BIG TRUCK FINDS A NEW GEAR IN TAMPA BAY DERBY
OLDSMAR, Fla. (March 15, 2008) A record crowd of 12,746 gathered at the Oldsmar oval today to witness Big Truck capture the 28th running of the Grade III $300,000 Tampa Bay Derby, defeating the 2007 Juvenile Champion War Pass. Big Truck is a New York-bred son of Hook and Ladder who is conditioned by Barclay Tagg for owner Eric Fein. This was the first Graded stakes win for the three-year-old colt who ran second to Fierce Wind in his last start in Tampa’s Sam F. Davis Stakes in February.
Big Truck stalked the pace set by eventual fifth-place finisher Gentleman James throughout the opening quarters, moved to the lead mid-stretch to battle with the Todd Pletcher trained Atoned to win by a neck. Dynamic Wayne rounded out the trifecta, which returned $439.20 for a $2 wager.
Winning owner Eric Fein said of his colt’s success, “We knew what we had in the mornings. He hasn’t proven it unbelievably in the afternoons, but we knew what we had. We were just waiting for that breakout day, and I guess today is that day. We were hoping. We were hoping. But WarPass is a great horse and we just thought that we had a great horse also. I certainly have Derby fever, but we have to make a decision for what’s best for the horse. We’re hoping the truck stops in Louisville.”
Winning jockey Eibar Coa said of Big Truck’s win, “I knew my horse was going to improve from the last race. I don’t know if we were going to be good enough to beat WarPass, but my goal, my hope, was that WarPass wouldn’t like the track today. When he finally got behind some horses for the first time, and he didn’t have room at the gate. Today, I had him beat."
Conditioner Barclay Tagg said that he had a simple strategy coming into the Tampa Bay Derby. “I told [Coa] to ride for second. I told him if something happens to WarPass, if you ride for second he’ll win the race. He felt the same way, and it kind of worked out that way. I mean, you just never know. Theoretically, you’re not going to beat WarPass going a mile and a sixteenth here. We thought he was a little less mature than some of our other horses are. It just took him a little while. I think this is his fourth start this year, so he’s done a lot, and he’s moved forward every time.”
Tagg continued, “Like I said, I told the jock to ride like he did last time (in the Sam F. Davis) and hope for second, because there was no way to beat WarPass unless he folded for some reason. Fortunately for us, he did. Unfortunately for Nick, I feel bad for him. He’s a wonderful horse.”
The Grade III $200,000 Florida Oaks for three-year-old fillies was captured by Aurora Springs Stable’s Awesome Chic, who ran the 1 1/16 main track event in 1:44.38. The Florida-bred daughter of Awesome Again had captured the $65,000 Gasparilla Stakes in January at the Oldsmar oval and was third in February’s OBS Sprint in her last start. Awesome Chic bested the Florida Oaks field of seven other fillies 4 ½ lengths to pay $28.20 for a $2 win wager. Elusive Lady was second and favorite My Baby Baby was third.
Jose Acero, owner of Aurora Springs Stable, said of his filly’s win, “She has the class, and today she showed she’s a tough contender for the distance – a very tough contender. God Will Bless us, and we will be [at Churchill Downs] on the 2nd of May, the day my father passed away 30 years ago.”
He said of Awesome Chic’s jockey Irwin Rosendo, “He knows better than anybody about that filly. If we go to the Oaks, he will be the rider.” Acero said that his filly is in top form, and that he hopes to point her to the Grade I Ashland Stakes at Keeneland and the Grade I Kentucky Oaks. “I don’t have a rush. Once a month is enough, then you have a good thoroughbred, like she is. … She’s a mile natural. She’s put on 50, 60 pounds of muscle, and you saw the difference. She’s unbeatable now.”
Karin Acero, Jose’s wife, added, “It’s a dream of his father because he started in horse racing as a kid with his father. They ran a number of years in the United States, so this is a dream of his father. Today he’s finally been able to make it come true. So it’s a very emotional moment for him.”
