TAMPA BAY: REMEDY FOR UNWANTED AGING: CARRY A FAST 2-YEAR-OLD IN BARN

By Mike Henry —-

OLDSMAR, FL. – Two races with rich histories, the 35th annual Inaugural for males and the 41st annual Sandpiper for fillies, launch the 2020-2021 stakes schedule on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs.

Both races are for 2-year-olds sprinting 6 furlongs and offer a guaranteed $100,000 apiece in purse money, with the Inaugural the third race and the Sandpiper the ninth race. The first of 10 races on the Cotillion Festival Day program is at 12:10 p.m.

All 10 races are for 2-year-olds set to turn 3 on Jan. 1, with 114 total entries offering extreme betting value in every race.

Racing fans visiting Tampa Bay Downs have an additional treat in store with the simulcast of the Grade I, $250,000 Cigar Mile Handicap from Aqueduct in New York, scheduled between the eighth race at Tampa Bay Downs and the Inaugural. The race marks the return to competition after seven months off of Grade II Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby winner King Guillermo, who will be facing older horses for the first time.

King Guillermo, who is owned by the Victoria’s Ranch enterprise of former major league baseball slugger Victor Martinez and trained by Juan Carlos Avila, will be ridden by Jose Ortiz.

Six horses are slated to face the starter in the Inaugural, headed by the 2-1 morning-line favorite, Florida-bred gelding Poppy’s Pride. He has won his last three starts in front-running style, including the Juvenile Sprint Stakes on Nov. 14 at Gulfstream Park West.

The leading jockey at Tampa Bay Downs, Samy Camacho, has been named to ride Poppy’s Pride for breeder-owner Stonehedge, LLC and trainer Michael Yates.

Recent winners of the Inaugural include Gladiator King (2018), a multiple Grade/Group III winner with career earnings of almost $650,000; stakes-record holder Catalina Red (2014), who won the Grade II Churchill Downs Stakes as a 4-year-old; and Cool Cowboy (2013), a multiple Group III winner in the United Arab Emirates who won almost $850,000 on the racetrack.

Daniel Centeno, who is scheduled to ride Florida-bred colt Gatsby for owner Arindel and trainer Juan Alvarado, has won the last three editions of the Inaugural and four of the last six.

The Sandpiper looks like one of the most wide-open races of the day, with 13 fillies entered. The 7-2 morning-line favorite is Gulf Coast, who won her only career start on Nov. 10 in a 6-furlong maiden special weight race at Indiana Grand Race Course. Antonio Gallardo is the jockey for owner WinStar Stablemates Racing LLC and trainer Rodolphe Brisset.

Avila, the trainer of King Guillermo, has horses entered in both Tampa Bay Downs stakes. His colt Al Heybay, to be ridden by Joseph Trejos, enters the Inaugural off an impressive maiden victory on Sept. 19 at Gulfstream Park. Avila has entered two-time winner Wholebodemeister in the Sandpiper. She will be piloted by Camacho, the jockey for Avila on King Guillermo in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby.

Past Sandpiper winners include Lucrezia (2019), who added the Suncoast Stakes here last season as a 3-year-old and is Grade II-placed; R Angel Katelyn (2016), a five-time stakes winner; Dr. Zic (2008), who won the Grade I Vinery Madison Stakes at Keeneland as a 4-year-old; and multiple-Grade III winner and millionaire Ebony Breeze (2003), campaigned by the late George Steinbrenner’s Kinsman Stable.

Centeno, who is set to ride Hara for trainer Antonio Sano, has won the last two editions of the Sandpiper and three of the last five.

“10 Days of Festivus Challenge” set to begin. The deadline to enter the “10 Days of Festivus Challenge” online handicapping contest is 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, the first day of the event. There is no charge to enter and participants get to pit their handicapping skills against other bettors from across the country.

Players will be required to make mythical win-place-show wagers on their selections each day. The online contest, which runs through Dec. 24, awards $1,000 to the winner and $500 to the runner-up.

Each entrant gets a free lifeline to start and the chance to purchase additional lifelines during the contest. Two lifelines can also be purchased upon sign-up for $5 each. Past participants in the “10 Days of Festivus Challenge” must establish a new account.

For a full set of rules and to register, visit http://www.festivuschallengereturns.com/www.festivuschallengereturns.com on the Internet.

Around the oval. Trainers Jose H. Delgado and Mike Dini each sent out two winners today. Delgado won the first race with Lights Down Low, a 4-year-old Florida-bred filly owned by Carole Star Stables and ridden by Isaac Castillo. Delgado also won the fourth race with Purimeter, an 8-year-old gelding owned by K12, LLC and ridden by Antonio Gallardo.

Both of Dini’s victories came with horses owned by major client Ballybrit Stable. They teamed to win the second race with 2-year-old Florida-bred colt Shoo Shine, ridden by Jose A. Batista, and also won the fifth on the turf with 6-year-old gelding Bird’s Eye View, ridden by Jesus Castanon.

Batista added a winner in the third race on the turf with Aloha Kitten, a 3-year-old filly owned and trained by Juan Arriagada. Castanon notched his second victory of the day in the sixth race on 5-year-old horse Indimaaj for owner Lea Farms and trainer Jeff Engler.

Tampa Bay Downs currently races on a Wednesday-Friday-Saturday schedule, with Sundays added to the mix on Dec. 20. Additionally, Tampa Bay Downs will conduct a Thursday card on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, and be closed Christmas, Dec. 25.

Otherwise, the track is open every day for simulcast wagering, no-limits action and tournament play in The Silks Poker Room and golf fun and instruction at The Downs Golf Practice Facility.