Hold On Smokey seeks 20th win in turf sprint

OLDSMAR, Fla. – The ageless wonder Hold On Smokey, who chased Bold Thunder’s track-record-setting performance when fourth in the Tampa Turf Dash in his last start, goes after his 20th career victory Saturday when he tops a solid field of eight sprint specialists in Tampa Bay Downs’s five-furlong optional-claiming headliner on turf.

Augusto Marin returns aboard the 10-year-old veteran as Hold On Smokey makes his 20th start over the Tampa turf course. Hold On Smokey has six wins and seven runner up efforts from those starts.

Last time out, Hold On Smokey was sent off at 40-1 in the Turf Dash while racing against top-flight sprint company, but the Joyce Kielty homebred certainly didn’t race like a longshot, chasing the front-running Bold Thunder through fractions of 20.90 and 43.09 seconds before weakening to fourth, as Bold Thunder covered the five furlongs in 54.63 to set a track record for the distance.

Prior to that solid effort, Hold On Smokey had dueled through the lane of a five-furlong optional-claiming sprint on turf before just being outkicked by Cee ’n O by a half-length.

The probable betting favorite in Saturday’s feature is Varsity from the powerful Christophe Clement stable.

Varsity has made only one start since February 2014, and that was an eventful outing, as Varsity was bumped and steadied in a tough allowance sprint at Gulfstream and was elevated from sixth to fifth by disqualification.

The 8-year-old has made only 18 lifetime starts but has kept top company throughout his career. He counts the 2013 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint and Monmouth’s 2012 McSorley Stakes among his six career wins and has been training forwardly for this first start since December.

KEY CONTENDERS

Hold On Smokey (Last 3 Beyers: 86-77-41)

◗ He can still run with the big dogs at age 10, as shown in the Turf Sprint last out, and he is rarely overbet.

Varsity (Last 3 Beyers: 77-92-92)

◗ He certainly has the speed numbers to be the one to catch, and his morning drills for his first start since December are solid.

Rojo Verde (Last 3 Beyers: 70-78-91)

◗ He may not have liked the Gulfstream surface last out, but he has a solid local effort earlier in the meeting and overcame trouble to win that one.

◗ He might be the value play of this group.