Dynatail appears ready for hot start to new campaign

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Dynatail capped her juvenile season with an impressive victory Dec. 3 and will look to kick off her 3-year-old campaign with a similar effort in Sunday’s featured seventh race, a first-level $22,500 allowance for sophomore fillies going a mile on the Tampa Bay Downs turf course.

The race, which includes an optional $75,000 claiming condition, drew a field of eight. Trainer Mike Dini said he’s hoping that a strong effort will prepare Dynatail for the $100,000 fillies’ division of the OBS Championship Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds on the synthetic surface at the Ocala Training Center on Jan. 24. The daughter of Hightail is eligible for that race since she’s a graduate of an Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. auction, having sold for a bargain $5,000 there last June.

Dynatail led from start to finish to win a $20,000 maiden special weight race by 2 1/4 lengths on Dec. 3. That race also covered one mile on the turf course, and her 79 Beyer Speed Figure for that effort stands out in Sunday’s field.

“She trains good and is doing good, so I would expect her to run real good Sunday,” Dini said.

This is the first Sunday card of the Tampa Bay Downs meet, which began in November. For the rest of the meet, the track races Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Race 7

KEY CONTENDERS

Dynatail, by Hightail
Last 3 Beyers: 79-41-52

◗ She appeared on her way to a victory in a maiden special weight race at the Meadowlands in October when she bolted on the turn after leading most of the way. But she put it all together last out and has turned in two maintenance half-mile workouts here since.

Rashette, by Cowtown Cat
Last 3 Beyers: 58-69-45

◗ She makes her turf debut and will be running in a route race for the first time after two third-place finishes in stakes sprinting on dirt behind the talented front-runner R Angel Katelyn. She’s one of two horses in this race for trainer Kathleen O’Connell.

Bella Vincenza, by Biondetti
Last 3 Beyers: 45-66-69

◗ O’Connell’s other entrant, she has run well on turf, with a win and three runner-up efforts in six tries, including a fourth-place finish against fellow Florida-breds in the $100,000 Juvenile Filly Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park West in November.

Spanish Concert in co-feature

O’Connell also has a strong contender in race 8, a second-level $23,500 allowance that is also open to $40,000 claimers. Spanish Concert drew the outside post in a field of eight older fillies and mares going seven furlongs on the main track.

She’ll try to duplicate her most recent effort from Nov. 30, when she romped by 8 3/4 lengths in a $32,000 optional claimer at six furlongs here. Spanish Concert earned a career-best 83 Beyer in that race, the highest mark in Sunday’s field. The 7-year-old daughter of Concerto is in for the tag again.