Can Amelia's Wild Ride's back class carry the day in Tampa opener?

Competition remains high as Tampa Bay Downs starts to wind down its extended meet. Monday’s program, comprised entirely of claiming races for various conditions, sports an average field size of 10 for the eight races.

The opening race of the day, with a purse of $10,000 and a claiming price of $5,000, has drawn a field of seven, one of the smallest fields of the day – but that doesn’t make it any easier. The race is based around an intriguing matchup between a runner with back class, the 9-year-old Grade 3 winner Amelia’s Wild Ride, and the younger Americano, who has stronger recent form.

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Amelia’s Wild Ride has won 13 of 60 starts and by far has the biggest bankroll in the field, with career earnings of $688,115. However, most of that came from earlier seasons, as the ridgling has just one runner-up effort from four starts this year. That came on April 8, as he finished second by two lengths at Tampa and was claimed for $5,000 by current owner and trainer William March. In his first start for the barn, on April 26, he finished last of eight after breaking slowly.

Amelia’s Wild Ride turned in his best season of racing in 2015, winning three stakes at three different tracks. He began the run by winning the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint and finishing second in the Silks Run Stakes there before running 10th in the Grade 3 Shakertown at Keeneland in his graded stakes debut. He finished third behind Ben’s Cat in the Jim McKay Turf Sprint at Pimlico before edging that rival by a nose in the Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup at Penn National. Amelia’s Wild Ride lost his next three starts, with just a third in the Lucky Coin at Saratoga, making him a longshot in the Grade 3 Woodford Stakes at Keeneland. With that race rained off the turf, he scored an upset win with a $31.80 payout for his biggest career victory.

Amelia’s Wild Ride won the 2016 Sunshine Millions Turf Sprint before finishing second in both the Gulfstream Turf Sprint and Silks Run. However, he was forced to the sidelines for more than 14 months. He made a strong return to finish third in the 2017 McKay in his first start off the long layoff, but that was his most recent stakes placing, and he has steadily slid down the levels.

While Amelia’s Wild Ride’s past form has made him 5-2 on the morning line, the 9-5 favorite is Americano, with solid recent form for trainer Gerald Bennett. The 4-year-old gelding is coming off a pair of solid efforts at Tampa, with back-to-back Beyer Speed Figures of 63, the top last-out numbers in this field. Americano finished second by three-quarters of a length in a claiming race on April 17. He won his next outing May 9, coasting by 1 3/4 lengths over a next-out winner. Both those races were at six furlongs at Tampa; he cuts back slightly to 5 1/2 furlongs.

Americano has won 4 of 24 lifetime starts. With career earnings of $110,873, he is the only other member of this field with a six-figure bankroll.