OLDSMAR, Fla. – The trainers’ race at the 2014-15 Tampa Bay Downs meeting might go down to the final days, but there’s no question who will be the leading rider. For the second straight year, Antonio Gallardo will top the jockeys’ standings, and the only question is whether he will win in record-setting fashion. Through Sunday, Gallardo had won 131 races, 13 shy of Daniel Centeno’s record of 144 victories set at the 2007-08 meeting. The meet ends June 30. Of course, racking up numbers like Gallardo has done at this meeting also means putting in a lot of work physically and mentally. The rider has had 526 mounts during the meeting, and in an occupation that calls for intense concentration and physical strength, the challenge of preventing burnout of the mind and body is a constant one. Gallardo was asked recently if fatigue, either mental or physical, has been a problem during five months of work and stress, and how he manages to remain fresh and competitive. “I’ve felt pretty good all along,” the Spaniard said shortly before going into the jockeys’ room for an afternoon of work. “As to the physical toll, I try to take care of myself nutrition-wise, and since we do race four days a week most of the meet, on my days off, I just spend time with the family and try to just relax and unwind. Those dark days help me remain relatively fresh.” As to the mental part of the business, Gallardo said he talks with his agent, Mike Moran, every racing day, and Moran’s advice helps him a lot. “Mike reminds me about how to not get into bad tendencies out there, and we also look over races in the morning and discuss how certain races should play out,” the rider said. “[Moran] makes sure I’m prepared mentally every racing day.” Gallardo ranks third in the country in races won this year behind Javier Castellano and T.D. Houghton and is hopeful he’ll be in the hunt for that title all season long. “This will be my second year at Presque Isle,” he said. “More people know me now, so I’m hopeful we’ll have another good meeting there, and if we’re close to the top in races won this fall, I may ride at ThistleDown in the afternoon, then at Presque Isle at night.” It’s a strange coincidence that Gallardo is behind Houghton in the battle for races won. Houghton, the leading rider at Tampa Bay Downs in 1998-99 and 1999-2000, was one of seven riders denied access to the grounds in December 2006 in what many considered to be one of the track’s darkest hours. Track management announced that the action was taken as part of an “ongoing investigation by the [Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau].” Houghton, who had won 249 races that season prior to the track’s action in early December, aggressively sought the right to ride at other venues through the court system and returned to the saddle not long after at Hawthorne. In the ensuing eight-plus years since his expulsion at Tampa Bay Downs, Houghton has won 1,386 races, and except for 2014, when he was sidelined by injuries for several months, the rider has won at least 100 races every season. He has 5,327 lifetime wins. Derek Bell, who also has a local riding title to his credit, also was denied access to the grounds that day. He filed a civil suit against the track in 2011. Joe Judice, another former leading rider who was removed from the grounds, later sustained career-ending injuries in a spill at Colonial Downs. None of the aforementioned riders was ever formally charged in court. Jockey Ricardo Valdes and two other individuals were charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit sports bribery in 2009 in connection with the investigation. Tampa alums keep winning Residents of the Tampa backstretch this winter continue to strut their stuff around the country. On Saturday, Dramedy, who had a win and a second on turf here at this meeting, stunned the field in the Grade 2, $250,000 Elkhorn Stakes going 1 1/2 miles on turf at Keeneland. Trained by Gerald Aschinger, Dramedy returned a whopping $63.60. Meanwhile at Pimlico, Galiana, who won an optional-claiming sprint on the main track here and finished fourth in the $96,250 Lightning City Stakes sprinting on turf, rallied to upset her field in the $100,000 Primonetta Stakes for her 12th career win. Rodolpho Romero trains Galiana, who returned $18.