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Downs Wraps Up Season

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By BART O'CONNELL

Tribune correspondent

Published: May 5, 2008

OLDSMAR - Tampa Bay Downs concluded its 82nd live racing season Sunday, a meet that likely will be remembered for shattered riding and training records, as well as for continued strides in attracting elite thoroughbreds from around the country for the track's growing stakes program.

Though official attendance and handle figures will not be released until the end of the week, TBD vice president and general manager Peter Berube said the track did see growth in purse and field size, but will post similar wagering numbers from last year's meet, which averaged about $4.1 million in all-source handle per day.

"All in all, it's been a success," Berube said, "but there's going to be some softness, particularly in the Florida market. Overall, we're going to be flat with last year, plus-or-minus one percent off last year's average daily handle.

"I did not expect an increase going into the season, with the state of the economy."

The field size numbers are likely to come out around 9.4 entries per race, up from 8.8 a year ago and among the best nationwide. The purse size increase was due in part to added revenue from the Silks Poker Room, which generated about $1 million for the fund.

But the most noticeable differences were in race quality, especially on the turf, where handle has traditionally been 25 percent higher per race compared with the dirt track.

The Grade III Endeavour Stakes and Hillsborough Stakes saw female turf champions Dreaming of Anna and Lear's Princess prep for bigger races this summer. Florida Cup Day stakes winner Bayou's Lassie won Saturday's Churchill Distaff Turf Mile at Churchill Downs. On the dirt, Gasparilla Stakes and Florida Oaks winner Awesome Chic went on to race in Friday's Kentucky Oaks at Churchill.

The Sam F. Davis Stakes had three entries that went on to race in the Kentucky Derby: Big Truck, the eventual Tampa Bay Derby winner, Smooth Air, and Z Humor. Berube again has made it a goal to get the race graded for next year, which would boost the track's 3-year-old program.

"I'd be very disappointed if it didn't become a graded race at the end of November when the committee meets," he said. "We've been told that it was right on the brink, we've seen where it is in the pecking order and I think this year should put us over the top."

Trainer Jamie Ness (68 wins, nearly $1 million earned) and jockey Daniel Centeno (144 wins, more than $2 million) obliterated the previous single-season track records for victories and earnings, winning titles for the second consecutive year. Ness will head to Canterbury Park in Minnesota, Centeno to Monmouth Park in New Jersey.

Balkrisna Sukharan, whose horses were trained by Ness, took the owner's title in his first full year in the sport (19 wins). Jorge Monserrate Jr. was the top apprentice jockey (nine wins). Lookinforthesecret, Awesome Attitude and Dixie Pipe notched five wins apiece at the meet, with track records set by Tytus (61/2 furlongs on dirt in 1:16.20) and Vaulcluse (1 mile, 40 yards on dirt in 1:39.36).

The Ness-trained and Sukharan-owned Lookinforthesecret was without question the top horse at TBD, with three stakes wins. Ness will take the horse to Canterbury, but also isn't ruling out a trip to the Breeders' Cup later this year.

"That's a long way away, but it's got to be in the back of my mind after last week's win," Ness said.

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