Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher continued his supremacy in the $210,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs as his trainee Renegade won the prep race for the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve to notch Pletcher's record-extending eighth career victory in the race.

For Renegade, the Sam F. Davis marked his first career victory, but he entered the race as no ordinary maiden. After a distant third in his Aug. 16 debut at Saratoga Race Course, he crossed the wire first ahead of the promising Paladin in an Oct. 17 maiden race at Aqueduct, only to be disqualified and placed second for interference. Renegade then raced again at Aqueduct in the Dec. 6 Grade 2 Remsen Stakes, running second to Paladin by two lengths after launching an early move and racing wide. Paladin is considered one of the early favorites for the Kentucky Derby.

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Renegade took an outside journey once again in the Sam F. Davis, but it didn't matter against the foes he faced Saturday. Closing from eighth in the field of nine, he reeled in minor stakes winner Wayne’s Law through the stretch and pulled away to score by 3 3/4 lengths under Irad Ortiz Jr. He clocked 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.54 topped by a closing sixteenth of a mile in :05.97 and paid $4.40 to win as the favorite.

"This is one of the best maiden wins I've ever had in my life," quipped co-owner Mike Repole of Repole Stable in an interview on FOX Sports.

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. notched a third victory in the Sam F. Davis after piloting Classic Causeway (2022) and Ocean Knight (2015) to victory for other trainers.

Front-running Wayne’s Law, who set fractions of :23.80, :48.30, and 1:12.81, held on for second by 2 1/4 lengths over show finisher The Puma, who was the second favorite in the race after finishing second in a well-rated maiden race in his only other start last month. Game for It ran fourth, and Epic Desire was fifth. One of the other favorites in the Sam F. Davis, Confessional, weakened to seventh after encountering stretch traffic.

With the Sam F. Davis part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby points series, the top five finishers earned qualifying points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale toward the first leg of the Triple Crown May 2 at Churchill Downs. Officials there use qualifying points as a preference system when the Derby draws more than its capacity field size of 20 horses.

Coupled with five points he had already grabbed for his runner-up finish in the Remsen, Renegade now has 25 Derby points. With still one more race slotted for him before the Derby Renegade's next start could come in the $1.5 million Grade 1 Arkansas Derby March 28 at Oaklawn Park.