Athena’s Wisdom seeks a third straight win when she steps up in class in a second-level $32,000 allowance/optional-claiming race going seven furlongs on dirt that serves as the Wednesday feature on Tampa Bay’s nine-race program. There are only six runners in this race, but the morning-line reflects the competitive nature of the field. Athena’s Wisdom is the 3-1 morning-line favorite, while the longest prices are Sea Art and Sequin Lady, both at 9-2. Athena’s Wisdom, a 5-year-old daughter of Ride On Curlin, has been favored in each of her last four dirt starts, winning twice. On Jan. 19, she won a $25,000 claiming race with an eye-catching, albeit wide, move, before coming from farther back to win a first-level $16,000 optional claimer on Feb. 24. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. The last race was at seven furlongs and was the first time Athena’s Wisdom had tried that distance since her second career start in May 2023, when she pressed a hot pace and finished second. It was following that race that trainer Gerald Bennett bought her from trainer Jose Chavez. “She’s more relaxed now, she’s not gung-ho to go 21 and 44 [quarter- and half-mile fractions] like before,” Bennett said. Athena’s Wisdom is so relaxed now that Bennett thought jockey Samy Camacho might have left her too much do in her most recent race in which she was seventh early on. “That’s the first time we ever closed with her,” Bennett said. “She’s got so much speed, we always had her right up close. If she runs the same kind of race she should be okay.” There does seem to be speed inside of Athena’s Wisdom in Music Amore and Awesome Pic, who are drawn in the first two post positions. Awesome Pic, trained by Robert Smith, has run her best races when able to secure an early forward position. Both Sides goes turf to dirt for trainer John Vinson with the meet’s second-leading rider, Antonio Gallardo, named to ride. She finished third in this condition behind solid runners Easy Come Easy Go and Hihellohowareyou on Feb. 9, finishing ahead of Awesome Pic and Sequin Lady, both of whom are in this field. Sacco thriving at Tampa Trainer Gregg Sacco has enjoyed a stellar meet at Tampa, saddling 25 winners from 99 starters, good enough for third in the trainer standings. Sacco’s win total, which eclipsed the 16 wins he had from last year, includes victories with five of his last seven starters. “The horses have been in the right spots, everything’s been hitting on all cylinders,” Sacco said. Sacco said he plans to stay in Florida for one more month before moving to his summer base at Monmouth Park. Sacco was considering shipping Just Beat the Odds to New York for Saturday’s Grade 2 Carter Stakes, but ultimately decided against it. He will look to run him in either an allowance at Tampa or a stakes race at Laurel Park for his next race. The 3-year-old Crazy Mason, seventh in the Tampa Bay Derby, is being pointed to the English Channel Stakes, a one-mile turf race, on May 4 at Gulfstream Park. “It’s a little frustrating he hasn’t broken through yet as a 3-year-old,” Sacco said. “He has a little turf pedigree, so we’ll see how that goes.” ◗ Tampa Bay-based Dreaming of Kona earned a career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure for his runner-up finish, beaten a neck, to Oscar Eclipse in Saturday’s Sir Shackleton Stakes at Gulfstream. Dreaming of Kona, trained by Aldana Speith, has run well on three surfaces. He won the Tom Ridge Stakes over the Tapeta track at Presque Isle Downs last June and was a decent third in a turf allowance on March 1 at Gulfstream. Speith, and her husband, jockey Scott Spieth, are expected to be based at Presque Isle this summer. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.