tampa bay downs

After riding two horses at Laurel Park in Maryland on Nov. 9, jockey Daniel Centeno took a two-week vacation to spend time with his daughter, 11-year-old Jazmyn, on a Disney cruise. “We spent three days in the Bahamas and at a private Disney island and had a lot of fun,” Centeno said. A short break […]

Normally, you don’t expect to find a candidate for graded-stakes success competing in a maiden special weight race in late November at Tampa Bay Downs. But after watching his first-time starter No Getting Over Me roll to a 9 ¾-length victory in his career debut at a distance of a mile-and-40-yards in today’s sixth race, […]

As a Thoroughbred trainer from 1989-1997, Jim Tsirigotis gained an appreciation for the challenges faced by backstretch workers on the racetrack. “They work their butts off,” said Tsirigotis, the proprietor of Papa Jim’s Kitchen at the south end of the barn area at Tampa Bay Downs. “A lot of them are in the barn by […]

World-class Thoroughbred racing returns to Tampa Bay Downs on Wednesday, Nov. 27 with the Opening Day card of the 2019-2020 meeting. Admission is free. The track is celebrating its 94th anniversary season with a boatload of activities and promotions planned throughout the 90-day meeting to enhance the equine energy: http://www.tampabaydowns.com/visitor-information/event-calendars Oldsmar oval visitors will notice a new […]

Being unable to attend the first graded-stakes win by one of his own horses in more than four years didn’t make the accomplishment any less exciting for trainer John Terranova. Terranova and his wife and assistant, Tonja, were about 900 miles away from Laurel Park in Wisconsin, visiting their eldest daughter, Paulina, a college freshman, […]

Kaleem Shah Inc.’s Closer Look ($6.80), favored at 2-1 in a field of 12, cruised to a 4 ¾-length triumph in Race 7 Saturday to give journeyman Feargal Lynch his first win since returning to the Maryland circuit with Friday’s opening of the 43-day summer meet at Laurel. Lynch, a two-time meet titlist in Maryland […]

From a distance, English Secret looks like any other horse on the track, but a few steps closer reveals a definite disfigurement. The now four-year-old Indiana bred son of English Channel suffered severe frostbite as a baby, but has not let that stop him from achieving his path to the racetrack. Owned by breeder Ken […]

Ronnie Allen, Jr., believes his experience and physical condition, honed during more than three decades of race-riding, will help him continue to win races for the next several years. “I feel good. I feel strong,” said Allen, who turned 55 on April 24. “If I get the mounts, I’ll be OK. The older guys (a […]

Veteran runner and fan favorite El Grande Rojo (Bowman’s Band – Theheartofdixie, by Crafty Prospector) has been retired from racing by his owners, Neil and Laura Barrish, and donated to Thoroughbred Retirement of Tampa (TROT) to be retrained and adopted out. He arrived at the facility on Easter morning, which was also his 11th birthday […]

A coalition of leading Thoroughbred racing associations and organizations announced today a new horse racing initiative committed to phasing out the use of the medication Furosemide (Lasix) beginning in 2020 and eliminating the use of Lasix in stakes races held at their racetracks beginning in 2021.  Coalition racetracks that have signed on to this initiative […]