OLDSMAR OVAL THE PLACE TO BE FOR BREEDERS’ CUP ON FRIDAY, SATURDAY

By Mike Henry —-

OLDSMAR, FL. – Tampa Bay Downs is the destination of choice for serious horseplayers and casual bettors alike seeking to make a big score during the 40th annual Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Friday and Saturday at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.

Admission is free. Both the Riders Up! bar on the first floor of the Grandstand and the Legends Bar on the second floor will be open throughout both days of Breeders’ Cup competition. The Metro Deli, located on the first floor of the Grandstand, will be open Saturday.

Fourteen races at a variety of distances on the dirt and turf, worth a total of $28-million in purse money, will go a long way toward determining the sport’s 2023 divisional championships and, likely, Horse of the Year. The sport’s stars of tomorrow will be unveiled on “Future Stars Friday,” with five Breeders’ Cup races for 2-year-olds as the centerpiece of a 10-race card.

Post time for the first race Friday is 2:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, with the first Breeders’ Cup race, the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, slated as the fifth race, with a post time of 5 p.m. EDT.

Nine Breeders’ Cup races are scheduled Saturday as part of a 12-race Santa Anita card beginning at 1:10 EDT. The Breeders’ Cup action kicks off with the third race, the $1-million Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, around 2:30 EDT.

The $6-million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic is the ninth race on the card, with a 6:40 p.m. EDT post time.

With Tampa Bay Downs set to resume its 2023-2024 meet on Nov. 22, several trainers set to compete at the Oldsmar oval this season are poised to chase Breeders’ Cup glory.

Arnaud Delacour, who trained Chalon to a second-place finish in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs and A. P. Indian to a third-place effort in the 2016 TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita, has two runners in Friday’s ninth race, the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf: Air Recruit and Fulmineo.

Both 2-year-old colts are owned by Mark B. Grier, with Starlight Racing a partner in Fulmineo. Luis Saez is named to ride Air Recruit and Tyler Gaffalione will be aboard Fulmineo.

Oldsmar conditioner H. Graham Motion, who has four Breeders’ Cup winners to his credit, has entered Tok Tok in the Juvenile Turf for owners Wertheimer and Frere. John Velazquez is the colt’s jockey. Tampa Bay Downs trainer Victor Barboza, Jr., has entered owner Granpollo Stables LLC’s colt Grand Mo the First in the race. Hector Berrios has the riding assignment.

Another Tampa Bay Downs trainer, Eoin Harty (who won the 2001 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies with Tempera), has entered Godolphin, LLC’s colt Hedwig in Friday’s Juvenile Turf Sprint. The field for that race is limited to 12 runners, and Hedwig is first on the also-eligible list. Umberto Rispoli will ride if Hedwig gets in via a scratch.

On Saturday, three horses with Tampa Bay Downs stakes-winning credentials will compete for Breeders’ Cup riches. Oldsmar trainer Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.’s 4-year-old colt Skippylongstocking – who won the Grade III Michelob Ultra Challenger here on March 11 – is among eight runners set to challenge Horse of the Year candidate Cody’s Wish in the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Owned by Daniel Alonso, Skippylongstocking will be ridden by Gaffalione.

Shirl’s Speight, a 6-year-old horse owned by Charles E. Fipke and trained by Roger Attfield, is set to compete in the sixth race, the $2-million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile on the turf. The winner of the 2022 Grade III Tampa Bay Stakes, Shirl’s Speight will be ridden by Velazquez.

Two races later, 6-year-old gelding Get Smokin – winner of the Grade III Tampa Bay Stakes here in 2021 and second in the same race in 2022 – will compete in the $4-million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf. Owned by Ironhorse Racing Stable, BlackRidge Stables, T-N-T Equine Holdings, et al, Get Smokin is trained by Mark Casse and will be ridden by former Tampa Bay Downs jockey Fernando De La Cruz.

Another Joseph-trained entrant is 4-year-old filly Three Witches, scheduled to compete in the $1-million PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. Owned by e Five Racing Thoroughbreds, she will be ridden by Saez.