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Press Release
SEASON’S LEADERS FIND SUMMER SUCCESS
7/14/2010
By Lonnie Herman
Daniel Centeno, leading rider at Tampa Bay Downs this past season with 133 wins, has refused to cool off despite moving north to compete at Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Through July 14, with more than half of the five month meet in the books, Centano leads all riders with 45 wins in 176 starts, for a 26% winning percentage, including four three-winner days. Additionally, he has hit the board with his mounts an astonishing 61% of the time.
“To win the riding title at Presque Isle in our first time here would be special,” Centeno said. “This is my first time riding on a synthetic track and I like it.”
After the meet at Presque Isle concludes, Centeno plans to move his tack to Calder and then take a week or two off before returning to Tampa Bay Downs.
“Tampa Bay is my home track,” Centeno explained. “I’m looking forward to getting back home.”
Leading the trainer standings at Presque Isle is a familiar face to Tampa Bay Downs patrons, Jamie Ness. Ness, who finished in a tie for the top training spot in Tampa this past season, is riding comfortably high at Presque Isles with 40 winners, 25 more than runner-up Gerald Bennett has managed.
Ness, a native of South Dakota, has only been training full-time since 2004, but he has learned how to pick his spots. Taking full advantage of the proximity of tracks in the Pennsylvania/Ohio region, Ness has also chalked up 30 winners to date at Penn National in Grantville, Pennsylvania and an additional 19 first-place finishes (and 89% of his starters in the money) at Thistledowns, in Cleveland.
“When you compete at three different tracks like we are, I have to rely on my assistants and the help we have in place,” Ness reported. The trainer handles entries and training charts for all three locations from his base in Presque Isle. Despite his success around the country, Ness is looking forward to the winter meet at Tampa. “Tampa Bay Downs is still my favorite track to compete at,” Ness said.
Another popular local rider is closing out a successful meet at Colonial Downs in Virginia. With only three racing days remaining, Rosemary Homeister, Jr. is in a tie with Eric Camacho atop the jockey standings for the meet with 35 wins, including four winners on July 7th. Her quest is further complicated because she is serving a five-day suspension which ends Saturday.
“It kind of deflates you,” Homeister said on her blog, “but it will make us come back stronger and fight harder to get what we want - WINS! I'll take the days and continue working in the mornings to maintain my business.”
If Homeister, Jr. can grab the title, it will mark the second consecutive year that she will have claimed the top jockey spot at Colonial.
Watch for further updates about Tampa Bay Downs riders and trainers in this space.
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