Tampa Bay Downs set records during its recently concluded winter/spring meet.
During the Oldsmar, Florida, track’s 82nd season, a new record of $321,963,460
was set for
out-of-state handle, marking the seventh consecutive meet in which the out-of
state handle has increased. Tampa Bay Downs also
boasted its highest non-Festival Day co-mingled handle on May 3, Kentucky Derby
Day, when $7,499,020
was wagered on the Tampa Bay Downs races.
The all-source handle stayed flat from
the 2006-2007 racing season with an average of $4,084,508 wagered on the Tampa
Bay Downs product daily. It is only the second time in the oval’s history that
daily all-source handle exceeded the $4 million mark.
“I believe that the series of races
of the Festival Days which led to the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) and the Florida Oaks
(G3) accounted for a higher caliber of racing at Tampa Bay Downs,” Racing Secretary Allison DeLuca
said. “Horsemen raced an average of 9.41 horses per race this year,
up significantly from last season’s 8.85 starters per race. Additionally,
horsemen were awarded record purse payouts totaling an average of $167,167
daily. This is the 12th consecutive year that our purses have increased.”
Tampa’s past season also included a record-high stakes program of more than $2.6 million
divided among 26 races throughout the 94-day meet.
“Trainers and owners are
drawn to Tampa Bay Downs year after year due to our ever-increasing purse
structure in stakes and undercard racing as well as the consistency that our
main track and turf course offer,” DeLuca added.
The advent of Cotillion Festival Day on December 29 and Skyway Festival Day on January 19 as well as
the February 16 Festival Preview Day and
March 15 Festival Day all contributed to the record out-of state handle plus
gains in on-track attendance for those events. On Festival Day, Tampa Bay Downs
boasted a new track record attendance of 12,746 fans as well as a handle of
$10,282,952, the third highest in the track’s 82-year history.
“Mirroring national trends, the on-track handle at Tampa Bay Downs was down
approximately 10 percent for the recently concluded meet,” said Peter Berube, vice
president and general manager of Tampa Bay Downs. “The wagering decreased due to
a variety of circumstances that includes 10 fewer total races and 23 less turf
races plus the general softness of the Florida economy. This statistic includes
three races which were lost from a single day’s card due to torrential
rain.
“Attendance at Tampa Bay Downs also stayed steady with an
average of 3,398 fans enjoying the Oldsmar oval, and I am pleased by how the
season progressed overall. The Silks Poker Room in its first inception as a
year-round entity at the track also helped mitigate the decline in on-track
handle and contributed to the record-breaking purse structure.”
Venezuelan-native Daniel Centeno, 37, earned the title of leading jockey for
the meet after setting a new record for
amount of wins for a rider in one season. Centeno scored 144 victories and
earned $2,145,528 in purses, besting his own record
125 trips to the winner’s circle last season. He’ll spend the summer in the Monmouth Park riding
colony.
Leading apprentice rider Jorge Monserrate Jr. rode two winners on the day broke
his maiden, paving his way to being the top apprentice at Tampa Bay Downs. Monserrate finished the season with nine wins to his credit and has moved his
tack to Charles Town for the summer months.
Trainer Jamie Ness earned his first training title in the 2006-07 campaign.
The South Dakota native set a new record for number of wins in a
season with 68 victories to his credit and $959,710 in purses. Ness’s record number of wins
includes four stakes victories, including the $65,000 Pelican S., $75,000 Super
S. and $75,000 Turf Dash with Lookinforthesecret (Cimarron Secret), whom the
trainer conditioned from the
claiming ranks into stakes company. Ness will train horses at Canterbury Park for the summer racing season.
Owner Balkrisna Sukharan finished the 2007-2008 Tampa Bay Downs racing season
with 19 wins, and $357,770 in purses, to be awarded top owner honors. He started riding horses in Guyana
when he was 12, and has owned and raced horses in the South American country.
However, when he moved to the United States in 1995 he was talked out of buying
Thoroughbreds. Eventually teaming up with Ness, Sukharan bought
Lookinforthesecret for $12,500.
“I’ve always loved horses, but the trainers I talked to said
it was too expensive and they really discouraged me, but I always kept thinking
about it and then I met Jamie,” Sukharan explained. “Probably three weeks later I bought
‘Secret.”
Since his initial investment of $12,500, Sukharan hasn’t had to spend any
money out of his own pocket and now has a string of 10 horses.