Saturday Spotlight on Tampa Bay

With sunny skies and an appearance by reigning champion female turfer Tepin (Bernstein) topping three graded stakes events on the schedule, Tampa Bay Downs is ready for a day in the limelight Saturday. Despite a difficult winter of weather and stout competition from their neighbors to the southeast, the Oldsmar oval continues to carve out a unique niche in the racing industry–one that has proven appealing to top barns wintering in Florida and horseplayers alike.

Conditioned by Mark Casse to a stellar five-win campaign capped by a triumph in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile in 2015, Tepin will be the latest in an extensive line of high-profile horses from high-profile barns to compete at Tampa Bay Downs. According to Margo Flynn, the track's Vice President of Marketing and Publicity, sustained interest from trainers of Casse's caliber make days like Saturday–with 13 graded stakes winners in the entry box–all the more special.

“The horsemen appreciate both racing surfaces here, so they will come and race here,” Flynn observed. “Whether it be on the dirt–which I feel is a good springboard to go to other tracks if they're looking to campaign 3-year-olds on a safe surface–or on the turf course. [The turf] is second to none, basically.”

In recent years, Tampa Bay Downs has seen more and more entries coming in from trainers stabled in South Florida as well as at Payson Park Thoroughbred Training Center in Indiantown, which is roughly four hours from Oldsmar. Citing trainers such as Christophe Clement and Bill Mott, who do some of their best work on the turf, Flynn noted that Tampa benefits from the fact that many barns have numerous horses eligible for similar conditions. Confronted by massive, overflow field sizes at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, the lush turf course at Tampa emerges as an appealing option for horses of all abilities.

“The trainers separate horses, and we understand that, and most of those barns have multitudes of horses that fit the same conditions,” Flynn said. “The turf trainers do try to point their higher strings here [too], because typically with those races, for example, there is not a lot of difference between the purse of the Suwannee River S. [$150,000, GIII, Gulfstream] and the Endeavour S. [$150,000, GIII, Tampa]–and they are both graded. We have Tepin coming, so it's a wonderful tribute to the quality of the surfaces.”

In addition to out-of-town shippers, Tampa has seen a number of successful barns opt to stable horses at the track itself. With names like Ian Wilkes and Jonathan Sheppard already on the grounds, trainer Tom Proctor has also established a significant presence at the track, using a win in last year's Suncoast S. as a springboard to Grade I success for Include Betty (Include) later in the season.

“I think stabling is very competitive down [in South Florida], so certainly we do get some people who choose to stable up here during the winter months that have been down there in the summer,” Flynn continued. “That's a natural transition, and it typically has been anyway when Calder would close [and Gulfstream would open]. But I think stalls are actually a little more competitive down there in the winter months, so people have shown interest in coming here and stabling here.”

As the centerpiece of the meet, the GII Tampa Bay Derby has proven time and time again to be a useful stepping stone to achievement at the highest level. Street Sense (Street Cry {Ire}) and Super Saver (Maria's Mon) both competed in the Tampa Bay Derby en-route to wins in the GI Kentucky Derby, while in more recent years Todd Pletcher-trained winners Verrazano (More Than Ready) and Carpe Diem (Giant's Causeway) went on to score Grade I wins in their next starts.

“I think that a lot of trainers use [the GII Tampa Bay Derby] as a moving-on point,” Flynn asserted. “Certainly Todd Pletcher has been very supportive over the years with bringing horses through here, and Ian Wilkes–who was connected with Street Sense–has used it to bring them through as well. Horses have gone on to have superb careers, whether it be winning the Kentucky Derby or going on to be solid handicap horses. [MGISW] General Quarters comes to mind.”

Although Tampa's product has also seen a notable rise in interest from horseplayers as well over the last decade, Flynn said the 2016 season has posed a number of challenges. Namely, an extraordinarily wet and cold winter has threatened to halt a prolonged streak of positive or steady handle figures.

“We did show an increase [in handle] last year, but we had been steady prior to that,” commented Flynn. “Before that, we were taking large leaps, which has to level out at some point. We would love to keep taking large leaps, but it's hard to do. Obviously, the recession factors into that as well. We had the slight increase last year, and I think we're about even right now. With the weather, it has obviously not been good anywhere in the country, but it's had a trickle-down effect here. It's so bad that the OTB parlors are closed as well. We've had a very wet winter–I believe we've had 18 to 20 races off the turf so far, which is unusual.”

Nevertheless, Flynn said she is confident that Tampa offers sufficient “mystique” with a wide variety of horsemen from across the country, creating highly competitive and diverse wagering opportunities.

“Tampa is very well-received around the country,” she said. “Obviously, having turf racing in the winter is a plus, and if the sun is shining here and you've got six feet of snow to shovel out from, it makes [Tampa] appealing. With the field sizes, we try to make a wagering menu that is competitive and interesting. People do follow us and look forward to when we open.”

If Tampa is able to maintain a steady stream of interest on an everyday basis, days like Saturday hammer home the track's status as a major player on the winter racing docket. As such, there is no reason to believe that the small-scale operation on the Gulf Coast won't continue to thrive as a destination for both horsemen and horseplayers.

“It's a combined effort from everybody, whether it be the person at the front gate, the person who is taking the $2 wager or the racing office,” Flynn concluded. “Everyone together works to make it a go. We try to do that. We're a relatively small operation, but we all work multiple jobs and wear multiple hats to make it all work. Everyone is very proud of having these big days because it shows off what we have put into it.”

—@BMassamTDN