Speedy Florida-breds meet in two sprint stakes
A pair of $100,000 stakes for Florida-breds anchor a 10-race Saturday card at Tampa Bay Downs, where perfect weather should make for a fast track and firm turf.
The City of Ocala, for fillies and mares, and the Marion County, for 3-year-olds and up, will both be run at seven furlongs on a card that starts at 12:27 p.m. Eastern. Both are for Florida-breds eligible for the Florida Sire Stakes and sired by a Florida stallion.
After Saturday, Tampa goes dark for three days before another three-day race week resumes Wednesday. There will be a five-week gap to the next set of stakes races, the Pasco, Gasparilla, and Wayward Lass on Jan. 14.
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City of Ocala (race 6)
R Adios Jersey won this race last year as a 3-year-old by 11 lengths as a 1-5 favorite. She’ll be returning from a layoff of more than six months in a field of six.
“She got sick after her last race,” said Rich Averill, a perennial leading Tampa owner who co-owns and manages the daughter of Adios Charlie. “We gave her time off, and then she was actually ready to run maybe a month or so ago. There wasn’t really anything suitable for her, and we’ve had this race circled for her for some time. I didn’t want to miss this one. This is the spot where hopefully she shows that she’s back.”
R Adios Jersey, trained by Gerald Bennett, will have Antonio Gallardo riding from post 5 as clearly the horse to beat in the City of Ocala. Her romp in this race last December graded out to an 89 Beyer Speed Figure, a number that towers over what any of her opponents have yet to earn. If she stubs her toe, then maybe Don’t Get Khozy or Restofthestory, Gulfstream Park shippers familiar with each other, could spring the upset.
Marion County (race 9)
The Marion County appears a bit more balanced, with Willy Boi a likely favorite in a field of eight when he looks to carry his superior speed a bit farther than what he’s used to.
Overmatched five Saturdays ago in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland, where he finished 10th of 11 at 35-1, Willy Boi now returns to statebred company and looks to put the finishing touches on what has been a productive 2022. Since Jorge Delgado began training for Bill Cosgrove of Lea Farms early this year, the 4-year-old gelding has won 3 of 5 starts, including a win in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint and a third-place finish behind Jackie’s Warrior in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt.
Chantal Sutherland, in from Gulfstream, will be aboard Willy Boi for the sixth consecutive race. She will need to dole out his speed to outlast some pretty capable rivals. That group includes the stretch-running Noble Drama, an earner of nearly $800,000, and Gatsby, an Arindel homebred with a 103 Beyer on his past performances.
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