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Tampa Bay allowance win sets Bobby's Kitten up for Blue Grass Ken and Sarah Ramsey's homebred Bobby's Kitten led the way home in the 6TH race at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday, taking command from his rail post when the gates opened and setting all the pace under jockey Javier Castellano. The Chad Brown trainee was using this one-mile, firm-turf contest as a prep for the Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass going nine furlongs over Keeneland's Polytrack on April 12. That race, in turn, will be worth 100 points to the winner for a berth in the Kentucky Derby three weeks later at Churchill Downs. Bobby's Kitten was making his sophomore bow in this spot, and the Kitten's Joy colt encountered no problems in his return from a more than four-month vacation. Breaking on top, the bay Kentucky-bred sets splits of :24 1/5, :48, 1:12 1/5 and 1:24 1/5 while under a snug hold much of the way from Castellano. Global View, last seen taking the grassy Grade 3 Generous at Hollywood Park in late November, drafted just off Bobby's Kitten flank on the outside and began his run rounding the turn. Unfortunately for Global View, Bobby's Kitten kicked into another gear and turned back that challenge. He continued motoring to be 1 1/2 lengths clear of Global View on the wire while stopping the clock in 1:36 4/5. The colt paid $2.80 for the win as the 2-5 favorite. Global View ran well in his three-year-old bow, holding second by 1 3/4 lengths over the filly in the field, Maria Maria. Ride Away was another 3 1/4 lengths back in fourth, while career debuter Noble Bird and Pirradazis completed the order of finish. Celiac Cause, Cool Cowboy, Mighty Brown and Solider Inthe Rain were all scratched. Bobby's Kitten is now 3-0-2 from five lifetime starts and has banked $307,100 in earnings. The bay, who has thus far raced exclusively on turf, began his career with a third-placing at Saratoga last July and broke his maiden at the Spa a month later by 2 3/4 lengths. He stepped up to face stakes company next out and romped by 6 1/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Pilgrim at Belmont Park on October 6. Bobby's Kitten wrapped up his two-year-old campaign in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, leading from the onset of that contest before settling for third when passed by European shippers Outstrip and Giovanni Boldini in the lane. Out of the winning Forestry mare Celestial Woods, Bobby's Kitten is a full brother to Major Magic, winner of the 2011 Chenery Stakes at Colonial Downs. Bobby's Kitten hails from the prominent turf family of champion and $3.4-million earner Paradise Creek, whose major victories include the 1994 Arlington Million and Washington D.C. International; Grade 1 stars Forbidden Apple and Wild Event; and multiple highweight David Junior, winner of the 2005 Champion Stakes and 2006 Eclipse and Dubai Duty Free, all Group 1s. A further generation back come two more stand-outs: 1987 turf champ Theatrical, who capped his glittering season in the Breeders' Cup Turf, and Japan's Taiki Blizzard, hero of the prestigious Yasuda Kinen in 1997. Digging deeper, one finds Japanese champion and French highweight Nakayama Festa, a close second in the 2010 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and Italian champion *Prince Royal II, who garnered the 1964 Arc. Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com
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