The Road: Treaty of Rome, John Hancock Bred for Success

Of the 10 3-year-olds entered at Tampa Bay Downs in the Feb. 8 Sam F. Davis Stakes—the only points race this weekend on the Road to the Kentucky Derby—Poster, Naughty Rascal, and Owen Almighty have established reputations as stakes winners in the mainland United States. Poster captured the Remsen Stakes (G2) Dec. 7 by a nose at Aqueduct Racetrack to wrap up a 3-for-3 juvenile campaign; Naughty Rascal is a three-time stakes winner and is locally stabled with a potential home-track edge; and Owen Almighty is a stakes winner and graded-placed, having finished second in the Iroquois Stakes (G3) last fall at Churchill Downs. Despite their accomplishments, contention seemingly goes beyond those three runners in the Sam F. Davis, which awards qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby (G1) on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale. Quick debut winner John Hancock and Treaty of Rome, a closing second in the Jan. 4 Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park, are two other leading threats, and Camp Hale and Smoken Boy, a grade 1 winner in Puerto Rico, look like fringe players. Beyond what they have shown on the track, Treaty of Rome and John Hancock have exciting pedigrees. A son of Uncle Mo out of the Montjeu mare Coin Broker (IRE), Treaty of Rome is a full brother to Donna Veloce, who placed in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and Starlet Stakes (G1) as a 2-year-old in 2019. A year later in 2020, she won the Santa Ysabel Stakes (G3). Bred in Kentucky by Orpendale/Chelston, Treaty of Rome races for Coolmore-affiliated owners Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor. Coin Broker was also bred by Orpendale and campaigned by Tabor and Magnier during her racing career. Those owners are some of the partners in the Chad Brown-trained Sierra Leone, winner of the 2024 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and the champion 3-year-old male of last year. John Hancock is a chestnut by Constitution out of the Freud mare Scribbling Sarah, making him a half brother to 2020 Ashland Stakes (G1) winner Speech. He races for CHC and WinStar Farm, who bred him in Kentucky. Constitution, who stands for $110,000 at WinStar, is currently the fourth-ranked stallion in North America based on progeny earnings, and the late Uncle Mo is in seventh. He stood at Coolmore's Ashford Stud before his death in December. Having been effective over a one-turn mile—winning a maiden race at Aqueduct Racetrack before his neck defeat in the Mucho Macho Man—the Brown-trained Treaty of Rome appears likely to benefit from additional ground and racing two turns in the Sam F. Davis. Drawn in post 2, he seems poised to carve out a stalking trip in a speed-laden field, likely saving ground into the first turn under jockey Dylan Davis. The pace of the Mucho Macho Man was leisurely, and Guns Loaded was able to outlast the stalking Treaty of Rome after the former set splits of :24.54, :47.61, and 1:12.75 en route to a mediocre final time of 1:38.87. It is worth noting that Guns Loaded did not flatter the form of the race when returning in to finish seventh in the Feb. 1 Holy Bull Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream. In another follow-up performance by a top Mucho Man Man competitor, fourth-place Macho Music was a next-out second in the Swale Stakes on the Holy Bull undercard. John Hancock's asset is his speed. Off a half-step sluggishly when debuting Jan. 8 at Tampa, the Brad Cox trainee quickly recovered by shooting to the lead and zipping six furlongs in 1:09.45. His quickness is evident, but it is challenging to prove victorious with the maiden-to-stakes class hike for a 3-year-old trying a new distance on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. In two recent examples this year, stablemates Tappan Street ran a second for WinStar, CHC, and co-owner Cold Press Racing in the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull, and CHC and WinStar Farm's Patch Adams was fourth in the 1 1/16-mile Southwest Stakes (G3) Jan. 25 at Oaklawn Park. Both ran well in defeat as favorites, with Tappan Street getting a little tired late after a wide trip and Patch Adams making up ground after being slow into stride. Flavien Prat, the Eclipse Award-winning rider of 2024 who was aboard Poster in the Remsen, takes the mount on John Hancock. Antonio Gallardo rides the Eoin Harty-trained Poster. A Sam F. Davis participant has yet to win the Kentucky Derby, and none have cracked the top three in the first leg of the Triple Crown since Musket Man showed in both the Derby and the Preakness Stakes (G1) in 2009. Bluegrass Cat in 2006 fared best in the Derby, running second in the Run for the Roses after winning the Sam F. Davis 2 1/2 months earlier. The Sam F. Davis was downgraded from a grade 3 to listed status in 2025 by the American Graded Stakes Committee. Sam F. Davis competitors captured other grade 1s late in the last decade, notably Tapwrit and Vino Rosso. Tapwrit, second in the 2017 Sam F. Davis, won the Belmont Stakes (G1) that same year, and Vino Rosso, third in the 2018 Sam F. Davis, captured the 2019 Breeders' Cup Classic as a 4-year-old.