In the first week of December 2023, Yellow Feathers delivered an eye-catching performance, winning a six-furlong maiden race by 9 1/2 lengths at Tampa Bay Downs. It was her second career start, first on dirt. As talented as she appeared, her connections felt she wasn’t quite mentally ready for a steady campaign. Instead of pressing on, trainer and part-owner Aldana Spieth and her husband, jockey Scott Spieth, opted to back off. “After breaking her maiden, she was getting much too forward,” Scott Spieth, a winner of more than 5,000 races, said. “We decided to let her grow up a little bit, we know we got a runner, let’s back off and regroup. Fortunately, my wife owns a part of her and the other owners are very in tune with that, knowing we got a long-term prospect; we’re not looking for what we can do this week but more what’s best for the horse’s career.” Wednesday, a year and two days after that maiden score, Yellow Feathers returns to Tampa in a second-level allowance with the hopes of using it as a springboard to bigger and better things this winter. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Yellow Feathers has run four times since her maiden score here a year ago. Two were on the synthetic surface at Presque Isle, where she ran respectable, but not great. On Aug. 28, back on dirt at Penn National, Yellow Feathers won a first-level allowance by 5 3/4 lengths. A month later, she made her stakes debut in the Weather Vane at Laurel, where she finished eighth of 11, 6 1/4 lengths behind the winner Irish Maxima, who came back to win her next start in allowance company at Parx before a runner-up finish in a stakes at Mahoning Valley. The third-place finisher from the Weather Vane, Roanan Goddess, won Saturday’s Safely Kept Stakes at Laurel. In the Weather Vane, on Sept. 22, Spieth felt that Yellow Feathers may have been compromised by her wide trip as well as her ship from Presque Isle to Laurel. “I think having to ship took the edge off of her, she didn’t show her typical speed,” Scott Spieth said. Yellow Feathers has been at Tampa long enough to get two works in leading to her return. Wednesday’s race will be at seven furlongs, her first start beyond six furlongs. “For me, I anticipate the farther she goes, the better she’s going to be,” Spieth said. “I gallop her every morning, I ride her, she shows me two turns is where I’m ultimately looking for.” Sea Art, a 5-year-old daughter of Klimt, won three times from five starts at Tampa last winter, including a win in this same condition and at seven furlongs. She raced four times at Delaware over the summer and fall with her best finish being a third. Adios Babe ships in from Gulfstream off a Florida-bred allowance win in the slop on Oct. 12. Adios Babe moves from Victor Barboza Jr. to trainer Juan Avila, who is 3 for 6 so far at this meet. Brookmesa won a maiden at Delaware and an allowance at Monmouth before finishing 10th in the Weather Vane for trainer Terri Pompay. Sweet Laura has won seven of her last eight starts between Delta Downs, Prairie Meadows, and FanDuel Racing for trainer Jon Arnett, who also sends out Broken Hearts Bay. Terranova off to good start John Terranova doesn’t go to Tampa every winter, but when he does, it’s usually wise to pay attention. Over three meets from 2018-19 to 2022-23 – he didn’t go in 2020-21 – Terranova won 29 races at Tampa. After skipping last year, Terranova is back at Tampa and got the 2024-25 meet off to a good start Saturday when Ozzy won a maiden $32,000 claiming race and True Myth was third in a maiden special weight on the turf. Terranova said he will eventually have 20 head at Tampa including some who will ship down from Kentucky and New York. The stable will be a mix of young horses looking to get started, some mid-level horses who may find the company easier than in New York, and a few stakes runners such as Our Shot and Italian Soiree who will be returning from a freshening during the first quarter of 2025. Our Shot, who won the Grade 2 Woodford at Keeneland in October, could be a candidate for the $125,000 Turf Dash on Feb. 22, Terranova said. Our Shot won an allowance race at Tampa in March 2023. “Tampa’s great, it’s such a good [turf] course, they come out of there so well. I’m excited to see how things go this winter,” said Terranova, who will also have about a 12-horse string at Palm Meadows across the state. ◗ Samy Camacho, the leading rider at Tampa Bay Downs at five of the last six meets, has gotten off to a fast start at the 2024-25 meet. Through the first five cards of racing, Camacho is 12 for 34, seven more wins than Pablo Morales, who is 5 for 17. Camacho has already posted a pair of four-win days, on Nov. 20 and 23. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.