Samy Camacho received a text Friday morning from Claude “Shug” McGaughey, III offering valuable advice on how to win the ninth race at Tampa Bay Downs aboard the Hall of Fame trainer’s 3-year-old colt Deuteronomy.
“He told me to turn the horse loose from the pony (during the post parade) and warm him up pretty good,” said Camacho, who was riding Deuteronomy for the first time in his three-race career. “Then he said to get a good position early, see where you are and. … you know what you have to do.”
Earlier in his career, Camacho might have been nervous riding a 1-2 favorite for a trainer of McGaughey’s stature. But as a 36-year-old veteran with four consecutive Tampa Bay Downs riding titles and five overall under his belt, Camacho knows why he was chosen for the assignment.
“Samy is making things happen,” said his agent, Mike Moran, after Camacho was announced as the first recipient of the Mother’s Jockey of the Month Award. Located near the racetrack at 12227 W. Linebaugh Avenue, Mother’s Restaurant opens at 10 a.m. each day, with food and drink specials and a homemade brunch each Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., along with live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights (visit www.mothersfl.com on the Internet for details).
The Mother’s Jockey of the Month presentation will take place during Saturday’s race card.
Moran, a former jockey, may be as amazed as anyone by Camacho’s quick start to the new meet. With 14 winners over the first six racing days after capturing a pair today, Camacho already has an eight-victory margin from runner-up Pablo Morales.
Moran will be the first to tell you Camacho is doing all the little things correctly that improve a jockey’s chances for success. “He’s breaking out of the gate good, he’s getting to the best part of the track and he’s saving enough (of his horses’ energy) for the end of a race. All those little variables make you the best jockey at the track,” Moran said.
In the race aboard Deuteronomy, a 1-mile turf event for maidens (non-winners), Camacho settled his mount about 3-4 lengths behind the leaders heading up the backstretch. Feeling confident, and secure that the warmup had achieved its objective of focusing Deuteronomy on competing, Camacho studied the landscape a couple of seconds before unleashing his move.
“I felt like I was going to win from the 5/8-pole (5 furlongs to go) because I had a bunch of horse in my hands, and I knew when it was time to go he was going to give me a kick. When I made my move to the outside and asked him – whoosh! – he exploded,” Camacho said.
The Venezuela product finished the race with a flourish, urging in tandem with his mount’s effort to post a ¾-length margin from Sebastianthe First.
Camacho began the following day’s card by winning the third race on the turf on 5-year-old mare Adaay In Asia. With his next assignment two races later, Camacho took part in another activity he loves: interacting with Tampa Bay Downs fans on his walk back to the jockeys’ room after a victorious outing.
“I like to be friends with everyone. I like to have everybody on my side,” said Camacho, who rode four winners on the Nov. 20 Opening Day card and repeated that feat a week later. “I think people took about 30 pictures with me after that race (on Adaay In Asia). I feel good when I do that.”
But Camacho, a showman at heart who has been known to turn a winner’s-circle celebration into a one-act play, is determined not to let attention from spectators, bettors and the media distract him from his goals: winning a sixth Oldsmar jockeys championship, which would tie Daniel Centeno and Mike Manganello for the all-time track record, and riding a lot more races for the likes of McGaughey in the process.
And, although the Grade III, $400,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby is still more than three months away, earning a bookend to the trophy he won for capturing the 2020 edition on King Guillermo is also an objective.
Those desires help explain, in part, why Camacho has driven to Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach the last two Sundays to compete. He had a pair of thirds there Sunday, for trainers Saffie Joseph, Jr., and James Toner, and won the previous Sunday on 7-year-old gelding Yamato for Michael Maker.
Moran said Camacho worked four or five horses here last Sunday before getting in his car for the trip south.
“He’s always been a happy-go-lucky guy, but you can see now how focused he’s become. It just seems like his mindset is ‘I want to be leading jockey again, and I’m not going to make any mistakes on the way,’ ” Moran said. “He wants to get to the track early and go to work, and he’s going to the gym, eating healthy and taking care of himself.
“As long as he keeps doing what he’s doing, he’s not going to show any weakness.”
Moran also represents Samuel Marin, and he thinks Camacho’s countryman’s success at Monmouth Park during the summer might have further ignited Camacho’s inner flame. Marin, 23, finished third in the Monmouth Park standings with 40 winners, six more than Camacho.
“I think that was a wakeup call for Samy,” Moran said. “As an agent, I’m going to be fair with both of my riders, and it’s whoever a trainer wants on their horse. If they want Samy Camacho they’re going to get him, and if they want Samuel Marin they’re going to get him. And if Samy gets two calls, I’ll try to put him on the one I think is best and try to get Marin on the other.
