Tampa Bay repackages stakes to feature big-event days
Tampa Bay Downs has scheduled 23 stakes worth a total of $2.7 million for its 2015-16 race meet, essentially the same as the prior meet, but when the Oldsmar, Fla., oval resumes racing Saturday, Nov. 28, the meet will have a slightly different look.
Continuing a trend seen at other tracks, Tampa Bay Downs is grouping multiple stakes races together on several Saturdays to heighten interest for the biggest day of the racing week.
“Creating a series of big-event cards that offer outstanding purse money and top-level Thoroughbreds enables us to stimulate fan interest and increase wagering,” Peter Berube, the track’s vice president and general manager, said in a statement. “The success of events such as the Breeders’ Cup has served as the impetus for many tracks to stage multiple stakes on a single afternoon.”
The highlight of the meet will be the 36th annual Festival Day card on March 12, featuring the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby for 3-year-olds, which awards qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby to its top four finishers.
That card, which offers a track-record $800,000 in stakes purses, also includes the Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on turf; the Grade 3, $150,000 Hillsborough Stakes for older fillies and mares on turf; and the $100,000 Challenger Stakes for older horses. The Challenger got a $40,000 purse hike this year, lifting the value of this meet’s stakes schedule above the prior meet’s track-record $2.66 million.
The second-biggest day of the meet will be Festival Preview Day on Feb. 13, featuring the local prep for the Tampa Bay Derby, the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes. The card also includes the Grade 3, $150,000 Tampa Bay Stakes for older horses on turf; the Grade 3, $150,000 Endeavour Stakes for older fillies and mares on turf; and the $100,000 Suncoast Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.
Festival Day and its preview day are sponsored by Lambholm South, a 1,830-acre Thoroughbred facility in Reddick, Fla.
There will be six Saturdays with multiple stakes races. The only standalone stakes at the meet is the $100,000 Turf Dash for older horses Jan. 9.
The stakes schedule kicks off Dec. 19 with a trio of $100,000 sprints: the Inaugural for 2-year-olds, the Sandpiper for 2-year-old fillies, and the Lightning City for fillies and mares on turf. The stakes schedule concludes April 9 with the 14th annual Florida Cup program, featuring six stakes for Florida-breds worth $75,000 apiece.
Many top Thoroughbreds have raced during the winter at Tampa Bay Downs, including Kentucky Derby winners Street Sense (2007) and Super Saver (2010). Stephanie’s Kitten, who won the 2015 Hillsborough Stakes, concluded her career Oct. 31 with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
The track’s 90th anniversary meet technically began July 1 with a single card that qualifies the track as a year-round live-racing venue. That allows Tampa Bay Downs to import simulcast signals as its own hub throughout the year instead of paying another track to serve as its hub.
Racing will take place Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Beginning Dec. 20, Sundays are added to the schedule. The regular schedule ends May 8, and there’s a final card Thursday, June 30.
2015-16 stakes schedule
| DATE | RACE | CONDITIONS | DISTANCE | PURSE |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | Inaugural Stakes | 2YO Open | 6F | $100,000 |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | Sandpiper Stakes | 2YO Fillies | 6F | $100,000 |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | Lightning City Stakes | 3YO & UP F&M | 5F (T) | $100,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 9 | Turf Dash | 4YO & UP Open | 5F (T) | $100,000 |
| Sat., Jan 23 | Wayward Lass Stakes | 4YO & UP F&M | 1 1/16M | $50,000 |
| Sat., Jan 23 | Pasco Stakes | 3YO Open | 7F | $100,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 23 | Gasparilla Stakes | 3YO Fillies | 7F | $100,000 |
| Sat., Feb. 13 | Suncoast Stakes | 3YO Fillies | 1M, 40 YDS | $100,000 |
| Sat., Feb. 13 | Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) | 3YO Open | 1 1/16M | $250,000 |
| Sat., Feb. 13 | Tampa Bay Stakes (G3) | 4YO & UP Open | 1 1/16M (T) | $150,000 |
| Sat., Feb. 13 | Endeavour Stakes (G3) | 4YO & UP F&M | 1 1/16M (T) | $150,000 |
| Sat., Feb. 20 | Pelican Stakes | 4YO & UP Open | 6F | $100,000 |
| Sat., Feb. 20 | Minaret Stakes | 4YO & UP F&M | 6F | $350,000 |
| Sat., March 12 | Tampa Bay Derby (G2) | 3YO Open | 1 1/16M | $350,000 |
| Sat., March 12 | Florida Oaks (G3) | 3YO Fillies | 1 1/16M (T) | $200,000 |
| Sat., March 12 | Hillsborough Stakes (G3) | 4YO & UP F&M | 1 1/18M (T) | $150,000 |
| Sat., March 12 | Challenger Stakes | 4YO & UP Open | 1 1/16M | $100,000 |
| Sat., April 9 | Florida Cup Sprint | 4YO & UP Open | 6F | $75,000 |
| Sat., April 9 | Florida Cup Sophomore | 3YO Open | 7F | $75,000 |
| Sat., April 9 | Florida Cup Sophomore Fillies | 3YO Fillies | 7F | $75,000 |
| Sat., April 9 | Florida Cup Sophomore Turf | 3YO Open | 1 1/16M (T) | $75,000 |
| Sat., April 9 | Florida Cup Distaff Turf | 3YO & UP F&M | 1 1/16M (T) | $75,000 |
| Sat., April 9 | Florida Cup Turf Classic | 4YO & UP Open | 1 1/8M (T) | $75,000 |