OLDSMAR, Fla. (February 4, 2010) Musket Man, winner of the 2009 Grade III Tampa Bay Derby, Grade II Illinois Derby and third place finisher in both the Grade I Kentucky Derby and Grade I Preakness Stakes will make his first start of the 2010 season in the $75,000 Super Stakes this Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs.
The four-year-old Yonaguska colt has been working well coming up to the Super Stakes, recording bullet workouts over the Tampa Bay Downs surface on January 21, December 24 and December 12 for owner Eric Fein and trainer Derek Ryan. The colt will have the services of Daniel Centeno, who rode him to victory in the 2009 edition of the Tampa Bay Derby.
Joining Musket Man in the Super Stakes is Guam Typhoon, a four-year-old Distorted Humor colt owned by Elaine Jones and trained by Ian Wilkes. Guam Typhoon has accrued $149,370 in his nine race career and won his last start in an $80,000 allowance optional claiming event at Churchill Downs. Also slated to run in the Super Stakes is War Fighter, who was runner-up in the 2009 edition of the Grade II Ohio Derby and was most recently third in January 10’s Pelican Stakes here at the Oldsmar oval. The Florida-bred Repent gelding is under the care of past leading Tampa Bay Downs trainer Jamie Ness and carries the colors of Jagger, Inc.
Finish Lines… Trainer Benny Feliciano and his son, jockey Ricardo Feliciano, scored two wins on today’s program. The duo got their first victory of the day with Ben’s Bullet, a four-year-old Red Bullet gelding bred in Florida by owner Bruce Tallisman. The Felicianos scored again with Koda; the Hennessy gelding was bred in Florida by Thomas Croley and is owned by Benny Feliciano.
Tampa Bay Downs is now offering reserved finish-line seats for both Festival Preview Day on February 13, 2010 and Festival Day on March 13, 2010. Tickets are $15 each and include a reserved finish-line seat, admission, a program and a premium giveaway. For more information or to make reservations, please contact the Tampa Bay Downs Admissions Department at 813.866.4401 ext.1350.
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Racing resumes tomorrow, February 5 with a ten race card; there is a Pick Six carryover of $7,873.59. Every live racing weekday, the Oldsmar oval offers free Grandstand admission and $1.25 beer specials from 11 AM through 3 PM at concession stands trackwide. The Silks Poker Room is open daily from 12:30 PM through 12:30 AM; 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.