“This was the strategy that I told the jockey,” said Awesome Chic’s trainer Rafael Ramos. “ I told him that there was a lot of speed, to get on the rail and to go easy. I had no fear of the competition.” Winning jockey Irwin J. Rosendo said of his trip, “I like the rail, and the filly – she’s good inside. We won inside one race, so I said yeah. We saved ground.”
The Grade III Hillsborough Stakes was won by the 2006 Juvenile Filly Champion Dreaming of Anna, who also captured the Grade III Endeavour Breeders’ Cup at Tampa Bay Downs on Festival Preview Day earlier this season. She covered the 1 1/8 miles over yielding turf in the time of 1:52.18Lady Digby was second and Mary Louhana was third; post time favorite Lear’s Princess finished fourth.
Winning owner Frank C. Calabrese was on hand to welcome his four-year-old Rahy filly to the Winner’s Circle. He said that he was confident of his chances today, explaining, “I handicapped the race that way; I thought she was five or six lengths better than the field. “ He added that Dreaming of Anna’s future plans are uncertain. “We’ll see how she comes out of the race. We’ll give her another race or two and then breed her.”
Dreaming of Anna’s trainer Wayne Catalano said that he was unconcerned about the track’s yielding condition. “When I got here, I saw the weather was cleared up and we had a little sun and a breeze, and she was in the ninth race, and from my report, I thought [the turf course] was going to be in good shape because the rain we had all along, all week long wasn’t going to hurt it.” When asked if he anticipated the win, Catalano said, “Well the good thing for us, I don’t think anybody was in there that could push us, not really no speed. We got lucky the last two times we ran; there wasn’t any real good speed. So that helps you. I was very confident today. She was training unbelievable. That’s the reason why we came. I had a lot of doubters, I stuck out there myself and I believed in myself and my horse.”
Cornelio Velasquez, who piloted Dreaming of Anna to victory, said of his mount, “She was within herself and settled really nicely when we got away.” He added that the soft surface didn’t phase the filly. “No, she just runs her race on anything. She had no problem with the surface today she just settled into a nice pace and when I asked her she responded like I knew she would. She just took off coming into the stretch.” He added, “Off what she did for me today it will take a very special horse to beat her.”
The $75,000 Turf Dash was captured by local favorite Lookinforthesecret, who found his fifth straight victory and third Stakes victory over the Oldsmar oval in today’s race. Leading trainer Jamie Ness conditioned the six-year-old son of Cimarron Secret to victory for owner Balkrisna Sukharan. Lookinforthesecret finished the five furlong Turf Dash in the time of :57.70.
Leading Tampa Bay Downs rider Daniel Centeno had the return call to ride Lookinforthesecret. He commented, “We were a little worried about the grass today with all the rain yesterday and I know he’s been doing so great and the only thing we talked about was if the grass was too soft. He’s been doing so good, he’s a nice horse, and he did it again. I was a little worried in the end. I know sometimes that when it’s soft, he stops a little bit, but he tried so hard. At five-eighths on the grass, he you have to let him go. He won it two years in a row. He’s a nice horse, and he loves Tampa. He felt good. It was a little hot today, but he did great. He’s nice on both tracks. I like him a little more on the dirt. On the grass there are tougher races, but today he really tried hard.”
The thirteen race card produced a co-mingled all-source Festival Day handle of $10,282,952; it was the third highest in Tampa Bay Downs’s 82-year history. The on-track handle of $938,172 was the second largest amount ever recorded at the Oldsmar oval. Vice President and General Manager Peter Berube commented, “We were down approximately $600,000 overall; however, last year we were able to benefit from the cancelation of Aqueduct. So, overall, I’m very pleased with the outcome”
Racing resumes tomorrow, March 16 with an eleven race card. The Silks Poker Room is open daily from 12:30 PM through 12:30 AM, and The Downs Golf Practice Facility is open on Mondays from 10:00 AM through 10:00 PM and on Tuesdays through Sundays from 8:30 AM through 10:00 PM.