Gerald Bennett was smiling from ear-to-ear as he walked into the winner’s circle after his 20-1 shot Rouki’s victory in today’s $125,000, 5-furlong Turf Dash Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
Anyone expecting the 80-year-old conditioner to show more emotion after his 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding’s performance may have been disappointed, but Bennett could sense what it meant to the Oldsmar racing community.
“We all love each other back there,” said Bennett, who has been battling cancer in his colon, liver and a lung this season. “All these guys, we’ve been together a long time, and it feels really good to have them congratulating me.”
Rouki’s victory under Samy Camacho capped an exciting day of racing that included the $125,000, 5-furlong Lightning City Stakes for older fillies and mares, won by the favorite, Great Venezuela. Rouki’s triumph, his fifth from 10 starts, was a display of Bennett’s keen horsemanship that has resulted in almost 4,200 career victories.
Rouki – who paid $102.80 last September at Gulfstream when he won a 5-furlong dash on the all-weather track – had last raced on Feb. 2 at Tampa Bay Downs, winning a 6-furlong allowance/optional claiming race on the main track in an excellent time of 1:09.20. Bennett, who won the 2016 Turf Dash with Fast Flying Rumor, knew his gray son of Rogueish-Kizuna, by Harlington, was versatile, having won here on the turf sprinting 5 furlongs on Nov. 27 with Camacho in the irons.
“You have to be patient with them and give them time to learn what they like,” he said. “I didn’t work this horse for 21 days this winter, just left him alone.
“Samy knows him really well, and he’s not afraid to sit, sit, sit a little longer on him. I told him don’t rush him – he’s capable of going out in (fractions of) 21 and 43 seconds, but he loves it outside of horses and he’ll run at them.”
That is pretty much how the race unfolded. Souper Quest and Thealligatorhunter set a hot pace, going out in 21.13 for the opening quarter-mile and 43.89 for the half, with Camacho keeping Rouki in relatively close attendance and in the clear after breaking from the No. 9 post in the 10-horse field. When Camacho moved his mount to the leaders on the turn, it was apparent Rouki would be hard to beat.
“I had no pressure from the outside and none from the inside, and there were just two horses in front of me,” Camacho said. “I knew if I just sat behind them, my horse would go when the time came. When I asked him he gave me a big kick. He showed that he is a very nice horse.”
It’s probably worth noting that if anyone almost got emotional after the race, it was Camacho. He caught himself, but it was obvious what this opportunity meant to him.
“Gerry Bennett is so strong,” Camacho said. “I’m very proud to win this race for him.”
Horsepower, a 26-1 shot ridden by Rajiv Maragh and trained by Joseph Orseno, tried hard late but came up a half-length short. He was a neck ahead of Isivunguvungu. The 19-10 favorite, Our Shot, finished fifth in his first start since winning the Grade II Woodford Stakes Presented by FanDuel on Oct. 5 at Keeneland.
Rouki was bred by Bonnie J. Thompson and Edward Seltzer and is owned by Thompson’s Tropic Lightning Racing. “She sure deserves it. She’s been in the game a long time,” Bennett said.
Rouki’s time over a firm turf course was 55.47 seconds. He paid $42.20 to win and keyed a $1 exacta payoff of $347.30 and a $1 trifecta payoff of $2,088.30. The winner’s share of $77,500 raised his career earnings to $198,405.
Entering the $125,000 Lightning City Stakes, 4-year-old Florida-bred filly Great Venezuela and jockey Leonel Reyes had forged a partnership that produced six victories, a second and a third from eight starts.
So when the pacesetter in the 5-furlong turf race, 41-1 shot Talkin Tipsy, rebroke in the stretch, Reyes retained his confidence that Great Venezuela would do her best running when it mattered most.
“I’ve ridden her so many times, and she is a very smart filly who knows where the wire is,” Reyes said after Great Venezuela rallied from mid-pack and caught Talkin Tipsy approaching the shadow of that wire for a 2-length victory. “She has improved every race, so I stayed confident and she kept going.”
