tampa bay downs

Due to the impending threat from Hurricane Irma, Tampa Bay Downs, The Silks Poker Room and The Downs Golf Practice Facility will be closed Sunday and Monday. Tampa Bay Downs will remain open throughout Friday, with The Downs Golf Practice Facility closing at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, The Downs Golf Practice Facility will be open […]

They call her the Galloping Grandma. But that doesn’t do Sue Martin justice. The jockey recently became a great-grandmother for the seventh time, with another on the way. Martin, mother of seven and grandmother of 18, is 63. She didn’t ride any races Friday afternoon. But that morning at Ellis Park she got on 10 […]

McCraken appeared back on the Churchill Downs work tab on Tuesday morning, cruising through an easy half-mile in :49 4/5 seconds. The sophomore son of Ghostzapper, eighth in the Kentucky Derby after suffering a puncture wound during bumping at the start, is being aimed at the G3 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill on June 17, […]

Live Oak Plantation’s World Approval, winner of last year’s United Nations Handicap (G1) at Monmouth Park, can bust through millionaire status in the G2 Longines Dixie Stakes at Pimlico on the Preakness Stakes undercard. The nearly white 5-year-old gelding was scratched from Churchill Downs’ Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (G1) because of soft turf conditions after two […]

Following her second-place finish in Friday’s Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks behind Abel Tasman, Daddys Lil Darling is being aimed at the June 2 Investec Oaks at Epsom Downs. Trainer Kenny McPeek told racingpost.com that the 3-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy, a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Mongolian Saturday, would train on the grass […]

The FTBOA and Tampa Bay Downs announced Tuesday the running of two new $125,000 stakes races for FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes (FSS) eligible 3-year-olds, marking the first-ever FSS races contested over the Tampa Bay oval. Both worth $125,000—the FTBOA City of Ocala for fillies and the FTBOA Marion County for colts and geldings, these races will […]

The 45-year-old Centeno isn’t sure if a five-day suspension for careless riding on March 31 got him fired up, or if a challenge from Tampa Bay Downs newcomer Edwin Gonzalez stoked his competitive juices. Of course, it’s not as if the six-time Tampa Bay Downs riding champion needs extra incentive to chase victory. But it […]

State Sen. Bill Galvano and Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, the respective chair and co-chair of the Florida Legislature’s Conference Committee on Gaming, issued a joint statement on Tuesday stating the two chambers were unable to agree to compromise language for gambling legislation before the current legislative session ends on Friday. “Notwithstanding the significant progress made […]

Laur Net turned in an impressive performance to win today’s fifth race at Tampa Bay Downs, the Lambholm South Race of the Week for older fillies and mares at a mile on the turf course. As the 6-year-old mare entered the winner’s circle, heads turned again when track announcer Richard Grunder revealed the Illinois-bred had […]

More than 30 years ago, when he was making a name for himself as a top rider in New Jersey, Jose Ferrer had the good fortune to learn from some of the best. Jockeys such as Ferrer’s uncle, Carlos Lopez, Sr., and his cousin, Charles “C.C.” Lopez, were eager to share their insights. And when […]