Tampa Bay horsemen dominating at Presque Isle

If you look at the jockey/trainer standings at Presque Isle Downs you might think you are at Tampa Bay Downs north. The trainer standings show Jamie Ness with 26 wins and a huge lead. Ness tied with Kathleen O'Connell for the training title at Tampa Bay this spring with 51 wins. Dale Bennett was third in the Tampa Bay standings and going into Wednesday's card was second to Ness with nine victories.

Daniel Centeno is atop the Presque Isle jockey standings with 29 wins, four more than Scott Spieth. Centeno won the riding title at Tampa Bay Downs this year. If you peruse the top 10 jockeys at Presque Isle, you will find seven of the top 10 jockeys from Tampa Bay Downs. The others are Ronnie Allen Jr., Huber Villa Gomez, Willie Martinez, Andrew Ramgeet, Pablo Morales, and Carlos Montalvo.

This is the first year the 38-year-old Centeno has ridden at Presque Isle.

"I didn't know what to expect because I have never been here before," he said. "I like the surface, the horses handle it well and travel smoothly over it."

Although Ness uses other riders, Centeno gets the bulk of his mounts, according to Centeno's agent, Danny Mellul.

"I would say we ride about 75 percent of his horses both at Tampa and here," Mellul said. "He uses one or two other riders in both spots.