Tampa Bay Downs 2024-2025 Meet | Nov 20 - May 3

Tampa Bay Downs horsemen and horsewomen will be competing for more money than ever during the 2024-2025 meet which begins on Wednesday, Nov. 20 and runs through May 3, 2025. The meet will have an extra emphasis on raising the profile (and the bank accounts) of Florida-breds.

The Oldsmar oval has boosted purses for its schedule of 26 stakes races by $350,000 to $3,810,000, with $960,000 of the stakes total provided by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association (FTBOA) through its registered Florida-bred and Florida Sire Stakes (FSS) programs.

"We've always had competitive stakes races, and this extra money will really help," said Allison De Luca, the track's Director of Racing and Racing Secretary. "Our track surfaces, both the dirt and the turf, are big factors, and Autumn Charley, our stakes coordinator, works hard to get quality nominations and put together strong fields.

"We made a few changes schedule-wise a couple of years ago, and I think that has also helped," De Luca said.

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Overnight purses, which rose 36 percent last season to $211,535 per racing day, are starting at the same level as last year, thanks to a purse enhancement from the state of Florida administered through the Florida-Bred Incentive Fund-FTBOA. Under the provisions of the FBIF-FTBOA, eligible Florida-breds earn additional purse money in all maiden special weight races and allowance races by finishing first, second or third.

Average daily purses are projected to be between $245,000-$250,000 per day, with about $212,000 being earmarked for the overnight program.

"Tampa Bay Downs's well-placed purse increases combined with FTBOA-added incentives, all powered by recent Florida state legislation, helped drive a 33-percent increase in Florida-bred maiden special and allowance performers last race meet," said Lonny Powell, the CEO of the FTBOA. "It was an easy decision for FTBOA to continue these incentives into the new season."

With all that money waiting to be paid to state-breds and their rivals, Tampa Bay Downs is currently accepting stall applications for the upcoming meet, which runs through May 3. Stall applications are due by Monday, September 16.

Tampa Bay Downs OTB Stakes Schedule

The stakes schedule gets underway on Saturday, Dec. 7 with the $125,000, 6-furlong Inaugural Stakes for 2-year-olds and the $125,000, 6-furlong Sandpiper Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. Both races have been increased by $25,000 and are among 11 stakes that will be contested for more money than last season.

Ten stakes races have received $25,000 in open purse increases. Meanwhile, the FTBOA is adding $25,000 in new funding for eligible horses finishing first, second or third in the Grade III Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes and the Columbia Stakes on the turf, both on March 8, as well as the Wayward Lass on Jan. 11 and the Minaret Stakes on Feb. 8.

Those enhancements will give the FTBOA an involvement in all 26 stakes.

Other stakes to see purse increases include the Pasco Stakes and the Gasparilla Stakes, both on Jan. 11, from $125,000 to $150,000; the Leinster Turf Dash and the Leinster Lightning City Stakes on the turf, both on Feb. 22, from $100,000 to $125,000; and the Pelican Stakes on Feb. 8, from $100,000 to $125,000.

Total available stakes purses for the March 8 Festival Day program will be an all-time track record of $1,075,000, with the FTBOA contributing $175,000 of that amount for eligible runners. Total guaranteed purse money for the Grade III, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, the Grade II, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes on the turf and the Grade III, $200,000 Florida Oaks on the turf will remain the same.

Horses eligible for the FTBOA purse supplements include all horses foaled in Florida and registered with the FTBOA. To be eligible for FSS money, a horse must be registered with the FSS program and must be the offspring of a registered Florida stallion.

The FTBOA also provides full funding for both the $100,000 FTBOA Marion County Florida Sire Stakes and the $100,000 FTBOA City of Ocala Florida Sire Stakes, both on Dec. 14.

Whereas in past years FTBOA and FSS funds in Oldsmar stakes races, in most cases, have been paid only to the winner (provided it met the qualifying standards), all stakes this season (with the exception of the Florida Cup races on March 30) will distribute 70 percent of available funds to the winner if eligible, 20 percent to the runner-up and 10 percent to the third-place finisher.

The FTBOA has added a feature on its website that allows Florida Thoroughbred stakeholders to confirm a horse's current FTBOA Florida-bred registration status and Florida Sire Stakes eligibility, as well as to verify registered Florida stallions. The Registry Search can be found at www.ftboa.com/registrysearch and allows users to search and sort foaled-in-Florida Thoroughbreds by name, dam name, sire name or foal crop.

