Reading rave reviews about the Tampa Bay Downs turf is a regular occurrence. The majority of jockeys who have ridden it for any length of time are quick to compare it favorably to any of the better-known grass tracks in the country.

Still, there were concerns how it would play at the beginning of the 2024-25 meet after Hurricanes Helene and Milton roared through the area in a span of two weeks in late September and early October. The inside turf rail was moved out 22 feet for today’s four turf events to give it additional time to recover, with the knowledge more lucrative turf races will be contested down the line.

It took one race for riders to arrive at a virtually unanimous verdict: the Oldsmar oval turf course is every bit as good as it’s ever been.

“It was beautiful. It’s in perfect condition,” said jockey Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr., who finished second in the third race aboard You Talkin to Me. “We prefer the rail to be all the way in because we have more room to run, but we understand they have to protect it after the storms. It’s not rock-hard, but it’s not soft. I have to give credit to the (track maintenance crew). I thought it might be a little soft after all that crazy weather, but it’s as good as any track we race at.”

Pablo Morales, who set a fast early pace on Dark and Fitzy, the eventual eighth-place finisher, detected no discernible bias (favoritism) toward early-speed types or late closers. “I think it was fair. I hope they keep it like this,” Morales said. “It felt great.”

Samuel Marin, who rallied from last place early in the mile-and-a-sixteenth claiming race on 5-year-old gelding Gilded Age to win by 1 ¾ lengths, said the firmness of the surface helped his mount sustain his strong finishing kick.

“My horse always runs from behind, so it worked out perfect for us,” Marin said. “There really isn’t too much give to it at all, and I think we (the jockeys) all like it like this because it lets your horses give you everything they have. I love riding the turf at Tampa.”

Marin also won the seventh race on the turf on Victoria’s Dancer, prevailing in a thrilling four-horse photo finish. The 3-year-old filly, who is owned by Victoria’s Ranch and trained by Juan Carlos Avila, rallied from next-to-last in the early going to win the allowance contest by a neck from Dreaming of Abba in 1:42.05 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth.

“I like this turf course so much. I think it’s the best,” said Avila, who also won the first race today on the main dirt track with his 5-year-old Florida-bred gelding Venezuelan Triumph. “It was perfect today.”

Hess continues to impress. Apprentice jockey Sara Hess doesn’t have any concrete goals for the current Oldsmar meet, other than to “learn as much as possible, get as much experience as I can and ride as much as possible.”

She appears headed in the right direction after riding winners each of the first two days, including her score on 24-1 shot He’s Side Eyed in today’s 6-furlong fourth race.

After breaking sharply from the gate, the first-time starter from the barn of trainer Mauricio Nunez held off charging favorite Its Pizza Time by a nose, with Buzzsaw another head back in third.

“(Nunez) told me he was putting me on a bullet (speedster), and the owner (Dawn Quinones) told me the horse was real fast,” Hess said. “She told me to just break and don’t look back.”

He’s Side Eyed did the rest, digging in between horses in the final strides to preserve the victory. “He was real game, especially for a horse in his first race,” Hess said. “He is only going to improve from that.”

The 26-year-old Hess, who rode her first winner last year at Belterra Park, seeks to do the same, race by race and day by day.

“I’ve ridden at all the Kentucky tracks, Belterra, Indianapolis, Mountaineer, Mahoning Valley and here,” she said. “I’ll ride anyplace somebody names me.”

Stakes schedule gets underway Dec. 7. A pair of Tampa Bay Downs stakes races with long traditions will be held Saturday, Dec. 7. Nominations for both the $    125,000 Inaugural Stakes for 2-year-olds and the $125,000 Sandpiper Stakes for 2-year-old fillies closed today in the Racing Office.

Both events will be run on the main dirt track at a distance of 6 furlongs.

First run in 1986, the Inaugural has produced such recent winners as 2023 victor Patriot Spirit, who won this year’s Illinois Derby, and 2022 winner Super Chow, a three-time Grade III winner with career earnings of almost $800,000.

The Sandpiper goes back even further, as it was first contested in 1981. The 2022 Sandpiper winner, Dorth Vader, won the Grade II Davona Dale Stakes presented by FanDuel TV as a 3-year-old.

Schedule, Festivus Challenge updates. Tampa Bay Downs will present a festive pre-Thanksgiving Day card Wednesday beginning at 12:40 p.m. Nine races are scheduled, with the fifth, seventh and ninth races on the vaunted Oldsmar turf course. Admission is free.

The feature race is the ninth, a $54,000, 5-furlong conditional allowance/optional claiming sprint event for horses 3-years-old-and-upward. The race has attracted an overflow field of 14, with 10 permitted to run.

The track will be closed Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, with racing resuming Friday. Tampa Bay Downs will hew to a Wednesday-Friday-Saturday schedule before Sundays are added to the mix on Dec. 22.

A special Christmas Eve card will be conducted on Dec. 24. The track will be closed Christmas Day.

Registration for the popular “10 Days of Festivus Challenge” Online Handicapping Contest begins on Saturday, Nov. 30. There is no charge to enter. The contest runs from Friday, Dec. 6 through Tuesday, Dec. 24.

The first-place Festivus Challenge prize is $1,000 and the second-place prize is $500. A full set of rules is available online at www.festivuschallenge.com

The track’s 2024-25 Racing Calendar is attached.

Tampa Bay Downs is open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas for simulcasting, poker action and tournament play in The Silks Poker Room and golf fun and instruction at The Downs Golf Practice Facility.