After hurricanes Helene and Milton wreaked havoc on the backstretch, the repairs have been made and Tampa Bay Downs is ready to race.
The Tampa Bay Downs meeting kicks off with racing on Wednesday and Saturday this week. Fridays will be added to the calendar starting Nov 29 and racing will be expanded to four days a week when Sunday racing starts on Dec. 22.
Over the 89-day meeting there are 28 stakes with purses of nearly $4 million up for grabs. The marquee race of the meet is the Tampa Bay Derby (G3), a key prep for the Kentucky Derby which will be run on March 8.
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Most of the last month has been devoted to repairing roofs on the backstretch and making sure the racing surface was ready to go for opening day.
“Fortunately, we had pre-planned for both storms, and our prep work was on point. We were able to get a lot of the supplies we needed from our vendors and get an early jump on getting things done,” said Tom McLaughlin, the track’s Vice President of Facilities and Track Surface, who utilized two outside contracting crews to complement his 20-employee team and provide an around-the-clock work force for the past 24 days. “We went to work right away pumping out the water, and all the stalls were washed and disinfected. Management gave us everything we needed to get the job done.”
O’Connell, Bennett Lead Trainers
Kathleen O’Connell led all trainers last year with 54 winners to take the trainer’s title, winning at a 321% clip. That snapped an eight-year streak by Gerald Bennett, who finished second in the trainer standings with 35 winners. Bennett won 48 races in 2023, with Jon Arnett a distant second with 29 victories.
Other trainers coming back include Jose Francisco D’Angelo and Gregg Sacco, who tied for third last season with 31 winners; Juan Arriagada, who was fifth with 27 winners and was the track’s leading owner for the second year in a row; H. Graham Motion; Juan Carlos Avila; Eoin Harty; Saffie A. Joseph, Jr; Arnaud Delacour; Mike Dini; Derek Ryan; Tim Hamm; Anthony Granitz; David VanWinkle; Darien Rodriguez; Victor Carrasco, Jr.; Michael Simone; and Rohan Crichton.
Camacho Back to Defend Jockey Title
Samy Camacho is back to defend his riding title. He won 85 races at last year’s meeting, 13 more than runner up Antonio Gallardo.
Gallardo, who set the track season record in 2014-15 with 147 winners, enjoyed an outstanding summer and early fall, winning the title at Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa., with 118 victories.
Besides Camacho, Gallardo and Centeno, past Oldsmar track champions Ronnie Allen, Jr., Jesus Castanon and Willie Martinez are set to compete this season.
Other top returning riders include Marcos Meneses and Melissa Iorio, who tied Centeno for fourth place last season with 41 winners; Pablo Morales; Jose Ferrer; Angel Arroyo; Jose Batista; Samuel Marin; Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr.; Alonso Quinonez; and Ademar Santos.
Takeout Rates for Tampa Bay Downs
WPS 17%
Exacta 20.5%
Double 18%
Trifecta, Superfecta 25.9%
Hi 5: 18%
Pick 3,4 18%
Pick 5 15%
Pick 6 20%
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