Tag: Tampa Bay Downs

After this Grade 2 victory in the Adirondack last summer, Wicked Halo brings in the most impressive resume of any Cross Country Pick 5 competitor this week. (Image: NYRA Photo/Susie Raisher)

This Week’s Cross Country Pick 5 Takes on a Wicked Halo

- 3 min read

This week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5 doesn’t involve any graded stakes from Aqueduct, Oaklawn Park, or Tampa Bay Downs, but it does include a Steve Asmussen-trained Grade 2 winning filly and three Listed stakes filled with intriguing fields. That Asmussen filly is Wicked Halo, who, on […]

Hollis ran one of the fastest Beyer Speed Figure numbers of 2021: a 109 in an allowance victory. He is one of the featured horses in this week's Cross Country Pick 5 wager. (Image: Coady Photography)

Two Deep Oaklawn Stakes Headline This Week’s Cross Country Pick 5

- 3 min read

Two stakes races from Oaklawn Park, including one featuring a horse who clocked a 109 Beyer Speed Figure in his last start, headline this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. The weekly wager offers up races from Oaklawn, Aqueduct Racetrack and Tampa Bay Downs. Consider it a […]

Classic Causeway won his second Tampa Bay Downs Kentucky Derby prep Saturday, winning the Tampa Bay Derby on a record handle day at Tampa Bay Downs. (Image: SV Photography)

Classic Causeway Helps Tampa Bay Downs Pull Record Handle

- 3 min read

With Tampa Bay Derby winner Classic Causeway sweeping his way into the Kentucky Derby Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs destroyed its previous single-day record for total handle. Saturday’s total handle of $20,778,222 blew away last year’s previous mark by more than $5.5 million and by 36%. On the rare day that […]

Greatest Honour hasn't raced since finishing third in the Florida Derby 11 1/2 months ago. He has trained toward running in Saturday's Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. (Image: Dana WImpfheimer)

Challenger Reunites a Trio of Familiar Names on Comeback Trail

- 2 min read

You may have missed it on Saturday’s Tampa Bay Downs card, but three familiar names return to the track for the Challenger Stakes. The $100,000 race is on the Tampa Bay Derby undercard. The 1 1/16-mile Challenger welcomes back Greatest Honour for the first time in nearly a year. It […]

Classic Causeway's easy victory in the Sam F. Davis makes him the one bettors figure to key in the Tampa Bay Derby. That's the penultimate leg to this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Spencer Tulis/SV Photography)

Tampa Bay Derby, Azeri Cap This Week’s Cross Country Pick 5

- 3 min read

Tampa Bay Downs’ marquee race, the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, headlines this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. This week’s Cross Country Pick 5 encompasses races from Tampa Bay Downs, Aqueduct and Oaklawn Park. The Tampa Bay Derby is the fourth leg of the five-leg pick […]

Nashua winner and California-based Rockefeller returns to Aqueduct for the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes, the fourth race on the Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

It’s Off to Gotham for Key to This Week’s Cross Country Pick 5

- 3 min read

The “other” Kentucky Derby prep — the Grade 3 Gotham from Aqueduct Park — highlights this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. This week’s Cross Country Pick 5 encompasses races from Aqueduct, Tampa Bay Downs and Oaklawn Park. The Gotham, which offers 50-20-10-5 Derby qualifying points to its […]

Classic Causeway and his front-running style come into the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes as the 3/1 morning-line favorite. (Image: Kentucky West Racing)

The Sam F. Davis: A Derby Prep Where Also-Rans Matter

- 4 min read

Tampa Bay Downs’ first stop on the Kentucky Derby trail, Saturday’s Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes is one of those races where you’re best served paying more attention to the horses outside the winner’s circle. Take last year. Candy Man Rocket won the race in typical Davis fashion. He […]

Candy Man Rocket held on for a length victory in last month's Sam F. Davis Stakes. He'll need a better finishing kick to prevail in Saturday's Tampa Bay Derby. (Image: SV Photography)

Tampa Bay Derby Seeks a Sweet Path Out of Derby Prep Shadows

- 4 min read

The Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby is one of those Kentucky Derby preps that often gets lost in the shuffle. Part of that is the giant shadow Tampa Bay Downs fights from its southern Florida neighbor, Gulfstream Park. Part of that is the fact only two horses emerged from the […]

Known Agenda (inside) beat Greatest Honour in this November maiden special weight at Aqueduct. He returns to Derby prep action this weekend in the Withers Stakes at Aqueduct. (Image: Coglianese Photo)

Weekend Stakes: Not Every Good 3-Year-Old Race is a Derby Prep

- 4 min read

We’ll see several Kentucky Derby hopefuls return this weekend when two East Coast Grade 3 Derby preps headline the stakes races. And, we’ll meet some Kentucky Oaks contenders in two Oaks preps – one on each coast. At the same time, we’ll see a Grade 2 for 3-year-olds that isn’t […]

Prime Factor became a prime Kentucky Derby futures bet after he and Irad Ortiz Jr. blitzed a Gulfstream Park maiden field by 7 3/4 lengths. (Image: Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photo)

Prime Factor Becomes Choice Derby Futures Pick After Debut Romp

- 3 min read

There were no high-profile stakes races for 2-year-olds last weekend, a fact that didn’t prevent high-profile movement in this week’s Kentucky Derby futures odds. The highest-profile movement came from a new entry to the front rank of Derby prospects, the aptly named Prime Factor. Before his 8-¾-length victory in his […]

Tampa Bay Downs plans to allow spectators when its 2020-21 meet opens next week. (Image: Tampa Bay Times)

With Precautions, Tampa Bay Downs Open to Fans for 2020-21 Meet

- 2 min read

With new health plans in place, Tampa Bay Downs announced Wednesday it will admit spectators for its 2020-21 winter/spring meet that begins Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving. This season is the track’s 95th-anniversary campaign. Headlining that campaign is the 41st Tampa Bay Derby, the track’s marquee event, and a […]

Tampa Bay Downs welcomes 12 new post times after the state granted the track an extension to May 27. (Image: Tampa Bay Downs)

Tampa Bay Downs Granted Racing Extension Into Late May

- 2 min read

Tampa Bay Downs became the latest American racetrack to extend its meet after Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering officials approved the track’s application for an extension to May 30. The track’s original closing date was May 3. After that date, Tampa Bay Downs will shift from a four-day schedule of […]

More racing coming at fans could be on the agenda if Tampa Bay Downs receives an extension of its season. (Image: SVPhotography)

Tampa Bay Downs Might Extend Racing Meet Well Into May

- 2 min read

Welcome news greeted horsemen as they read Friday’s overnight entries list for one of the few North American racetracks still running live racing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Attention horsemen: We are seriously considering extending the meet. We need everyone to adhere to the protocols for COVID-19 that were handed out […]