Tampabay downs media guide 16-0273-JK2

Owner Profiles
Ups & Downs Farm
Owner: Monte Thomas
Born: September 25, 1944
Birthplace: Swedesboro, NJ
Residence: Citra, FL
Family: Wife, Cathy; daughter, Erica Ruygrok
Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Gulfstream Park West, Gulfstream
Thomas began his career in Thoroughbred racing in 1963 when he moved to
Charles Town in West Virginia to work with his uncle, Frank Smith. Thomas
learned his trade from the ground up and became adept at all aspects of the
business, from grooming to exercising to life at the racetrack. Thomas, who
ships in horses from his Ups & Downs Farm in Citra, Fla., has kept 10 stalls
at Tampa Bay Downs the last four seasons. He raises his young horses at
the farm with help from his wife, Cathy, and their daughter, Erica. Their days
are spent managing the 20 or so horses they have in training, along with two
stallions, seven or eight broodmares and clients’ horses being freshened for
a return to competition. The family’s My Sweet Dove won the 2013 Sandpiper
Stakes here as a 2-year-old. Thomas has a reputation as a horseman whose
charges almost always are prepared to run their best race. “I like to try to
put them (his horses) where they will be competitive, because it helps their
courage not to get beaten badly the first few times they run,” Thomas said. “As
long as you are consistent with whatever your plan is, it can work if you stay
with it.” From 1986-2001, the Thomases stepped back from the racing game
while Cathy pursued her show horse interests and Monte operated a thriving
blacksmith operation. They also raised and sold exotic animals, such as rheas
(relatives of the ostrich), wallabies (members of the kangaroo clan) and various
types of parrots and birds of all descriptions.
Winning Stables
(Gerald Bennett)
Born: March 12, 1944
Birthplace: Springhill, Nova Scotia
Residence: Tampa, FL
Family: Wife, Mary; sons, Dale and Jerry; daughter, Katharine; two
grandchildren
Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Thistledown Race Course, Presque Isle Downs,
Indiana Grand
Tampa Bay Downs Trainer: Gerald Bennett
Gerald Bennett’s Winning Stables operation, in partnership with Midnight
Rider, campaigns Fast Flying Rumor, which won last season’s Turf Dash
Stakes while earning a 108 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest in track history
on either turf or dirt. Bennett has a reputation for being able to rehabilitate
injured racehorses, and that ability brought him his biggest horse, Beau
Genius. Bennett conditioned Beau Genius to victory in 13 stakes including
the Haskell Invitational (GI), Philip H. Iselin Handicap (GI), Deputy Minister
Handicap, Hallandale Handicap, Churchill Downs Handicap and the Olympic
Stakes. Among other Bennett trainees are Secret Romeo, winner of the 2002
Super Stakes and Pelican Stakes and second to the excellent sprinter Bonapaw
in the $100,000 Arlington Park Sprint Handicap; and Banker’s Jet, winner of
seven stakes and over $670,000. Bennett was a mainstay in Michigan racing,
dominating the trainer standings at Hazel Park and Detroit Race Course
throughout the 1980s and at Great Lakes Downs. Gerald Bennett conditioned
the filly Down From Heaven to nine straight wins at Detroit Race Course from
1988 through 1989 after claiming her for $5,000. He was leading trainer in
2005 at Great Lakes Downs with 86 wins and 50 percent of his entries finished
in the money. Among his many accomplishments, Bennett has won five races
in one day. On May 5, 2007, Bennett escorted his trainee Bucky's Prayer to the
Oldsmar winner’s circle after her victory in the Lightning City Stakes. Bennett
finished the 2010-2011 Tampa meet tied as leading trainer with Jamie Ness
with 61 victories apiece. His Crimson Knight finished second in the 2011 Tampa
Bay Derby at odds of 86-1. Bennett won the 2015-2016 Oldsmar training title
outright with 51 victories.
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