TRACK CLOSED SUNDAY; RACING RETURNS WEDNESDAY; GALLARDO WINS 3

By Mike Henry —-

OLDSMAR, FL. – Tampa Bay Downs will be closed all day Easter Sunday, giving horsemen and horsewomen, jockeys, backstretch workers, track officials and employees a chance to celebrate the holiday as they see fit.

The track will reopen Monday for simulcast wagering, with The Downs Golf Practice Facility and The Silks Poker Room also swinging (or chipping, if you prefer) back into action. The golf driving range opens at 8:30 a.m. on Monday and The Silks Poker Room begins play at 9:30 a.m.

The dark day comes after a month laden with excitement, with fans showing their appreciation for the elevated quality of competition by setting two track handle records in March.

All-sources wagering on the March 6 Festival Day 41 Presented by Lambholm South program, which featured Helium’s victory under jockey Jose Ferrer in the Grade II Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby and Micheline’s triumph in the Grade II Hillsborough Stakes, was an all-time track record of $15,229,336.

Three weeks and a day later, on Sunday, March 28, the 18th annual Florida Cup Day program generated an all-sources handle of $7,732,584, the most in that event’s history.

With the hope and expectation that many of the COVID-19 restrictions currently in place will be lifted by the fall, if not earlier, everyone at Tampa Bay Downs is optimistic they have made enough of a positive impression on new visitors to ensure their return when most of the Tampa Bay area’s myriad entertainment options return to pre-pandemic levels.

On today’s card, five-time Oldsmar jockey champion Antonio Gallardo rode three winners, inching closer to 2018-2019 champion Samy Camacho in this season’s standings. Camacho, who won one race, has an 88-84 lead.

Each of Gallardo’s victories came on the turf. He captured the first race on Abby Hatcher, a 4-year-old filly owned by David Meah and trained by his wife, Anna Meah. Gallardo added the sixth race with Fall Moon, a 4-year-old filly owned by Al Moorhouse and trained by James Gulick.

Fall Moon was claimed from the victory for $16,000 by trainer Tim Padilla for new owner Barbara Jean Waite.

In the 10th and final race, the Lambholm South Race of the Week, Gallardo piloted 3-year-old colt Finding Freedom to a come-from-behind victory. The first-time starter is owned by Niall J. Brennan and Michael J. Ryan and trained by Chad Brown.

Also today, owner-trainer Ron G. Potts and jockey Huber Villa-Gomez combined for back-to-back victories. They won the seventh race on the main track with Silver Edge, a 4-year-old gelding who defeated Broadway Pete by a nose after a riveting stretch duel. Potts didn’t breathe much easier in the eighth on the turf, as 6-year-old mare Morgan’s Z Va and Villa-Gomez staved off Mad Grace by a neck.

Thoroughbred racing at Tampa Bay Downs continues Wednesday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:15 p.m. Next Saturday is Oldsmar Cup Day, recognizing the longstanding, fruitful relationship between the city and the racetrack. Oldsmar residents will be admitted free with proof of residency.

Over the next four weeks, racing will be conducted each Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the May 2 card Fan Appreciation Day. There will be free Grandstand admission and parking, and beers, sodas and Nathan’s Hot Dogs will be sold at discounted prices.

The May 2 card will also mark the unofficial conclusion of the Oldsmar oval’s 95th anniversary season. The meeting proper ends Wednesday, June 30, which is also the first day of the ninth annual, two-day Summer Festival of Racing. The July 1 Summer Festival card is officially the first day of the 2021-2022 meeting, which is expected to resume in late November.