Jolley and Pino earn firsts

OLDSMAR, Fla. - Hall of Fame trainer LeRoy Jolley won with the first horse he ever ran at Tampa Bay Downs last Friday, when Marrakech ($7.20) scored by three-quarters of a length in a $30,000 maiden-claiming race for 2-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Marrakech was making his fifth start and was dropping sharply in class after racing exclusively on the New York Racing Association circuit. The Eskendereya colt is owned by the Hot Scot Racing Stables of Bev Hendry and Christine Hosier and was ridden by Jose Ferrer.

Jolley, 78, who winters in Ocala, Fla., is best known for winning the Kentucky Derby in 1975 with Foolish Pleasure and in 1980 with Genuine Risk. He also won the 1986 Breeders’ Cup Turf with Manila and the 1990 BC Juvenile Fillies with Meadow Star.

Jolley is training several horses at the Classic Mile training facility in Ocala, Fla., including Perfect Fit, a 3-year-old Majesticperfection filly who finished second in the $100,000 Trapeze Stakes last December at Remington Park for trainer Bret Calhoun. The filly is a prospect for the $100,000 Lightning City Stakes, a five-furlong turf dash for fillies and mares here Dec. 19.

Jockey Pino gets first Tampa win

When Mario Pino steered heavy favorite Chiltern Street to a 2 1/4-length victory for trainer Wesley Ward in a maiden special weight turf route last Wednesday, it marked the jockey’s 6,706th career victory and his first in Tampa. Pino, 54, who winters in Boynton Beach, Fla., has ridden sparingly here over the years, including an 0-for-4 mark at the 2014-15 meet.

Pino finished fourth in the jockeys’ standings at Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania this year with 65 wins. He ranks third among active jockeys in career wins in North America behind Russell Baze and Edgar Prado and is 10th all time.

Hillsborough Stakes upgraded

The Hillsborough Stakes was upgraded to a Grade 2 from a Grade 3 last week by the American Graded Stakes Committee, and the track will increase its purse to $200,000 from $150,000 for its 18th running March 12. That Festival Day card, led by the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby, now will offer a track-record $850,000 in stakes purses.

The Hillsborough, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares ages 4 and up, was won this year by Stephanie’s Kitten, who went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland and is a leading candidate for an Eclipse Award as the top female turf horse of 2015. In 2012, the Hillsborough was won by Zagora, who also won the BC Filly and Mare Turf and was voted an Eclipse Award winner.

◗ Antonio Gallardo, the leading jockey at the last two Tampa meets, won four races last Friday, including two for trainer Kathleen O’Connell, to take the lead in the rider standings at this young meet. Entering this week’s racing, he has six wins and six seconds from 27 mounts. Ademar Santos and Pedro Cotto Jr. are tied for second with four wins apiece.

Dale Bennett has three wins from seven starters to top the trainers’ standings.