The centennial celebration at Tampa Bay Downs picks up steam this weekend leading into next Wednesday’s card, which falls on the 100th anniversary of the Feb. 18, 1926 introduction of Thoroughbred racing to the Tampa Bay area.
Luminaries such as New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth – arguably the best-known person in the country at the time – were on hand, along with heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey, U.S. Open golf champion Gene Sarazen, baseball managers John McGraw and Bucky Harris and circus impresario John Ringling.
The overflow crowd of about 5,000 included “…an array of beautifully gowned women and their gallant escorts,” according to a report in the Tampa Tribune. So, we’ll leave it to the modern-day racing fans to decide how much has changed over the last 100 years.
On Friday and Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs will host the 11th annual “Jockeys and Jeans” Fundraiser for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) on the first floor of the Grandstand. Friday’s event, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., is billed as a “Once in a Lifetime” Autograph Meet & Greet event featuring legendary riders Steve Cauthen, Laffit Pincay, Jr., Angel Cordero, Jr., Pat Day, Chris McCarron, Jean Cruguet, Sandy Hawley, Jacinto Vasquez, Edgar Prado, Jorge Velasquez, Mike Manganello, Ramon Dominguez, Earlie Fires and others.
Tickets are available for the “Once in a Lifetime” event for $40 apiece on the “Jockeys and Jeans” website at www.jockeysandjeans.com
On Saturday, active jockeys will be available for autograph signing from noon-2 p.m. on the first floor of the Grandstand. A donation to the PDJF is requested.
The PDJF is a 501 (c) (3) public charity that provides financial assistance to approximately 60 former jockeys who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries, predominantly paralysis and/or brain injuries.
On Sunday, Tampa Bay Downs will honor other area businesses and organizations that have also been in existence since 1926. They include the Safety Harbor Resort & Spa; the Tampa Theatre; Tampa General Hospital; The Junior League of Tampa; Dunedin Golf Club; and the Hotel Flor Tampa (originally opened a century ago as the Hotel Floridan).
Each celebrating business and organization will have a race named in their honor and be guests of the track. Patrons will receive free literature about them at the entrance.
Finally, next Wednesday, all patrons will receive a free Grandstand pass for the 2026-27 meet, a $100 value.
The fun is already underway, but it is about to heat up for a memorable and nostalgic series of events.
Richards saddles six consecutive winners, is Trainer of the Month. Renaldo Richards has been on the kind of roll most trainers only dream of. From Jan. 28 through today he has saddled six consecutive winners, moving into a tie for seventh in the standings with eight victories.
The 38-year-old product of Jamaica, who says his father Louis Richards and Jamaican trainer Norman Palmer are two of his biggest influences, has won seven of his last eight races and eight of his last 11. He is 8-for-28 at the meet, a 28.6-percent strike rate. His recent success has earned him the Martin’s Italian Trainer of the Month Award.
“It’s a great feeling. Not many trainers go on a winning streak like this,” said Richards, who will start his 7-year-old mare Speightful Sis in Saturday’s $100,000, 5-furlong Lightning City Stakes on the turf. “To have any kind of success, you have to be a team. My assistant Terrence Solomon, who is my cousin, has been with me on and off since I started training, and the rest of the team – the blacksmith, the vet, the grooms and the hotwalkers – all participate.
“When you have everybody doing their jobs to the best of their ability, you’re going to get results. It (the streak) is a credit to all the people around me who do the work,” he said.
Consecutive victory No. 6 came in today’s sixth race, a $5,000 claiming contest, with owner Paula S. Capestro’s 6-year-old Florida-bred horse Undalay. It was also the trainer’s 100th career winner. Apprentice Ronaldo Rodriguez was the jockey. Three of the winners during the streak are owned by Capestro.
Undalay was claimed for $5,000 by trainer Keith W. Harris for new owner Roger B. Sterling.
The conditioner’s streak began on Jan. 28 when Norfie, a 6-year-old gelding who is owned by Solomon, won a 7-furlong, $5,000 claiming race. Two days later, 6-year-old gelding Coalminer’s Kitten blew away a field of $5,000 claimers by 11 ½ lengths under jockey Samy Camacho. The time for the 7 furlongs was an eye-popping 1:22.16.
Richards, who had claimed Coalminer’s Kitten from his previous start for $5,000, didn’t get a chance to see if he could keep the horse headed on an upward swing, as he was claimed again for $5,000 by trainer Michael Simone for new owner AR Racing LLC (Marsh). “Sometimes you’ll get a horse (through a claim) that fits your program and you get good results. I figured out a couple of things (with Coalminer’s Kitten), but it’s not that he really improved – it’s putting them in the right spots where they can be competitive,” Richards said.
Subsequent victories during the streak came with 8-year-old gelding Wora and 4-year-old gelding Twelve Treasures, both owned by Capestro, and 5-year-old mare Stormy Mitole, Richards trains eight horses for Capestro.
Richards, who currently has 13 horses in his barn – “I might claim two today and lose one tomorrow,” he said – is grateful for his run of success. “I just have to give thanks to God first of all, and to the people who support me,” he said. “If you come here with the mentality that you’re going to win every day – that’s not going to happen.
“When things aren’t going well, you have to accept what the results are, keep trying and move forward.”
Around the oval. Thoroughbred racing continues Thursday with an eight-race card beginning at 12:35 p.m.
Marcos Meneses and Samy Camacho each rode two winners today. Meneses won the third race on Hard Talk, a 3-year-old Florida-bred colt owned by Flying Finish Farm and trained by Rory C. Miller. Meneses added the fifth with Mighty Army, a 3-year-old colt owned by Joe Andrew Schumer and trained by Tena Birdwell.
Camacho captured the fourth race on the turf aboard Roscommon, a 3-year-old gelding owned by Metro Thoroughbreds and trained by Derek Ryan. Camacho also won the seventh on Double Echo, a 4-year-old gelding owned by Rocket Wrench Racing and trained by Martin Escobar.
