The Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve lived up to its reputation last year as the most exciting two minutes in sports, with the top three – winner Mystik Dan, Sierra Leone and Forever Young – finishing noses apart.
Hard to top, for sure. But when 20 3-year-olds and their jockeys enter the starting gate for the 151st renewal on May 3 at Churchill Downs, even casual $2 bettors will experience a surge in their heart rates at the prospect of being able to brag they picked the winner.
At Tampa Bay Downs, a full card of racing – combined with colorful hats, mint juleps and the strains of My Own Kentucky Home as the field heads to the post – will provide a suspense-building backdrop to one Thoroughbred’s rise to immortality. Simply put, Louisville has the race, but Tampa Bay Downs plans one heck of a party.
It’s probably not too early to make plans to join the festivities, with a first-race post time locally of noon setting the stage for a full afternoon of excitement and memories. As always, Tampa Bay Downs will simulcast every race from Churchill Downs and numerous other tracks around the country.
Tickets, which are $10, are available online at www.tampabaydowns.com . Reserved seating is sold out. Children 17-and-under are admitted free. Valet parking is $25 and the gates will open at 10 a.m. Automatic wagering terminals will be set up outside in front of the main Grandstand entrance for fans who decide to grab their tickets early and watch elsewhere.
Plenty of Kentucky Derby souvenirs will be on sale in the Gift Shop, including glasses listing all 150 winners of the race for $9.95 each.
There will also be food-truck specials on the grounds, in addition to the usual concession stand and restaurant fare.
The weekend gets underway the previous day with a full card of racing action, followed by the simulcast of the Longines Kentucky Oaks for 3-year-old fillies. The field for that race is likely to include recent Grade I Central Bank Ashland Stakes winner La Cara, who won the Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 8, and Fondly, who broke her maiden here on Feb. 14 and won the Virginia Oaks on March 15.
The 2024-2025 Tampa Bay Downs meet concludes on Sunday, May 4, which is Fan Appreciation Day. Admission is free and there will be food and drink discounts throughout the day, as the management and staff thank patrons for their support throughout the season.
Around the oval. Tampa Bay Downs will be closed in its entirety on Easter Sunday, April 20.
Samy Camacho rode three winners today. He started by taking the first race on Final Drama, a 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding owned by Winning Stables and trained by Gerald Bennett. Final Drama was claimed from the race by trainer Michael Simone for $10,000 for new owner Roger Sterling.
Camacho next won the fourth race on the turf on Chandigarh, a 4-year-old gelding owned by Peter M. Brant and Robert V. LaPenta and trained by Chad Brown. The five-time Oldsmar jockey champ also won the sixth on Midnight Onyx, a 5-year-old gelding owned by Joseph Irace and Alfred Noll and trained by Chelsey Moysey.
Bennett returned to the winner’s circle after the second race as owner-trainer with Secret Empire, a 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding ridden by Daniel Centeno.
Jose Ferrer and Ronnie Allen, Jr., rode two winners apiece. Ferrer captured the third race on Rome’s Conquest, a 3-year-old gelding owned by Donna Wright and trained by Gregg Sacco. Rome’s Conquest was claimed for $25,000 by trainer Jon Arnett for new owner Charles D. Nielsen.
Ferrer added the fifth with 4-year-old filly Lady Aberdeen, who broke her maiden by 11 ½ lengths for owner Paula Capestro and trainer Renaldo Richards.
Both of Allen’s victories came on the turf. He won the seventh with Smart Striker, a 5-year-old Florida-bred gelding owned by My Purple Haze Stables and trained by Terri Pompay. Allen added the ninth and final race aboard Little Martha, a 4-year-old Florida-bred filly owned by Six SandBaggers Stables and trained by Ron G. Potts.
Thoroughbred racing continues Wednesday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:33 p.m. The track is open every day (except Easter) 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.