The Lightning City marks the first career stakes victory for Great Venezuela, who finished second in her previous start to Ashima in the 1-mile Sunshine Filly and Mare Turf Stakes on Jan. 11 at Gulfstream.
The race was a special event for the connections, all of whom hail from Venezuela. Orlando Martinez bred and owns the daughter of Neolithic-Pat M’s Image, by Leroidesanimaux, under his Orlyana Farm banner. Great Venezuela is trained by Martinez’s countryman, Victor Barboza, Jr., and Reyes, one of south Florida’s more unsung riders who also won the seventh race, the Lambholm South Race of the Week, on 4-year-old colt Fidelightcayut, is also from Venezuela.
“I think the short distance is better for (Great Venezuela),” said Reyes, and no one was arguing after the race. Barboza concurred by telephone. “She runs very well every time at that distance, on turf and synthetic,” he said.
Talkin Tipsy, another Florida-bred who was claimed for $32,000 by trainer Jon Arnett for Kelly’s Racing, LLC from her previous start at Tampa Bay Downs – a good second sprinting 5 furlongs on the turf on Jan. 31 – threatened to light up the tote board, leading through a quarter-mile in 21.65 seconds and a half in 44.26. The 6-year-old mare remained game to the end under jockey Ken Tohill, but it may have been the winner’s class that proved decisive.
“It was unbelievable. I didn’t know she had that kind of speed to go to the lead like that,” Arnett said of Talkin Tipsy. “I’m really happy with her effort.”
Bahamian Moon, a 28-1 shot trained by Dennis Ward and ridden by apprentice jockey Sara Hess, finished third, a neck behind Talkin Tipsy and a head in front of Visby in the 12-horse field.
The Lightning City was Great Venezuela’s first start outside Gulfstream Park, but Reyes said she got over the firm Oldsmar turf course in comfortably splendid fashion. Her time was 55.75 seconds, .66 seconds off Jean Elizabeth’s stakes record.
The winner’s share of $77,500 raised her career earnings to $270,400. Great Venezuela paid $6.20 to win as the betting favorite.
Around the oval. The third legs of the Tampa Turf Test starter handicap series, for horses 4-years-old-and-upward which have started for a claiming price of $16,000 or less in 2024-25, were held earlier on the card. Races for members of both sexes were contested at a distance of a mile-and-an-eighth.
In the Males Division, contested as the sixth race, 4-year-old gelding Poker Joker surged through an opening in the stretch under jockey Pablo Morales, scoring his fourth consecutive victory of the meet. His time was 1:48.99. A son of Practical Joke, Poker Joker was claimed for $16,000 from a victory here on Dec. 6 by trainer Richard Sillaman for owner Michael S. Schmidt, LLC.
Despite his recent run of success, Poker Joker went off at odds of 9-1, paying $21.40 to win as the sixth choice in the nine-horse field. The Chilean-bred 7-year-old gelding Royal Luck finished second for the second Tampa Turf Test race in a row, ¾-length behind, followed by Ejtimaa, who won the previous leg on Jan. 18.
Poker Joker improved to 4-for-9 with the victory.
In the Fillies and Mares Division, the fourth race on the card, Cleopatra’s Nile turned in an impressive stretch run to post a 2 ½-length victory from She Fled the Scene. Red Wind, who won the first leg of the series on Dec. 28, finished third. The winning 4-year-old filly, who was making her first start in the series, is 3-for-3 at the meet.
Antonio Gallardo rode the daughter of Mucho Macho Man for owner Bruce D. Gans and trainer Kathleen O’Connell. Cleopatra’s Nile’s winning time was 1:49.56. The 9-year-old mare She Fled the Scene has finished second in the last two legs of the series.
Cleopatra’s Nile paid $11 to win as the third betting choice in the 10-horse field.
Gallardo also won today’s second race, a maiden special weight affair, on 3-year-old filly Mischief in Motion for owner Live Oak Plantation and trainer Michael Trombetta.
Thoroughbred racing continues Sunday with a 10-race card beginning at 12:35 p.m. Tampa Bay Downs races each Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and is open every 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.
