IGNORE THAT THERMOMETER – JOCKEYS RACE HEATS UP AS GALLARDO WINS 4

By Mike Henry —-

OLDSMAR, FL. – Antonio Gallardo won on four consecutive mounts today, two for trainer Chad Brown, to move into a tie with Samy Camacho atop the Tampa Bay Downs jockeys standings with 31 victories apiece. Camacho rode two winners on the card.

Gallardo’s four-bagger kicked off with the fifth race, which he won on the Brown-trained 5-year-old gelding Trade Deadline. Klaravich Stables is the owner. The Klaravich-Brown-Gallardo troika scored again in the seventh on the turf, impressively, with 4-year-old first-time starter Principled Stand blowing away his competition by 7 ¼ lengths in 1:35.57.

Displaying his proclivity for winning races in bunches, Gallardo swept the late daily double, next winning the eighth on 4-year-old Florida-bred colt for owner Six SandBaggers Stables and trainer Baltazar Galvan. He added the ninth and final race on the turf on Princess Nina, a 3-year-old filly owned by David Gruskos and trained by Jose H. Delgado.

Gallardo, a product of Jerez de la Frontera in Cadiz, Spain, has 1,986 career victories on this side of the ocean.

Camacho won the second race on 3-year-old colt Broadway, a $485,000 yearling purchase, for owner Robert S. Evans and trainer Christophe Clement. Camacho added the fourth race aboard 6-year-old Florida-bred mare Nowitna River for owner Averill Racing and trainer Gerald Bennett.

Nowitna River was claimed from the race for $5,000 by her new owner, trainer Anthony Granitz.

Around the oval. Thoroughbred racing continues Saturday with a 10-race card beginning at 12:12 p.m. The feature is the fifth race, a $27,500 maiden special weight contest for 3-year-old fillies sprinting 5 ½ furlongs. The race is a bettor’s delight: only one of the eight entrants, Florida-bred Bright and Shiny, has ever started.

The 3-1 morning-line favorite is Beachside Bunny, who is making her career debut for owner John Terlep and trainer Jordan Blair. Jesus Castanon has the riding assignment. Also well-regarded, at least by the odds maker, is Florida-bred Walks Like a Lady, set at 7-2. She is owned by Darsan, Inc., and trained by Kathleen O’Connell and will be ridden by Harry Hernandez.

A pair of turf allowance races add spice to the card. The sixth race, a conditional allowance/optional claiming race at 1 mile on the turf, has drawn nine 3-year-old colts and geldings, headed by 3-1 shot Major Frontier. The eighth race, also at a mile, is for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward. The 4-year-old filly Mary’s France is the morning-line favorite at 3-1.

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.

High Rollers Handicapping Contest is Saturday. Players planning to compete in Saturday’s third annual High Rollers Handicapping Contest may enter online at www.tampabaydowns.com

Anyone choosing to enter at the track Saturday must register online or make a cash payment upon arrival at the VIP Room. The entry deadline is noon and all participants should plan on meeting in the VIP Room before then for final instructions.

The High Rollers Handicapping Contest features a potential first-place prize of $20,000. Participants may bankroll up to two entries. Players must put up a $1,000 stake per entry to compete, with $500 serving as the player’s wagering bankroll and $500 going 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 Saturday 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).

Call (813) 855-4401, extension 1368 for more information.