Fabulous Candy won the first race on opening day of the Tampa Bay Downs 2025-26 meeting and it foreshadowed what was ahead for trainer Juan Carlos Avila. With four weeks, or 16 cards, remaining in the season, Avila has 37 winners, eight more than his nearest rival, Juan Arriagada, and looks well on his way to achieving his first training title in North America. Avila came to the U.S. in 2017 after a successful career in his native Venezuela, where he won more than 3,000 races and nine trainer’s titles – seven consecutively – at La Rinconada Hippodrome in Caracas. Avila, 62, has won 315 races in the U.S. since 2018. Winning a title at Tampa would be fitting for Avila who achieved his best day in the U.S. at Tampa back in 2020 when he won the then Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby with King Guillermo and the Grade 3 Challenger Stakes with Trophy Chaser on the same card. “Honestly, this is something completely unexpected,” Avila, who admits to struggling with English, wrote in a text message. “I arrived in this country at a somewhat advanced age, but with a strong desire to continue providing for my family and thank God, we have succeeded. “As for winning a meet title? That wasn’t even in my wildest dreams,” Avila added. “The language barrier is significant, but I’ve managed to overcome it, and I’ve had a wonderful experience working with my owners here. My children help me with communication – learning English has been a struggle, but at least I’ve learned to speak the language of horses and that is what matters most.” :: Celebrating 100 Years of racing at Tampa Bay Downs! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Currently, Avila’s stable star is Silver Slugger, who has won three races this meet, including a starter allowance/optional claimer on this year’s Tampa Bay Derby program. Silver Slugger, a 6-year-old gelding by Cairo Prince, is 12 for 19 in his career and won stakes last summer at both Delaware Park and Monmouth Park. Avila indicated Silver Slugger would run next in an allowance at Gulfstream Park on April 17 as a prep for the Grade 2 John Nerud Stakes on May 9 at Aqueduct, a race in which Silver Slugger was second, beaten a head, last year. Another horse with potential is Tallmar, a 3-year-old son of Yaupon, who came off a 10-month layoff to win a first-level allowance at Tampa on March 21. Avila said he is pointing Tallmar to an allowance on the May 9 opening day of the Monmouth meet where Avila will be based for a fourth straight year. On Wednesday at Tampa, Avila has just one runner, Charlie’s Beauty, in a starter/optional claimer for females at 5 1/2 furlongs. Charlie’s Beauty is 2 for 2 since Avila claimed her for $5,000 on Feb. 6, both of those wins coming at seven furlongs. Samuel Marin, the leading rider at the meet with 121 victories, has the call. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.