El Grande Rojo equals track record

OLDSMAR, Fla. – El Grande Rojo has run in only one stakes race during his 44-race career, but he sure looked like a stakes winner Wednesday at Tampa Bay Downs, tying the track record for seven furlongs and scoring a seven-length victory in a second-level optional $32,000 claimer.

El Grande Rojo, making the final start of his 7-year-old season, finished in 1:21.40 under jockey Fernando De La Cruz to equal the track record set by Catalina Red in the Pasco Stakes in December 2014. El Grande Rojo and Catalina Red are the only horses in the 90-year history of Tampa Bay Downs to break the 1:22 mark in a seven-furlong race.

The victory erased the disappointment of El Grande Rojo’s previous race Dec. 18, when he ducked out at the start of a $25,000 claimer here and dumped De La Cruz to the ground.

El Grande Rojo earned a career-high 91 Beyer Speed Figure on Wednesday and paid $10.40 as the fifth choice in a field of six.

“He was really training well up to that race, and we felt like we missed an opportunity when the rider fell off,” trainer Joe Woodard said. “I told him this time, ‘Just stay on.’ I was standing close to the rail, and it looked like they were cooking around there pretty good. I was impressed with his performance.”

El Grande Rojo, a gelded son of Bowman’s Band, has 12 wins and $257,943 in earnings. Woodard claimed him on behalf of Billy, Donna, and Justin Hays for $40,000 out of a sixth-place finish at Churchill Downs in September.

In El Grande Rojo’s only stakes start, he finished second to Battle Hardened in the $25,000 Budweiser-Tondi Stakes at Fonner Park in March for trainer Marvin A. Johnson. Woodard said he hasn’t picked out a next race for El Grande Rojo, but one option is the $100,000 Pelican Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for 4-year-olds and up here Feb. 20.

“If he continues to do well, we’ll probably try him in a stakes,” Woodard said.

Twin sprints featured Sunday

Sunday’s nine-race card includes a pair of first-level optional $75,000 claimers for 3-year-olds going six furlongs. Each race offers a purse of $23,000. Race 2 drew a field of six fillies, and race 6 has a field of seven colts and geldings.

In race 2, Valueable Charmer looms as a strong contender for trainer Gerald Bennett after romping by 7 3/4 lengths in a $25,000 starter allowance here Dec. 20. The Value Plus filly earned a 63 Beyer Speed Figure, which tops this field. Ronnie Allen Jr. retains the mount.

In race 6, Peppi the Hunter and Royal Almighty return after finishing sixth and seventh in the Inaugural Stakes here Dec. 19. Royal Almighty had been a part of the exacta in all four of his prior starts and got a field-best 66 Beyer in September at Delaware Park, where he was the runner-up in a second-level optional $65,000 claimer. Jose Ferrer retains the mount.