Trio of allowances featured on Wednesday card
Horseplayers accustomed to a steady diet of claiming races at Tampa Bay Downs in recent weeks are in for a pleasant surprise Wednesday.
Three allowances and two maiden-specials are among the eight races on a terrific card that starts at 1 p.m. Eastern. The purse for all five of those races is $20,000, except for race 3, which is worth $21,000.
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Here’s a quick look at the Wednesday highlights:
Race 2
Accessible is the morning-line favorite at even-money – and perhaps deservedly so – in a field of just six 3-year-old maidens going a mile and 40 yards.
Accessible, a gray ridgling by Tapit, has finished second in 3 of 4 career starts. He will be ridden by Samy Camacho, who starts the week just six winners (102-96) behind Antonio Gallardo atop the local jockey standings.
Race 3
Several of these filly-mare turf milers look capable of going through their second allowance condition in Kentucky or New York, including Wish Upon for John Terranova and Passing Out for Shug McGaughey. They’re the lukewarm favorites in a field of 10.
Race 5
Mr. Kringle makes his first start since finishing a late-closing second to Doc Boy in the Columbia Stakes on the March 7 Tampa Bay Derby undercard. The New York-bred colt is a 3-1 program choice in an oversubscribed lineup of 3-year-old turf milers competing under a first-level allowance condition, with Atlantic Coast shippers Assiduously and Bee Catcher among the top challengers.
Race 7
Last Promise, the winningest horse at the meet with a 5-for-7 record, is part of a well-matched field of older first-level allowance horses going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. The 6-year-old gelding figures to have Uhtred and Jack the Cat as his chief threats in another sizable field.
Race 8
First-time starters from high-profile barns help to make this a very interesting finale, as Tilsa (Jonathan Thomas), Curly Wurly (Christophe Clement), and Stolen Holiday (Shug McGaughey) come unveiled in this 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares.
There is a carryover of $7,952 in the pick six, a 20-cent jackpot wager that spans races 3-8. A single winning ticket worth $77,060 emptied the jackpot Saturday.
Sunshine and mid-80s temperatures are in the Oldsmar forecast for Wednesday.
12 more days at meet
Although the 2019-20 meet effectively was scheduled to end this coming Sunday, Tampa management announced late last week that the track has been granted an additional 12 racing dates by the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering. After this week, Tampa will race on a three-day schedule (Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays) spanning May 6-30.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has shuttered all but a handful of Thoroughbred tracks across North America, with Tampa being one of the few to continue racing this winter and spring without interruption. Since March 18, the track has conducted racing without spectators and with stringent health precautions in place because of the crisis.
Wagering handle once again should be considerably higher Wednesday than under normal circumstances, given that Tampa will be one of just three American tracks to host racing on this date, along with Fonner Park and Will Rogers Downs.