Tampa Bay Aims to Continue Its Roll in 2017

The old saying, "If it ain't broke don't fix it," would seem to fit Tampa Bay Downs' position perfectly as the picturesque track located just outside Tampa in Oldsmar, Fla. begins its 91-date meeting Saturday, Nov. 26.

Once thought of as a charming, minor-league operation where trainers could give themselves and their horses some time off under the warm Florida sunshine, the track has evolved into one of the industry's success stories. With a progressive, forward-thinking management team headed by general manager Peter Berube racing has grown and improved behind programs loaded with full fields.

This year's stakes program totals almost $3 million in purse money and features a number of graded stakes, topped by the $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II). That race is considered by many horsemen as one of the pivotal preps for the Triple Crown races. Last year's Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby winner Destin finished sixth in the 2016 Run for the Roses and was narrowly beaten by Creator in the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets (gr. I).

In recent years Tampa Bay has moved back its opening to late November and Berube feels the schedule is one that allows the track to continue its goal of giving the bettors large fields without overtaxing the horse population.

"With the downturn in foal production and the high demand for horses we wanted to find a racing schedule that didn't overtax our horses while running races with large, competitive fields. We start with a three-day a week format in December then later in the meet we do run on a five-day a week format in February but it averages out to a four-day a week schedule," Berube said. "It's a schedule we feel works.

"With good weather we're able to run a high number of turf races which our figures tell us the bettors really like. And we have several exceptional programs such as Festival Preview Day which is highlighted by the grade III $250,000 Sam F. Davis, as well as Florida Cup Day. We've increased the purses for the stakes on Florida Cup from $75,000 to $100,000. Then of course the big day of the meeting is Festival Day with the Tampa Bay Derby topping that program. It features three graded races on the card."

The Tampa signal will now be sent out in High Definition to its hundreds of simulcast outlets while new flat screen televisions on site will also feature HD.

The track set a record for all-source handle on Festival Day 2016 of more than $12 million and the daily, average all-sources handle last meeting of $4.2 million ranks Tampa behind only Aqueduct Racetrack, Gulfstream Park, and Santa Anita Park in that category for tracks racing in the same time period.

The training colony this season will be headed by three perennial powers, Gerald Bennett, Jamie Ness, and Kathleen O'Connell. That threesome has been on or near the top of the trainer's standings for most of the past 10 years. Last meeting Bennett won the training title, stopping Ness's run of nine straight seasons at the top and this meeting the 72-year-old Bennett has a group headed by a number of young prospects he feels could give him a good chance to defend his title this winter.

"We've got 20-something young horses over there which is by far the highest number of babies I've ever brought here," the forever young horseman pointed out, "The other morning we worked 12 and I've seen a lot of potential in the group. Of course with young horses, it's like a child, you never know when they're going to come up with this or that, but that's part of having babies. I really think some of these have a chance to develop into nice horses."

Heading Bennett's older horses is Fast Flying Rumor, who posted the highest Beyer Speed figure in the history of the track (108) last winter going five furlongs on the turf. Fast Flying Rumor had several subpar efforts this summer racing over some turf courses that were less than optimum in terms of firmness but Bennett says his speedy star has been training well. He's weighing the options for his next start. Fast Flying Rumor is eligible for the $100,000 Turf Dash Dec. 31.

One of Bennett's youngsters who has already begun making a name for herself is R Angel Katelyn who won the $100,000 Juvenile Filly Sprint at Gulfstream Park West on Nov. 12. R Angel Katelyn has two wins and a second from three lifetime starts and just returned to the Bennett barn after being released from the Equine Herpes quarantine that kept her in South Florida after her most recent win.

New names to watch this season include Ignacio Correas, who has slowly been building a solid string in the Midwest; veteran conditioner Micheal Reavis; and former jockey turned trainer Tony Rini.

The battle for leading rider could be an interesting one now that Antonio Gallardo has moved to New York. The top threat to be leading rider going into the meeting would have to be Daniel Centeno. Centeno has topped the standings at Tampa five times and nobody knows how to ride the Tampa main track better than Centeno.

Mike Moran, who brought Gallardo to Tampa as a relative unknown several seasons back, was in New Mexico on his way to California in early October to represent the rider when he received a text message to pull over and call Gallardo, a call in which the jockey told his agent he had changed his mind and had decided to go to New York instead and fired Moran.

Once the former jockey and current agent got over the shock of the news, he did what good agents do, he began looking for good riders. He'll represent Edwin Gonzalez and Albin Jimenez at Tampa and thinks both jockeys have the talent to make an impact in their first seasons in Oldsmar.

"Edwin (Gonzalez) is second-leading rider at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course right now (with 129 wins) and I talked to several trainers who really like the way he rides," Moran said. "Jamie (Ness) told me he'd been using him on a number of the horses he shipped to Penn National and liked the way he rode, so that's a good endorsement right there.

"As for Albin, I watched him on a horse at Keeneland and went to the chart to see who had ridden the horse. He had impressed me that much that day. He's got a world of talent and he's won a lot of races in the past five years (889) so I think both these guys have the ability to do good here."

Of course the Tampa jock's room is always full when the meet starts as many riders are lured by the idea of warm weather during the winter months but bettors and horsemen can expect tried-and-true veterans like Ronnie Allen Jr., Dean Butler, and Fernando De La Cruz to make their presence felt.

At 12:10 p.m. Saturday the track whose blueprint for success has proven that yes, you can still profitably operate a race track where racing is your main source of income, begins it's 2016-17 meet with full fields, many exotic wagering opportunities and warm, Florida sunshine.