Samuel Marin, who won last season’s Tampa Bay Downs jockeys title by riding 116 winners, received feelers during the summer about shifting his base of operations to the New York winter circuit.
The interest from northern trainers and jockey agents came as no surprise. The 24-year-old from Venezuela followed his Oldsmar campaign by finishing second in the standings at Monmouth Park in New Jersey over the summer with 66 victories, including a meet-high nine stakes triumphs.
Marin was No. 1 at Monmouth in mount purse earnings with almost $21.9-million, bettering the track’s wins leader Paco Lopez.
After discussing a possible move with his agent, former jockey Mike Moran, Marin spent about a week considering the pros and cons of competing in the Big Apple. “New York is the place where everyone wants to be, and a lot of the New York trainers helped me out at Monmouth. So for a little while, I thought I would do it.
“But we (he and Moran) did great here last year and I had a lot of fun. I get to compete against great riders, I get a lot of support from the horsemen and the Tampa fans are really cool. A lot of people are very positive with us, and it gives you a lot of confidence when you have that kind of backing.”
Make no mistake: If Marin’s career continues its ascent, he will one day graduate to New York, Kentucky or another more lucrative venue commensurate with his talents. But for now, Marin has no reservations about trying to become a back-to-back Tampa Bay Downs champ first.
Marin is a solid favorite to take home another trophy during the 100th anniversary season at Tampa Bay Downs, which celebrates Opening Day on Wednesday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:40 p.m. Admission is free and the forecast is for sunny skies, low humidity and temperatures reaching the low 80s.
For the first time, Tampa Bay Downs will employ drone technology throughout the meet to provide aerial views of the action for spectators and TV audiences. The drone shots will be displayed on the jumbo video board in the infield and televisions throughout the facility.
On the wagering front, the track is introducing a takeout rate of 10 percent on all show wagers made on-track, including MBet (the takeout will remain unchanged at 17 percent on off-track show wagers).
The 2025-26 stakes schedule begins Saturday, Dec. 6 with the $125,000 Inaugural Stakes for 2-year-olds and the $125,000 Sandpiper Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. Both races are contested at the 6-furlong distance.
The meet is laden with promotions marking the racetrack’s centennial celebration, including free admission each Wednesday. Handicappers and fans can register for the free “10 Days of Festivus Online Handicapping Contest,” which runs from Dec. 5 through Dec. 24 and offers a $1,000 first-place prize, at www.tampabaydowns.com beginning Nov. 30.
Check the website for additional promotions.
Moran, the leading jockey here in 1978 when the track was called Florida Downs, is a master motivator, wasting no time dangling the proverbial carrot in front of his charge. With his other jockey, five-time Oldsmar champion and 2024-25 runner-up Samy Camacho, not eligible to ride here until Dec. 10 due to a riding-related suspension he elected to carry over from last season, Moran sees a possibility of Marin getting off to a quick start in the standings.
“He (Marin) already has a lot of good business. If we can get lucky and get him on the right horses, I think he could set the (single-season Tampa Bay Downs) record,” Moran said, referring to Antonio Gallardo’s mark of 147 winners in 2014-15. “(Marin) is strong, he’s smart, he’s good out of the gate and he does his homework.
“He knows where he is supposed to be during a race and is not afraid to use his horse to get that spot.”
There is no question Marin will face spirited competition from a veteran cast eager to school him in the sport’s ephemeral nature of success – no matter how nice a guy he may be.
Jockeys such as Camacho, who finished third in the Monmouth standings; Gallardo, himself a five-time Tampa Bay Downs champion who captured his sixth title at Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania this year; Daniel Centeno, a six-time wins leader at the Oldsmar oval; Pablo Morales, the Presque Isle Downs runner-up; Sonny Leon, who was fifth at Tampa Bay Downs and fourth at Monmouth; and even a relatively unknown up-and-comer such as Cipriano Gil or Israel Rodriguez should have something to say about things (and don’t be surprised the first time ageless Jose Ferrer beats Marin this season in a photo finish).
But the capable guidance of Moran, combined with Marin’s ability, enthusiasm and devotion to his profession, all point to another strong season for the youngster, who joined the ranks of graded-stakes winners during the summer with a pair of Grade III victories at Monmouth on 5-year-old Surface to Air.
“I’m 100-percent focused on what I want. This is my life,” Marin said. “Even when I get done riding for the day, I still want to keep riding.”
Moran says his rider’s single-minded approach is a major factor in his rise. “He pays attention to everything. He watches replays, he works hard in the morning and he wants to be the best he can be,” Moran said. “He’s going to do everything in his power to be leading rider again.”
While the saying “youth must be served” seems appropriate to Marin, the race for leading trainer will likely fall under the heading “experience is the best teacher.”
A veteran cast is headed by Kathleen O’Connell, No. 1 the last two seasons and a four-time champion overall, who first arrived at Florida Downs in 1976 to gallop horses. She began her own stable in 1981 and has saddled 2,597 winners, with nine graded stakes victories to her credit.
O’Connell shares at least two traits with Marin: She loves working with horses and she loves the atmosphere at Tampa Bay Downs. “K.O.,” who won the 2011 Tampa Bay Derby with Watch Me Go, is always on the lookout for another graded-stakes winner, yet entirely aware of what it takes to get a horse to that level.
“We’re looking forward to having a good meet, but it never gets easy. There are a lot of good trainers at Tampa. It’s always a tough meet and a competitive meet. Everyone knows how good the (dirt) surface is and how good the turf is, and when you get south Florida shippers from trainers like (Claude) McGaughey and (Chad) Brown, they come here loaded for bear.
“You just have to be lucky and have your horses stay healthy and you have to have the right races ‘go,’ ” said O’Connell, referring to races that most closely fit the abilities of horses in a trainer’s barn. “We have a bunch of useful horses and we’ll run them where they belong. It’s like playing poker – you have to know how to play the cards and when to play them.”
Simply, a trainer who yields to an owner’s whims too many times on which contests to enter stands little chance of winning a lot of races.
O’Connell won 53 races last season, 11 more than runner-up Juan Arriagada, who has won the last three Tampa Bay Downs owner titles and again is a contender in the trainer race. Others likely to be in the mix include nine-time champion Gerald Bennett, who finished third last season; Mike Dini; Juan Carlos Avila; Jon Arnett; and Chad Brown, who finished fifth last season with 26 winners while shipping his horses here from south Florida.
A familiar face returns to the Oldsmar training ranks in Tom Proctor, who last competed at Tampa Bay Downs during the 2022-23 meet. Proctor, who is perhaps best known for winning the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Distaff with One Dreamer, captured the Grade II Nassau Stakes at Woodbine in June with 5-year-old mare Ocean Club.
Win or lose, it’s Tampa Bay Downs, where O’Connell has enjoyed much success, made enduring friendships and overcome occasional disappointments through her advocacy of the sport, and the horses under her care.
There is no place like home, and it is good to be back.
“I’m grateful for the opportunities the track and my owners here have presented me, and I’m looking forward to getting the season started. I have an amazing team that I can’t say enough about,” O’Connell said. “A lot of them are family members of people who have worked for me, and they love their jobs and are dedicated to the horses.”
