On a day when the sun stayed hidden and high winds made it feel like 40 degrees, Quatrocento and Aussie Girl did their best to take Tampa Bay Downs spectators’ minds off the weather.
Quatrocento, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred homebred racing for owner St. George Stable and trainer Fausto Gutierrez, turned in a gate-to-wire tour de force to win the Grade III, $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes for older horses under Julien Leparoux in a time of 1:41.51 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth distance on the firm turf course.
The field was reduced to seven horses by the scratch of Discreet Dancer.
About an hour later, 6-year-old mare Aussie Girl won the Grade III, $175,000 Endeavour Stakes for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward on the turf under jockey Ben Curtis. Aussie Girl is owned by Woodford Thoroughbreds and trained by Will Walden.
Leparoux was confident he was sitting on the Tampa Bay Stakes winner after Quatrocento broke on top from the No. 3 post and was able to cruise along in fractions of 23.94 for the opening quarter-mile, 48.70 for the half and 1:12.97 for 6 furlongs. “We were able to be on the lead with those easy fractions and he just took me along,” Leparoux said. “There were good horses in there, but he was able to finish up very strong.
“Nobody really pressured me, so I was able to back up the pace a little and from there I knew he was going to be very tough to catch.”
Tom’s Magic closed well to be second under Rafael Hernandez, 3 ¾ lengths behind the winner, but never threatened for the victory. Win for the Money, who had been in a stalking position up the backstretch, finished third under Sonny Leon, a neck behind the runner-up.
The victory was the fifth in 15 starts for Quatrocento, a son of War Front out of the Tiz Wonderful mare Huasca, and his first stakes victory. Gutierrez felt confident entering the race because Quatrocento had been maturing throughout the fall, even though he didn’t have a lot to show for it.
On Oct. 4 at Keeneland, Quatrocento set the pace until the 1/8-mile pole in the Grade I Coolmore Turf Mile, and despite finishing sixth, he was beaten only 3 lengths by winner Rhetorical, who posted a swift time of 1:33.61. Prior to that, Quatrocento had won 1-mile turf allowances at Kentucky Downs in times of 1:32.98 and 1:32.13.
“He (Quatrocento) is very competitive all the time,” Gutierrez said. “When I saw 48 seconds for the half-mile today, that is the pace we wanted. Julien is such a tough rider and is an expert on the turf, and this was not quite the same kind of competition our horse had been facing.”
The late betting money poured in on Quatrocento, who paid $3.40 to win. First-place purse money of $90,000 raised his career earnings to $474,642.
In the 11-horse Endeavour Stakes (Belle of Rights had been scratched), Aussie Girl got away with moderate fractions and was never headed, powering through the stretch under jockey Ben Curtis for a 2 ½-length victory from a late-closing Candy Quest and Leon. Scythian, under Daniel Centeno, finished another neck back in third.
The victory was the sixth in 21 starts for the Irish-bred 6-year-old mare Aussie Girl and her first graded-stakes triumph. Her time for the mile-and-a-sixteenth was 1:42.62.
In her previous start, the Suwannee River Stakes on Dec. 20 at Gulfstream, Aussie Girl was pulled up after being impeded and forced wide on the first turn. She enjoyed clear sailing today, and trainer Will Walden, watching from Gulfstream, was delighted with her performance.
“I thought it was great, awesome,” Walden said. “Ben did a great job of slowing the pace down and she took care of the rest.”
The daughter of Starspangledbanner-Ravissante, by Galileo, is owned by Woodford Thoroughbreds.
Curtis found Aussie Girl willing and able throughout, despite a cold, light rain during the race.
“I thought there might be a little more speed in the race so I didn’t really ask her to go to the lead, because I was happy to sit if I had to. I didn’t want to light her up and then take her back,” he said. “There were five of us in the lane coming down to the hip, and when I saw there was no other speed I took the initiative. I saw I was on the best horse and got to the lead then as soon as possible.
“I was pretty confident once I got her to relax coming down the backside, and when she flipped her lead and came back to me I thought it would take a very good horse to beat us. She picked it up pretty well at the quarter-mile pole, and I knew nothing in that field was going to be able to get her.”
Aussie Girl paid $10.40 to win. The first-place check of $90,000 raised Aussie Girl’s earnings to $415,962.
Around the oval. Sonny Leon rode two winners today. He captured the third race on Gold Stamp, a 4-year-old Florida-bred filly owned by Ballybrit Stable and trained by Mike Dini. Leon added the fifth race with Giggity, a 3-year-old Florida-bred gelding owned by Lesley Ann Guarino and trained by Steven Cahill.
Thoroughbred racing continues Sunday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:30 p.m. Tampa Bay Downs will add Thursdays to its racing schedule on Feb. 5 and Feb. 12. The track is open every day for simulcast wagering, no-limits action and tournament play in The Silks Poker Room and professional golf instruction and pleasure at The Downs Golf Practice Facility.
