FLORIDA CUP TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED ONLINE AND AT CUSTOMER SERVICE

By Mike Henry —-

OLDSMAR, FL. – Tickets to the 18th annual Florida Cup on Sunday, March 28 are being sold online on the track website, www.tampabaydowns.com , and at the Customer Service booth on the first floor of the Grandstand on racing days. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, fans must have a pre-purchased ticket to attend.

The Florida Cup, which was cancelled last year due to the worldwide pandemic, brings together many of the outstanding registered Florida-bred horses in training to compete at various distances on both the main dirt track and the turf course. Six $110,000 events comprise the stakes menu, with three apiece on the main and the turf.

The main-track stakes are the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore, for 3-year-olds going 7 furlongs; the Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies, for 3-year-old fillies at 7 furlongs; and the NYRABETS Sprint, for horses 4-years-old-and-upward at 6 furlongs.

The turf stakes include the Equistaff Sophomore Turf, for 3-year-olds at a mile-and-a-sixteenth; the Pleasant Acres Stallions Distaff Turf, for fillies and mares 3-and-upward at a mile-and-a-sixteenth; and the Grey Goose Turf Classic, for horses 4-and-upward at a mile-and-an-eighth.

General admission tickets are $10, plus a service fee if purchased online. Picnic Area tables are also available for $50, which covers the cost of admission for six fans.

Recent Florida Cup Day winners include 2019 Sophomore Turf winner Global Access, who went on that year to win three Grade III races for owner Live Oak Plantation and trainer Michael Trombetta; 2018 Sprint winner and 2016 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore winner Imperial Hint, a winner of four Grade I races and more than $2.2-million in earnings for owner Raymond Mamone and trainer Luis Carvajal, Jr.; and 2017 Turf Classic and 2015 Sophomore Turf winner World Approval, who went on to win the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Mile, be voted Champion Turf Male and earn more than $3-million for owner Live Oak Plantation and trainer Mark Casse.

Call (813) 855-4401 for additional details.

Around the oval. Leading jockey Samy Camacho rode back-to-back winners today. Camacho won the seventh race on the turf on King Andres, a 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding bred and owned by SJT Racing Stables and trained by Juan A. Rodriguez. Camacho added the eighth race with 3-year-old Florida-bred filly Smokin Class, owned by Winning Stables and trained by leading conditioner Gerald Bennett.

Smokin Class was claimed from the race for $16,000 by trainer Darien Rodriguez for new owners Acclaimed Racing Stable and Gumpster Stable.

Trainer Maria Bowersock sent out two winners. She captured the sixth race with Rock the Park, a 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding owned by Jerry Campbell and ridden by Ronnie Allen, Jr. Bowersock added the ninth and final race on the turf with Italian Justice, a 4-year-old filly owned by Mark Hoffman and ridden by Geovany Garcia.

Thoroughbred racing continues Friday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:15 p.m. The feature race is the 6th, a $31,250 allowance/$75,000 optional claiming event for 3-year-old fillies sprinting 6 furlongs. The morning-line favorite at 9-5 is Make a Scene, who is trained by Tim Hamm. Hector Diaz, Jr., has been named to ride.

Tampa Bay Downs races on a Wednesday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule, except for Easter Sunday, April 4, when the track is closed.

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.