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History<br />
20<strong>16</strong> - The popularity of the Tampa Bay Downs simulcast signal<br />
continues to spread, with a 5.1-percent increase in average<br />
daily interstate wagering to $3.71 million. That results in a<br />
3.5-percent increase in all-sources average daily handle to<br />
$4.<strong>16</strong> million. A new-look stakes schedule fuels interest, with<br />
the creation of six “big-event” cards featuring multiple stakes,<br />
outstanding purse money and the appearance of numerous toplevel<br />
Thoroughbreds, trainers and jockeys. Lambholm South, a<br />
1,830-acre Thoroughbred facility in Reddick, Fla., becomes the<br />
first title sponsor of the Grade II, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby in<br />
30 years. The Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby for 3-yearolds<br />
is the centerpiece of the richest day in track history, a March<br />
12 Festival Day card also featuring the Grade II, $200,000<br />
Hillsborough Stakes for older fillies and mares on the turf, the<br />
Grade III, $200,000 Florida Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on the turf<br />
and the $100,000 Challenger Stakes for older horses. Another<br />
lucrative afternoon takes place on Feb. 13, with the Festival<br />
Preview Day Presented by Lambholm South card offering three<br />
graded stakes and total stakes purse money of $650,000. Destin,<br />
a 3-year-old colt owned by Twin Creeks Racing Stables and<br />
trained by Todd Pletcher, becomes the first horse since Burning<br />
Roma in 2001 to win both the Sam F. Davis Stakes and the<br />
Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby. Destin’s Tampa Bay Derby<br />
time of 1:42.82 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth is both a stakes and<br />
track record. He finishes sixth in the Kentucky Derby Presented<br />
by Yum! Brands and second by a nose to Creator in the Belmont<br />
Stakes. The track’s two biggest days also see the reigning<br />
Eclipse Award Champion Grass Female, 5-year-old mare Tepin,<br />
delight bettors and Thoroughbred lovers with two outstanding<br />
victories in the Grade III, $150,000 Lambholm South Endeavour<br />
Stakes and the Hillsborough. The Robert E. Masterson-owned<br />
and Mark Casse-trained Tepin sets a course record of 1:46.26 in<br />
the mile-and-an-eighth Hillsborough. Gerald Bennett saddles 51<br />
winners to capture the training title, ending a nine-year run atop<br />
the standings by Jamie Ness. Bennett and<br />
Ness tied for first place during the 2010-2011 meeting. Bennett’s<br />
best horse is 4-year-old gelding Fast Flying Rumor, who sets<br />
a Tampa Bay Downs record — dirt or turf — by earning a 108<br />
Beyer Speed Figure for his victory in the $100,000 Turf Dash<br />
on Jan. 9. On March 5, Bennett ties a track record by saddling<br />
four winners from four starters. Antonio Gallardo rides 135<br />
winners to win his third consecutive jockeys’ title. Gallardo wins<br />
five races on Feb. 24 (including a dead-heat), marking his third<br />
five-victory performance at the Oldsmar oval. Ness claims the<br />
Leading Ownertrophy, as the Jagger, Inc., operation he runs<br />
with wife Mandy sends out 15 winners. Chad Lindsay is the top<br />
apprentice jockey with 11 victories. On Dec. 30, 7-year-old El<br />
Grande Rojo equals Catalina Red’s seven-furlong main track<br />
record of 1:21.40. Danny Lobato is named Ambassador of The<br />
Silks Poker Room, becoming a liaison between players and the<br />
Director of Poker, Patrick Murphy, and his staff, with an emphasis<br />
on bringing in new business and creating additional opportunities<br />
for players. Appearances by actor Christopher McDonald, who<br />
played Shooter McGavin in the movie Happy Gilmore, and threetime<br />
PGA Tour winner Chris DiMarco highlight the sixth annual<br />
Golfest Presented by Valspar Championship at The Downs Golf<br />
Practice Facility. Three jockeys achieve career milestones during<br />
the meeting. On Feb. 14, Jose Ferrer won back-to-back races to<br />
reach the 4,000 club. His big win came on Rocket Bottle, owned<br />
and trained by Robert G. Smith, who also celebrated his 50th<br />
birthday. On April 10, Scott Spieth earns victory No. 4,500 on<br />
Awesome Indeed, a 4-year-old filly trained by his fiancée, Aldana<br />
Gonzalez. Dean Butler grabs his 2,000th career triumph on April<br />
22 on Impromptu, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Bernell Rhone.<br />
A crowd of 10,443 attends the May 7 racing card, the third largest<br />
in track history to view the simulcast of the Kentucky Derby<br />
Presented by Yum! Brands.<br />
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