the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks around two turns. In the Inaugural, Patriot Spirit will break from post 8 under Samy Camacho. Sound of the Beast comes out of a second in the Juvenile Sprint for Florida-breds at Gulfstream, where he had a wide trip. Both he and Rathmore, a second-out winner at Aqueduct for trainer Tom Albertrani, are Florida-breds as is El Principito, who turns back to a sprint and tries dirt for the first time after runs on synthetic. Gotts Got It, Sir Flash, Crazy Mason, and the unraced Sir Mi Tolee round out the field. Toupie back to dirt in Sandpiper Trainer Graham Motion has figured out this much about Toupie – she wants to sprint. Whether Toupie will be better sprinting on dirt or turf is something Motion is still trying to figure out. That’s sort of why he has opted to run Toupie in Saturday’s Sandpiper Stakes on dirt after three turf races. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. “We need to try the dirt again and just see how it compares with her grass races,” Motion said. “In the mornings, she’s really impressive on the dirt.” Toupie won her debut on dirt at Laurel by eight lengths. In her second start, Toupie, out of a stakes-placed mare on turf, finished second in a sprint turf stakes at Colonial Downs before finishing 10th of 11 in the Grade 2 Jessamine going long on turf at Keeneland. Back to sprinting on turf, Toupie won the Stewart Manor Stakes on Nov. 4 at Aqueduct. “She ran great,” Motion said. “My mistake was stretching her out in the Jessamine. I thought she would settle and she didn’t.” Despite running for half the listed purse, Motion pointed Toupie to the Sandpiper because “there are not a lot of great opportunities out there right now to do this,” he said. Jorge Ruiz rides Toupie from post 6 in an eight-horse field. Chi Chi, a Florida-bred daughter of Audible trained by Herman Wilensky, is 2 for 2 on dirt after losing her first two starts sprinting on turf at Del Mar. Let Them Watch, a Florida-bred daughter of Maximus Mischief trained by Mike Maker, won her first two starts at Gulfstream, including the Sharp Susan Stakes, before finishing last of nine in the Myrtlewood at Keeneland. Betsylicious, Mist, Genuine Peril, A Primera Vista, and Savanah Lady complete the field. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.