Big fields give bettors plenty to choose from on Saturday card

Big fields and a couple of allowances highlight a Saturday program at Tampa Bay Downs that should pique the interest of homebound horseplayers.

Race 8 serves as the feature on a nine-race card that starts at 12:28 p.m. Eastern. Eight well-matched fillies and mares will go seven furlongs in a $20,000 allowance governed by first-level conditions and a $16,000 claiming option.

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Half the field is wheeling back from the same April 3 race, including My Girl Annie, who outran her 20-1 odds when finishing second that day. They’re among the principals in a lineup that also includes a pair of last-out winners in easier spots, Uncommon Factor and Dreaming Diamonds.

Itsherluckyday and Sweet Daddio were seventh and eighth in the key April 3 race, but both figure as contenders with top efforts here. Kathleen O’Connell is a common denominator among both, having lost Itsherluckyday via the claim box last month while remaining as trainer of Sweet Daddio.

Race 1 is the richest of the day but appears to have been slotted so early because it has a heavy favorite in a field of just six older horses. It’s a $22,500 six-furlong race with hybrid allowance conditions and a $100,000 claiming option. My Boy Lenny figures as an odds-on choice for leading trainer Gerald Bennett and is entered for the optional $100,000 tag as he seeks his third straight victory.

In all, 96 horses (including eight also-eligibles) are entered on the day. The recent increases in Tampa field size are partly a reflection of most other American tracks having shuttered indefinitely in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Since March 18, Tampa has conducted racing without spectators and with stringent health precautions in place because of the crisis.

Four Saturday races are scheduled for turf (2, 5, 7, 9), with race 7 being a $20,000 maiden special weight at 1 1/16 miles. Economic Policy, with leading jockey Antonio Gallardo riding, figures as a solid favorite in a field of 10 3-year-olds when shipping across the Florida peninsula from the Palm Meadows training center for Chad Brown.

The Saturday forecast calls for possible thundershowers and high temperatures in the mid-80s.

◗ One of the longest-priced winners of the entire 2019-20 meet lit up the toteboard Wednesday when I’ll Make U Famous drew off to a 3 1/2-length victory in the seventh race. I’ll Make U Famous, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding by Congrats, returned $178.60 after winning the never-won-two race for $16,000 claimers at seven furlongs. Owned and trained by Miles H. Heinen, he had finished ahead of a grand total of one opponent in his five prior starts.