Tampabay downs media guide 16-0273-JK2

Trainer Profiles
Gerald Bennett
Born: March 12, 1944
Birthplace: Springhill, Nova Scotia
Residence: Tampa, FL
Family: Wife Mary; sons, Dale and Jerry; daughter, Katharine; two
grandchildren
First win: Greenwood, Canada
Started Training: 1974
Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Delaware Park
Bennett, the father of Tampa Bay Downs trainer Dale Bennett, ended the nineyear
reign of Jamie Ness during the 2015-2016 meeting, capturing the Tampa
Bay Downs training title with 51 victories. Bennett tied a track record in March
by saddling four winners from four starters. Bennett, who had climbed to 18th
all-time with about 3,600 victories by midsummer, has compiled one of the most
remarkable records in the history of racing. He picked up minor stakes winner
Beau Genius after his 3-year-old season and trained him to victory in 13 stakes,
including the 1990 Philip H. Iselin (then a Grade I) and the 1990 Michigan Mile
and One-Eighth Handicap, then a Grade II. Beau Genius won the Hallandale
Handicap for Bennett at Gulfstream in 1990, a race also notable as the final
victory for Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker. Among other notable Bennett
trainees are Secret Romeo, winner of the 2002 Super Stakes and Pelican
Stakes, and Banker’s Jet, winner of seven stakes and more than $670,000.
Bennett trains Fast Flying Rumor, which established a Tampa Bay Downs
Beyer Speed Figure record of 108 in winning last season’s $100,000 Turf Dash.
Among his numerous accomplishments, Bennett has won five races in one
day. Victory No. 3,500 came at Tampa Bay Downs in March of 2015 with the
3-year-old filly Once More for Love. Bennett previously trained Standardbreds in
Canada.
William “Buff” Bradley
Born: August 26, 1963
Birthplace: Frankfort, KY
Residence: Frankfort, KY
Family: Wife, Kim; son, Drew; daughters, Kory and Jett
First Win: Spirit of Austin, Detroit Race Course, 1998
Started Training: 1998, Detroit
Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs,Churchill Downs,Keeneland,Ellis Park,Gulfstream Park
The Bradley team enjoyed a Kentucky Derby Day to remember when 4-yearold
colt Divisidero won the Grade I Woodford Reserve Turf Classic Stakes at
Churchill Downs on May 7, which happened to be Divisidero’s “real” birthday.
Divisidero had won the Grade II American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs
the previous May. Trainer Bradley, the son of the late Fred Bradley, himself
a Kentucky state senator and fighter pilot, reached the pinnacle of the sport
for the second year in a row in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup when his 5-year-old
homebred mare Groupie Doll successfully defended her title in the Filly and
Mare Sprint at Santa Anita. Bradley helped deliver Groupie Doll at the Bradley
family’s Indian Ridge Farm near Frankfort in April of 2008. “I remember the day
she foaled because she was such a beautiful red filly,” Bradley said. “I don’t
remember them all, but she stood out from Day 1.” Groupie Doll was bred
by Bradley and his father in partnership. A few days after her Breeders’ Cup
repeat, Groupie Doll was sold to Mandy Pope as a broodmare for $3.1 million
at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Prior to Groupie Doll, the
Bradleys’ greatest success came with the popular gelding Brass Hat, another
homebred and a Grade I winner which earned more than $2.1 million. Brass
Hat remains part of the family as a stable pony. Buff worked four years as an
assistant to Clarence Picou before going out on his own in 1993. He and his
family are proactive in Thoroughbred aftercare and have several retirees at the
farm, including Free Spirit’s Joy, the 1991 Grade I Super Derby winner Bradley
worked with when he was an assistant to Picou. His nickname, Buff, is short
for “Buffalo Bill,” which he acquired as a boy. His top assistants at Tampa Bay
Downs are Maria Kabel and Chelsey Moysey, both quality horsewomen in their
own right.
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