Smart as Me continues to shine at Tampa Bay Downs

One of the standout horses at the Tampa meet has been Smart as Me, a 4-year-old colt who won again Saturday for co-owner and trainer Craig R. Smith. From six starts, Smart as Me has closed from far back to finish first four times (and was disqualified from one of those wins), with his latest victory coming in a first-level allowance going a mile on the turf.

Smith, 39, traveled more than 3,000 miles in his horse van from his western Canada base in November to spend his first winter at Tampa since 2012. Overall, he has five wins and seven seconds from 35 starts at a meet that began Nov. 23. Smith is a perennial top-five trainer at his home track, Century Mile, in Edmonton, Alberta.

“Tampa is a great place to develop horses,” Smith said. “I’ve always wanted to come back.”

Florida Cup on Sunday

The annual Florida Cup series will anchor the coming weekend at Tampa when run for the 20th time Sunday. Six $110,000 races, all restricted to Florida-breds in a variety of categories, will anchor an 11-race card when bringing an end to the 2022-23 stakes schedule. Entries will be drawn Thursday.

Munnys Gold, a Todd Pletcher-trained filly with 101 and 88 Beyer Speed Figures in easily winning both career starts, figures as a big favorite in the seven-furlong Sophomore Fillies after breezing a half-mile Sunday in 50.20 at Palm Beach Downs.

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