Salter building stable from the ground up

Stan Salter, who has been involved in racing for some 30 years in various capacities, will make his training debut Wednesday at Tampa Bay Downs, saddling a first-time starter named Two Spot in the fourth race.

Salter, 47, was galloping horses in his teens before becoming a producer and host of racing-related shows on television and radio in Maryland, as well as a racing official. Salter has been living in a tack room on the Tampa backstretch since mid-January while preparing Two Spot, his only horse, for her debut.

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“She’s a smart filly, maybe needs a little more ground,” Salter said. “She had seven months’ foundation before she came to me, so she’s dead-fit.”

The career shift for Salter, who intends to move back north and grow his stable after the Tampa meet ends, has led to a challenging period in his life, “but I know what I signed up for,” he said.

◗ Xy Speed, a last-out runner-up in the Tampa Turf Dash on Feb. 19, is the 3-5 morning-line favorite in the Wednesday feature (race 5), a $24,000 starter allowance going five furlongs on the turf. Xy Speed will have the meet-leading jockey-trainer combination of Samy Camacho and Gerald Bennett in his corner when breaking from post 6 in a field of eight older horses.

The new first post for a nine-race card is 12:35 p.m. Eastern. Turf racing (races 5, 7, 9) surely will be held as scheduled given a forecast of sunshine and a high of 88.

◗ Rocco Bowen is named on three mounts Friday at Tampa after spending several weeks with his family in his native Barbados. Bowen, who last rode Feb. 27, soon will be on his way back north to ride at Hawthorne and Horseshoe Indianapolis.

◗ Jose Batista was named jockey of the month at Tampa by a local sponsor after riding 12 winners in a span of 13 racing days. Batista, 25, begins this week seventh in the meet standings with 31 winners.