The 2025-26 Tampa Bay Downs stakes schedule kicks off Saturday, Dec. 6 with the 40th running of the $125,000 Inaugural Stakes for 2-year-olds and the 48th edition of the $125,000 Sandpiper Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. Both races will be contested at a distance of 6 furlongs on the main track.
The Inaugural drew 29 nominations – 27 colts and geldings, plus a ridgling and a filly – while the Sandpiper drew 30 nominations. The Inaugural is a prep race for the 7-furlong Pasco Stakes on Jan. 10 for newly-turned 3-year-olds, while the Sandpiper is a prep for the 7-furlong Gasparilla Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Jan. 10.
Among the nominees for the Inaugural is Kentucky-bred colt Hammond, whose two victories include the Juvenile Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Saturday. Hammond is trained by Saffie A. Joseph, Jr., who will determine whether two weeks is sufficient time between starts for the son of Charlatan.
Joseph has nominated three other horses for the Inaugural: Langvad, a maiden winner on Nov. 8 at Gulfstream; Solitude Dude, whose lone start on Nov. 1 at Gulfstream produced a 9 ½-length victory; and stakes-placed Strategic Reserve.
Trainer Brian Lynch, who won last year’s Inaugural with Donut God, has nominated two colts. Both are owned by Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing, the owners of Donut God and last season’s Grade III Tampa Bay Derby winner Owen Almighty.
The Lynch nominees for the Inaugural are Mob, who captured his career debut on Sunday at Churchill Downs, and Roger That Dana, an easy winner in his debut on Oct. 25 at Gulfstream.
Top trainer Brad Cox has two Inaugural nominees. His colt Commandment broke his maiden on Nov. 1 at Churchill in his second start, while his other nominee, Zun Day, broke his maiden on Nov. 5 in Louisville.
Here are the links to the Inaugural Stakes nominees and their past performances:
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20251206-598366
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20251206-598366
Tampa Bay Downs’s leading trainer the last two years, Kathleen O’Connell, won back-to-back runnings of the Sandpiper Stakes with Lindsey Lane and Shananie’s Beat in 1993 and 1994, has nominated breeder-owner James Chicklo’s filly Gerrards Cross to this year’s race. The Florida-bred is 2-for-2 and won the Colleen Stakes on the turf at Monmouth Park on July 27 in her last start.
Joseph is represented by five Sandpiper nominees. That quintet includes Tessellate, who won the Nov. 15 Juvenile Fillies Sprint Stakes on Nov. 15 at Gulfstream by 13 lengths, and My Miss Mo, who broke her maiden by 12 lengths on Nov. 9 at Gulfstream.
Lynch, who won last year’s Sandpiper with Mrs Worldwide for Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing, has nominated two fillies: Flying Dutchmen’s Slay the Day, who broke her maiden on Nov. 16 at Churchill, and owner William K. Werner’s maiden Betty’s Pearl.
Cox has nominated three, including two-time winner On Time Girl, second in her last start on Oct. 24 at Keeneland in the Dean Dorton Myrtlewood Stakes.
Here are the links to the Sandpiper Stakes nominees and their past performances:
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-TAM-20251206-598367
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SNPP-TAM-20251206-598367
Around the oval. Long known for his success with 2-year-olds, trainer Wesley Ward sent out Augustin Stables’ gelding Distinct to win the fifth race on the turf by 3 ½ lengths from Giulio Cesare. Pablo Morales rode the winner, who completed the 1-mile distance on the firm course in his first career start in 1:37.25.
Distinct was claimed from the race for $16,000 by trainer Jose A. Gallegos for his new owner, Amaty Racing Stables.
Morales also won the seventh race on the turf on 4-year-old gelding Chicago Theatre. The Glen Hill Farm homebred is trained by Tom Proctor.
Another impressive performance was turned in by 3-year-old Florida-bred gelding El Chispazo in the second race on the main track. Owned and trained by Juan Arriagada, he won by 13 lengths under jockey Ademar Santos in a time of 1:39.47 for the mile-and-40-yard distance, 1.33 seconds off the track record.
Tampa Bay Downs is closed in its entirety on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. Thoroughbred racing continues Friday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:45 p.m. The fifth, seventh and ninth races are slated to take place on the turf.
Tampa Bay Downs races on a Wednesday-Friday-Saturday schedule, with Sundays added to the mix on Dec. 21. With the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas, Dec. 25, Tampa Bay Downs is open every day for simulcast wagering, no-limits action and tournament play in The Silks Poker Room and golf fun and instruction at The Downs Golf Practice Facility.
Register for “10 Days of Festivus.” The “10 Days of Festivus Challenge” Handicapping Contest begins Friday, Dec. 5, and runs through Wednesday, Dec. 24. There is no charge to enter, but players must register by 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 5 to be eligible. The winner receives a $1,000 cash prize and the runner-up earns $500.
Each day, players select one of two designated CHALLENGE RACES and their choice in the race, with results determined from a mythical $2 win-place-show wager on their pick. Players begin with a free lifeline and have an opportunity throughout the contest to purchase five more. Players lose a lifeline if their choice does not finish first, second or third, or if they fail to make a selection on a contest day.
A full set of rules is available at www.festivuschallenge.com , which is also the place to register. See how your skills stack up against many of the track’s top handicappers.
Officials and staff of Tampa Bay Downs invite Thoroughbred lovers and newcomers alike to share in the excitement of the Oldsmar oval’s meet-long centennial celebration, commemorating the track’s opening on Feb. 18, 1926.
