OLDSMAR, Fla. – Tim Padilla has spent winters at places like Oaklawn Park and Hawthorne Race Course, where a trainer is often forced to walk and shed-row his stock when winter storms and frigid weather keep tracks closed for training. So, when Padilla, a native of Phoenix with 23 years of experience as a trainer, shipped into Oldsmar, it took only a few days of blue skies and balmy temperatures to convince him that his decision to race at Tampa Bay Downs this winter was a wise one, at least from a climate standpoint. Of course, good weather only means that interruptions in training are at a minimum; it doesn’t guarantee success with one’s runners. A lot of stables have come to Tampa with fanfare and high hopes, only to quietly leave town humbled and disappointed. It takes a sharp trainer to learn how to win over Tampa’s sandy strip, but Padilla has adapted well. He notched his second win from 10 starts Saturday when Cowboy Luke took a $6,250 claiming route. On Dec. 28, his Financial Freedom ran lights out in winning a maiden special weight sprint. After tracking the leader through a half-mile in 44.73 seconds, Financial Freedom opened a comfortable lead after six furlongs in 1:09.94 and had enough left to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:22.98, one of the faster seven-furlong clockings of the meeting. By comparison, Catalina Red covered seven furlongs in 1:21.40 to set a track record in the Pasco Stakes a day earlier. Padilla was asked if having Financial Freedom gelded was the main reason for the horse’s improvement. “I certainly think it helped,” Padilla said, “but I think more than anything, he’s just starting to grow up and get his head together. When he was younger, he was bad in and around the gate, and things scared him at times. But lately, he’s starting to figure things out and isn’t spooked as much. He’s certainly headed in the right direction now, and we’re looking for a non-winners of a race other than maiden or claiming for him later this month.” Padilla has a 4-year-old named Merango Tango who he believes could be special. Merango Tango won his first two career races at Remington Park, earning Beyer Speed Figures of 79 and 82, and the trainer is cautiously optimistic about his future. “He could really be a nice one,” Padilla said. “He had a minor problem after his second start, and we’re taking our time with him, but if he comes back and races like he did in his first two starts, he could make this a big year for us.” Include’s offspring sparks memories Include Betty was racing well off the early lead to the far turn of last Saturday’s seventh race at a mile and 40 yards, lagging back by more than 10 lengths. But when she got into gear, she evoked memories of her stretch-running sire, Include, gobbling up ground through the second turn and then running down the leaders outside late in that maiden special weight test under Rosemary Homeister Jr. Dickie Small, who died last year, trained Include and the stretch-running stars Concern and Broad Brush, who was Include’s sire. Tom Proctor trains Include Betty, who bested runners trained by such high-profile horsemen as Todd Pletcher and Hall of Famers Nick Zito and Bill Mott in her win Saturday. Her part-owner is former Kentucky Gov. Brereton C. Jones.