OLDSMAR, Fla. – After being the underdog trying to beat the big guns for years, Sandino Hernandez is enjoying being the trainer saddling the horses to beat these days at Tampa Bay Downs. Hernandez has sent out 26 starters at this meet and has 10 wins for a blistering 38 percent win rate. Hernandez, who has been training for more than 30 years, managed to make a living on the tough New York circuit, but said he never had the kind of owners that allowed him to compete with many of the high-profile outfits. “It was tough,” Hernandez recently told Tampa Bay Downs publicist Mike Henry. “It was hard to find owners who could give you the financial backing to come up with the stock to compete at that level, and if you had claiming horses with any ability they’re going to get claimed from you. That’s why it’s nice to have an opportunity like I have here with some nice horses, horses that try hard.” The reason Hernandez has horses like Unstoppable U, who beat optional $100,000 claiming routers on Saturday for his second straight win this meet, and stakes winner Nesso, is longtime friend Dennis Amaty, who named Hernandez his head trainer last year. Amaty and Hernandez grew up in Floral Park, a community on Long Island that abuts the grounds of Belmont Park, and attended high school together. After high school, Hernandez moved to the track, where his cousin Ruben was one of the top riders on the New York circuit, and Amaty tried the business world, where he did quite well as an aviation parts distributor. In 2011, Amaty began racing as Amaty Racing Stables from his farm in Lake Worth, Fla. It took a few years for him to gain experience heading a racing and breeding operation, but in 2013 Amaty’s starters won at a 31 percent clip, and last season the stable won at a 20 percent rate. The stable has been clicking on all cylinders since Hernandez took over as trainer midway through the 2014 campaign. Nesso is eligible for the Grade 3, $150,000 Hillsborough Stakes on March 7 and the $75,000 Pleasant Acres Stallion Distaff Turf against statebreds on April 4, both at 1 1/16 miles on turf. Unstoppable U could see action in the $60,000 Challenger Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 7.