Drama Chorus turns back in class for Tampa allowance
Another four-day race week at Tampa starts at 12:28 p.m. Eastern with an eight-race Wednesday card highlighted by a $27,000, third-level allowance for older horses going 1 1/16 miles on turf.
Drama Chorus, trained by Tim Padilla, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in race 2 as one of three horses entered for an optional $100,000 tag. The 6-year-old gelding has compiled a 6-2-1-1 record over the local turf, with a last-out drubbing in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes being preceded by a Jan. 8 allowance victory.
“I had him overmatched last time,” said Padilla, “but now he’s back in with his friends. He does like this turf course, so it looks like a good spot to me.”
As a Florida-bred, Drama Chorus is the only starter in the field eligible for his share of an additional $2,500 available in statebred bonuses.
Drama Chorus, with Alonso Quinonez riding, will break from the outside post in a field of seven older horses that likely will be reduced to a maximum of six because Brooklyn Strong is a main-track-only entrant likely to be scratched with more nice weather in the forecast. Opposing him looking to break a nearly two-year losing streak is Like the King (post 1, Pablo Morales), who has been defeated in 12 straight races, starting with an 11th-place finish in the 2021 Kentucky Derby that followed a win in the Jeff Ruby Steaks.
The next major date at Tampa is March 11, when the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby will be one of five stakes.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.