HIGH ROLLERS CONTEST IS JAN. 9; GRADE II WINNER ENTERED SATURDAY

By Mike Henry —-

OLDSMAR, FL. – Tampa Bay Downs will turn into a proving grounds for top handicappers on Saturday, Jan. 9 during the third annual High Rollers Handicapping Contest, which features a potential first-place prize of $20,000.

The contest is open to anyone willing to put up a $1,000 stake to compete (participants may bankroll up to two entries). Each entry requires a $1,000 deposit, of which $500 serves as the player’s wagering bankroll and $500 goes to the prize pool. Any dollar amount remaining in a player’s bankroll at the conclusion of the contest goes directly to them, meaning all of the prize money is returned to the entrants.

Wagers will be limited to win, place and/or show, with each player required to bet $100 on five separate races on the card. Anyone wagering on less or more than five races will be disqualified. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top five finishers, with $20,000 to the winner, or 50 percent of the prize pool if there are fewer than 100 entrants; $8,000/20 percent to the second-place finisher; $6,000/15 percent to third; $4,000/10 percent to fourth; and $2,000/5 percent to fifth.

Only races at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 9 will be included in the contest, and players must wager at the contest site. The first and second-place finishers will also claim a seat in either of the next two National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championships in Las Vegas (this year’s event is currently scheduled Aug. 27-29 at Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel & Casino).

Players can enter online the High Rollers Handicapping Contest at www.tampabaydowns.com . The entry deadline is noon on Jan. 9; players should plan on meeting in the VIP Room before noon for final instructions. For additional details, call (813) 855-4401, extension 1368.

Around the oval. Antonio Gallardo rode three winners today. He was aboard 3-year-old Florida-bred filly Baby Bee Merry in the third race for breeder-owner Ballybrit Stable and trainer Mike Dini. Gallardo added the fourth race on Praetorian, a 6-year-old gelding owned by Zolene Voight Knott and trained by Jon Arnett.

Gallardo ended a productive New Year’s Day performance in the ninth and final race on the turf with a victory on Act Like Artie, a 4-year-old filly owned by Vince Campanella and trained by Darien Rodriguez. Act Like Artie was claimed from the race for $16,000 by new owner-trainer M. A. Ferraro.

In today’s featured second race, the New Year’s Day Overnight Handicap on the turf, now-6-year-old mare Irony of Reality rallied under a well-timed ride by Ademar Santos to defeat betting favorite Morning Molly by a head. Now 8-for-21 lifetime, Irony of Reality completed the mile-and-a-sixteenth distance in 1:41.89.

Ron G. Potts trains Irony of Reality for owner-trainer The Elkstone Group.

Jockey Daniel Centeno won the fifth race on the turf on now-3-year-old colt Jimmy P, giving the Venezuelan-born rider 2,999 victories in North America. Centeno won 847 races in his homeland. Jimmy P is a homebred racing for owners Madaket Stables and Head of Plains Partners and trained by H. Graham Motion.

In the seventh race, a $22,500 maiden special weight race at a mile-and-an-eighth on the turf for newly turned 3-year-olds, Tapwood wore down pace-setter Bugle of War through the stretch to post a nose victory in 1:50.65. Hector Diaz, Jr., rode the winning colt, a son of Tapit-Better Lucky, by Ghostzapper, for breeder-owner Godolphin and trainer Michael Stidham.

Thoroughbred racing continues Saturday with a 10-race card beginning at 12:12 p.m. The featured race is the sixth, an allowance/$32,000 optional claiming contest on the turf for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward. The morning-line favorite in the eight-horse field at 2-1 is New and Improved, a 5-year-old mare making her first start since the 2019 Grade II Mrs. Revere Stakes at Churchill Downs.

New and Improved is owned by Klaravich Stables and trained by Chad Brown. She will be ridden by Antonio Gallardo. Previous to the Mrs. Revere, New and Improved had won the Grade II Sands Point Stakes on the grass at Belmont.

Tampa Bay Downs currently races on a Wednesday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule. 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.