Tampabay downs media guide 16-0273-JK2

History
2001 -Tampa Bay Downs celebrates its 75th Anniversary season on Feb
18th, 2001, a day that highlights a meeting of record-breaking purse
levels and an increase in average intra-state wagering on Tampa Bay
Downs for the seventh consecutive year. Peter Berube is named Vice
President and General Manager on June 10th, 2001. A new single day
co-mingled handle is achieved on Tampa Bay Derby Day, March 18th
2001 with $3,877,477 wagered on the Tampa signal.
2002 - The Tampa Bay Derby regains Grade III status. Various maintenance
projects continue throughout the year, including a new Grandstand
roof, repaved backstretch roads, and a remodeling of the General
Office. Handle on live races from all sources averages almost $2.1-million
a day. The track posts record-breaking purses for the eighth consecutive
year. Live racing is canceled in December of 2001 on Opening Day
due to street and parking-lot flooding caused by county drainage issues.
2003 - Tampa Bay Downs launches a state-of-the-art, first-of-its-kind
Golf Practice and Wagering Facility. The 22 acres of fully lit property
include 270 yards of open range, plus putting and short-game areas.
The Downs Golf Clubhouse features a fully stocked Pro Shop, Snack
Bar and wagering terminals, complete with TV monitors to catch all the
action. The racing season concludes with purses at their highest level
($128,620 a day) and a new record for average all-sources live handle
($2,550,096). Tampa Bay Downs once again posts a new single day
co-mingled record of $3,880,693, and Florida Cup Day debuts, offering
six $75,000 stakes races on the one-day card.
2005 - Bucking national trends that have seen tracks across the nation
experience declines in either handle, attendance, or both, Tampa Bay
Downs concludes its 79th season by establishing 10 records in handle,
attendance and purses. Increases include an all-time high attendance
of 10,246 on Festival Day, which features Sun King winning the Grade
III Tampa Bay Derby. Before the season starts, the track continues its
expansion of and improvements to the track’s highly popular picnic area;
adds a new luxury suite called the Trackside Garden Suite; and adds
daily Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments in the Silks Poker Room. Horsemen
benefit from a handsome new winner’s circle, a new outside rail, and a
new receiving barn.
2006 - Explosive growth in on-track wagering, total handle and purse
payouts, along with record-high attendance, highlight the track’s 80th
year of Thoroughbred racing. As they did in 2004-2005, bettors on-track
and nationwide continue to embrace Tampa Bay Downs’ full fields and
improved racing quality on turf and dirt. Tampa Bay Downs receives the
Large Business of the Year Award for 2006 from the Upper Tampa Bay
Regional Chamber of Commerce on May 10, 2006. The award is based
on community involvement and support, and pays tribute to the tremendous
growth the facility has recently undergone. Local racing fans, treated
to an average of 9.57 horses per race, send the on-track handle up
nearly 7 percent to $30,192,981, the highest since 1991; and the daily
average on-track handle of $321,202 is the highest since 1994.
2004 - Tampa Bay Downs enjoys an incredibly successful meet with
track records set in 10 statistical categories, including double-digit
increases in total live all-source handle (24%increase) and total attendance
(11%). The track distributes a record $12,622,650 in purses
($135,727 per day), which leads to fields that average 9.4 starters per
race, an all-time high for the Oldsmar oval. Horsemen also halter a record
$2,418,250 worth of horses at the claims box. Track improvements
include a permanent tent over the popular picnic area, a new seven-furlong
chute, and the opening of The Silks Poker Room, the track’s card
room, which is an immediate hit with local poker enthusiasts.
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