Bradley's Tampa Bay Downs String Starting Strong

His full name is William Bradley, but to anyone who knows him, it's Buff Bradley; and this season Buff Bradley and the Bradley Racing Stable runners have enjoyed a quick start at Tampa Bay Downs.

Bradley has sent out four winners and five other placers from 16 starters at the current Tampa meeting. In 2016 and 2017, Bradley has won 19 of 99 starts at Tampa, through Jan. 22. Known as a patient horseman who gives young runners time to develop, Bradley has surprised a lot of bettors and observers by having many of his starters ready for top efforts early in the meeting.

Bradley, who got his nickname from his brother who used to call him Buffalo Bill when they were kids, said more opportunities in the racing program have paved the way for his strong showing. 

"I think it's been a combination of some shifts in the racing program that has given us more opportunities to run our younger horses and the fact we had a good number of horses that had run once or twice up north so they were able to come into this meeting with some seasoning," Bradley said. "It's true I don't win often with first-time starters because I believe in letting the horses learn how to be race horses and get the seasoning and experience they need by racing.

"But as I said, the way it's worked out is we've came down with a number of younger horses that had that important first start under their belt. And, I think we've probably got as much talent in our group of younger horses this winter as we've ever had."

Bradley, who has horses at Gulfstream Park and Tampa this time of year, said Tampa is providing a good starting point for the string of horses he has there. 

"Tampa's a great place to bring horses along, the track is safe and forgiving, the climate on the backstretch is laid back and quiet, and the weather is as about as good as you're going to find in the U.S. this time of year. There are very few interruptions in training due to the track or the weather," Bradley said. "It just all works out to be a good place to stable and race and we've been fortunate this year to have had good success thus far. I just hope we're able to keep it (the winning pace) up."

Bradley sees potential in John Terlep's 3-year-old filly Sealed with a Kiss, who won a maiden-claiming race Jan. 6 at Tampa and is entered in a  Jan. 25 allowance-optional claiming race there. 

"She won here in her second start, she's been training like a good horse and gaining seasoning and I think she could turn out to be a useful sort," Bradley said. "And we've got one in Friday (Jan. 27), Lela's Gift, who I also think has a chance to be a nice horse. She's making her second start and comes out of a tough race where she was making up ground way outside. The seasoning from that race should help her and we're cautiously optimistic she's got a bright future."

Maiden Lela's Gift will try one mile on the turf in Friday's maiden test at Tampa Bay Downs, carded as race eight.

Bradley knows what it's like to develop and train a top runner, homebred grade I winner Brass Hat won more than $2.1 million and 10 of 40 races. Another Bradley homebred, Groupie Doll, won the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) in 2012 and 2013 en route to being named champion female sprinter each of those years.

Divisidero is Bradley's top runner right now. The winner of the grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic last spring at Churchill Downs finished third in his 2017 debut in the Ft. Lauderdale Handicap (G2T) at Gulfstream and is being pointed for the grade 1 $350,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Championship at nine furlongs Feb. 11.

Last season runners trained by Bradley won 46 races—the most wins he's had in a single season—and added 87 placings from 332 starts. The starters earned more than $1.7 million in purses, which is the second-highest seasonal total for the trainer. Bradley said the winning results are a combination of a good staff, some committed owners, and just finding the winning combinations.

"I've got a good group helping me do my job," Bradley said, "I mean there are people working back there who aren't making a ton of money but they're still focused and committed to their job, to their horses. When I walk down the shedrow, I talk to our grooms and hotwalkers and they know I want to hear what they've got to say about this horse or that horse. They spend more time with these horses than anybody and see the little things that can make a difference. From my assistant Chelsey Moysey right on down it's a good group that makes my job a lot easier."

As for his owners, Bradley says those who have been with him a while have learned more about the business and the ups and downs that go along with owning horses.

"They've gotten past the stage where they expect every horse they buy is going to win the (Kentucky) Derby (G1) or the (Kentucky) Oaks (G1). They understand what reasonable expectations are and they've also learned that often times with horses, there is only one answer to making things right and that's time," Bradley said.

"They've learned that having patience with horses is probably the hardest thing to learn but also the most valuable thing to understand as an owner. 

"They've seen what can result from giving a horse time to develop and mature and they've seen the flip side of how things can turn out if you push one when you shouldn't. That's why if we have horses with talent, you'll see them improve and move forward as time goes on."