“Samy is not always going to get on the best horse, but he wants to be the best jockey and the best person he can be.”
With inspiration from his sons Samir, 10, and David, 5, and a positive outlook on his job, his sport and life in general, Camacho believes he is only now starting to fully realize God’s plan for him, and that a big part of it revolves around making others happy via his talent.
“I feel I’m doing everything right. Two or three months ago I had some personal stuff going on, but I got it fixed and I’m doing the things I have to do,” Camacho said. “I believe in myself, and Mike is pushing me every day to get better.
“To me, every horse I ride in every race, I look at is as a stakes race. I have to try 100 percent on every horse, for every owner I ride for.”
Around the oval. Camacho earned his first victory today in the first race on Zip Code Envy, a 4-year-old filly owned by Charles D. Nielsen and trained by Jon Arnett. Camacho added the sixth on God’s Timing, a 3-year-old colt owned and trained by Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
Arnett also won the eighth race with 4-year-old filly Broken Hearts Bay, owned by NBS Stable and ridden by Antonio Gallardo.
Jose Ferrer continues to defy Father Time, winning today on both of his mounts.
Ferrer, 60, won the second race on Happy Ride, a 5-year-old Florida-bred mare owned by Amarie Rosa and trained by Laura Cazares. Ferrer added the fifth race on the turf aboard Era, a 3-year-old filly owned by Lawrence M. Karp and trained by Dennis Ward.
Antonio Gallardo won both halves of the late daily double. In addition to his victory on Broken Hearts Bay, Gallardo won the ninth race on the turf with Seat At the Table, a 3-year-old Florida-bred filly owned by Jose Birriel, Jr., and trained by Mark Casse.
Thoroughbred racing continues Friday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:35 p.m. Tampa Bay Downs is open every day except Dec. 25, Christmas Day, for simulcast wagering, no-limits action and tournament play in The Silks Poker Room and golf fun and instruction at The Downs Golf Practice Facility.
The Silks Poker Room is conducting a Holiday Food Drive for needy local families through Oldsmar Cares, a nonprofit organization providing financial assistance, food and clothing to those in need in the Oldsmar area.
Canned items such as vegetables, fruit, meat, tuna and beans, as well as oatmeal, peanut butter, jelly, rice, pasta, pasta sauce, macaroni and cheese and soup, are in high demand.
During the next couple of weeks, there will be events on The Silks Poker Room calendar that will be tied in to the Holiday Food drive. All items collected with be donated to Oldsmar Cares and distributed to local families.
Tampa Bay Downs and The Silks Poker Room are also participating in the 2024 “Spread the Love” Kids Christmas Toy Giveaway conducted by Oldsmar Cares. Patrons are encouraged to donate new, unwrapped toys to brighten the spirits of local children.
Small trees will be placed in The Silks Poker Room and The Legends Bar with hanging ornaments featuring a QR code for the event. Most of the donation boxes will be set up near the trees.
By scanning the QR code, gift-givers will be able to make a gift purchase on their phones through Oldsmar Cares’ Amazon Wish List.
Cash donations will also be accepted. For details, call The Silks Poker Room at (813) 855-4401, ext. 1498.
Festivus Challenge begins Friday. Horse racing handicappers of all experience levels can see how their skills stack up by registering for the “10 days of Festivus Challenge” Online Handicapping Contest, which begins Friday at Tampa Bay Downs and anywhere else the Oldsmar oval races can be viewed.
There is no charge to enter. The contest runs through Dec. 24. Handicappers must register at www.festivuschallenge.com to be eligible to compete.
All contest wagers are mythical. Players are required to select one entry each day from either of two randomly selected “Challenge Races,” which are posted on the contest site by 7 a.m. each racing day. Past performances for both races will be available courtesy of Daily Racing Form.
Each individual’s progress in the contest is determined by the win-place-show payoffs on their selections, based on a $2 across-the-board wager. For example, if your selection wins and pays $12 to win, $5.60 to place and $4.40 to show, your bankroll would grow by the sum of $22.
Each entrant begins the contest with a single “lifeline,” which affords them a free pass into the next day of the contest if their selection finishes out of the money. Players can purchase additional lifelines if their choice finishes out of the money or the player fails to make a selection on a given contest day.
Two lifelines can be purchased at the time of registration for $5 each. Two additional lifelines can be purchased on Wednesday, Dec. 11 for $10 each, and a final lifeline can be bought on Wednesday, Dec. 18 for $25.
The Grand Prize winner earns $1,000 and the second-place finisher wins $500.
For the full set of rules and other information, visit www.festivuschallenge.com on the Internet.
