Tampabay downs media guide 16-0273-JK2

History
2013 - Numerous firsts enhance Tampa Bay Downs’ reputation as a
major player on the winter-spring Thoroughbred racing scene
during its 87th season. For the first time, the top three finishers
in the Grade II, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby — Verrazano, Java’s
War and Falling Sky, the Grade III Sam F. Davis Stakes winner
— compete in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands
(Verrazano also won the Grade I Wood Memorial and Grade I
Haskell Invitational and Java’s War captured the Grade I Toyota
Blue Grass). Tampa Bay Downs stages three graded stakes on
a single card for the first time on Feb. 2 after the then-$150,000
Florida Oaks, a turf race for 3-year-old fillies, was awarded
Grade III status by the American Graded Stakes Committee
of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. In
addition to the Oaks, the Festival Preview Day program includes
the Grade III, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes for 3-year-olds
and the Grade III, $150,000 Endeavour Stakes on the turf for
older fillies and mares. Jockey Daniel Centeno wins his fifth
title, riding 90 winners, and Jamie Ness is the first trainer to
capture seven consecutive crowns, saddling 46 winners. Twotime
Eclipse Award finalist Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc., also
with 46 winners, wins its fourth consecutive owners’ title (Ness
trained exclusively for Midwest). The leading apprentice jockey
is 20-year-old Ricardo Mejias from Puerto Rico. For the second
straight year, Tampa Bay Downs conducts 25 stakes worth
$2.6-million in purse money, highlighted by the Tampa Bay Derby
on Festival Day, March 9. The 33rd renewal draws a crowd of
10,476, the fifth-largest in track history; total all-sources handle
of $10,291,827.76 is the fourth-highest ever. Verrazano’s jockey,
Hall of Fame member John Velazquez, rides five winners on the
Festival Day card, tying six other jockeys for the second-most
in track history. Tampa Bay Downs reached an agreement with
TVG, America’s Horseracing Network, to broadcast the meeting,
spreading the track’s signal to countless new viewers. In addition
to Verrazano’s victory, trainer Todd Pletcher scores two additional
graded-stakes triumphs with his 5-year-old mare Old Tune, who
wins the Endeavour and the Grade III, $150,000 Hillsborough on
the turf, both times under Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Joel
Rosario. The rider was also aboard Florida Oaks winner Tapicat
for Hall of Fame trainer William Mott. Combining to win two of
the track’s six graded stakes were trainer John Terranova II and
jockey Jose Espinoza, who won the Sam F. Davis with Falling
Sky and the Grade III, $150,000 Tampa Bay Stakes with Swift
Warrior. The 11th annual Florida Cup Day on April 6 attracts
many top Florida-breds, with James and Nannette McCullough’s
4-year-old gelding Wild About Chrome remaining unbeaten
(5-for-5) in the Hilton Garden Inn/ Hampton Inn & Suites Sprint.
In winning the Super Stakes on Feb. 23, Thomas Shank and
Stan Young’s 6-year-old gelding Good Lord sets a seven-furlong
track record of 1:22.03. Phase Two of the track’s ongoing green
initiative continues to gain momentum with the introduction of
a state-of-the-art geothermal HVAC system designed to save
energy and costs while requiring almost no maintenance. The
water and energy-saving system uses the constant below-ground
temperature of soil or water to cool homes, commercial buildings
and public facilities.On Feb. 16, the track holds the “Walk for Roz”
to benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure fight against breast
cancer in memory of former Tampa Bay Downs Association
Veterinarian Rosalyn Randall.
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