Trainers and Jockeys Return for Tampa Bay Downs Meet

Nov 18 - The return of Thoroughbred race horses to Florida's west coast - accompanied by dozens of trainers and jockeys who thrive on competition - enlivens the Bay Area's sporting scene each November.

But rarely has any opener been as eagerly anticipated as Wednesday's.

Despite two powerful hurricanes, Helene and Milton, that devastated large portions of the Gulf Coast and wreaked havoc on the track's barn area, the 2024-25 season is set to go on as scheduled, with a nine-race card set to begin at 12:40 p.m.

The co-features are the first race, a $53,000, 6-furlong maiden special weight event for fillies and mares 3-years-old-and-upward, and the sixth, a $53,000, 6-furlong conditional allowance/optional claiming race for horses 3-and-upward.

Admission is free, as it will be each Wednesday throughout the 89-day meet.

Credit the track's Maintenance Department, headed by Tom McLaughlin, for restoring the backside in time for horses to begin moving in two weeks ago. Standing water was pumped out, debris cleared and roofs and other structures repaired and rebuilt through a concerted, around-the-clock effort.

Both the main dirt track and the turf course (which, weather permitting, will see action on the second day of racing Saturday) largely escaped any damage, and McLaughlin and his crew have both surfaces in tip-top shape.

Familiar faces abound, with 12 of last season's 15 leading jockeys and 12 of the top 15 trainers set to return.

Heading the jockey ranks is Samy Camacho, who has won five Oldsmar riding titles, the last four in a row. Camacho, 36, is in position to join rival Daniel Centeno and retired great Mike Manganello as the Oldsmar oval's only six-time champions. Camacho is named to ride in eight races Wednesday.

It's possible Camacho's main rival will be 2023-24 runner-up Antonio Gallardo, another five-time Tampa Bay Downs champ. Gallardo, who set the track season record in 2014-15 with 147 winners, enjoyed an outstanding summer and early fall, winning the title at Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa., with 118 victories.

Besides Camacho, Gallardo and Centeno, past Oldsmar track champions Ronnie Allen, Jr., Jesus Castanon and Willie Martinez are set to compete this season.

Other top returning riders include Marcos Meneses and Melissa Iorio, who tied Centeno for fourth place last season with 41 winners; Pablo Morales; Jose Ferrer; Angel Arroyo; Jose Batista; Samuel Marin; Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr.; Alonso Quinonez; and Ademar Santos.

A notable newcomer is Joe Rocco, Jr., who has ridden more than 1,600 career winners. Rocco, who earned his first victory here in his career debut in 1999 at age 16 on Rainbow's Rajab for late trainer Sam Cronk, is named on three horses Wednesday (his father, retired jockey Joe Rocco, rode his first winner here in 1979 when the track was called Florida Downs).

On the training side, Kathleen O'Connell, who began her career in 1981, will be looking to defend her title. She sent out 54 winners last season and was the only trainer whose horses surpassed $1-million ($1,310,431) in purse earnings. Her victory total of 54 enabled her to end runner-up Gerald Bennett's incredible streak of eight consecutive training crowns.

O'Connell, who until recently was the sport's No. 1 woman trainer in total victories (Linda Rice currently leads her by 2,519-2,512), is gunning for her fourth Oldsmar title, having also won in 1998-99 and 2009-10, when she tied Jamie Ness at the top (Ness, a nine-time champ who sent out 23 winners here last season, has elected not to return).

Other trainers coming back include Bennett, who has saddled 4,170 winners; Jose Francisco D'Angelo and Gregg Sacco, who tied for third last season with 31 winners; Juan Arriagada, who was fifth with 27 winners and was the track's leading owner for the second year in a row; H. Graham Motion; Juan Carlos Avila; Eoin Harty; Saffie A. Joseph, Jr; Arnaud Delacour; Mike Dini; Derek Ryan; Tim Hamm; Anthony Granitz; David VanWinkle; Darien Rodriguez; Victor Carrasco, Jr.; Michael Simone; and Rohan Crichton.

Additions include Eric R. Reed, who won the 2022 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve with Rich Strike, and Jon Arnett, the 2022-23 Oldsmar runner-up who trained in Louisiana last winter.