Tampa Bay Downs gears up for 86th season

The Tampa barn area will now house horses trained by Hall of Famers Bill Mott

and Carl Nafzger. Mike Maker and Buff Bradley are also notable additions to the

local training ranks, while Graham Motion is expected to have a larger presence

than ever this season. Regulars Wayne Catalano, Kathleen O'Connell and Tom

Proctor are among the big names back again.

Rejoining the Tampa jockey colony is Rosemary Homeister Jr., who gave birth

to a daughter in August. Homeister was Tampa Bay Downs' second-leading rider in

2009-10, with 98 victories, and has ridden more than 2,400 winners in her

storied career, second all-time among female jockeys to Hall of Fame member

Julie Krone.

As ever, the meet builds toward Festival Day, slated for March 10. The

Festival's centerpiece is the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby for

three-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles. The race has produced two of the last five

Kentucky Derby winners -- Nafzger's Street Sense in 2007 and Super Saver, who

won the 2009 Run for the Roses after finishing third locally.

Also on the March 10 card are the Grade 3, $150,000, Hillsborough Stakes, a 1

1/8-mile turf race for older fillies and mares, and the $100,000 Suncoast Stakes

for three-year-old fillies at one mile and 40 yards.

In total, the schedule features 25 stakes worth approximately $2.6 million.

Seven stakes races are offering increases of $25,000, fueled partially by

contributions from the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association.

The Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes for three-year-olds, the leading prep race

for the Tampa Bay Derby, has been increased to $250,000. Also on the February 4

card are two $150,000 turf races at 1 1/16 miles: the Florida Oaks for

three-year-old fillies and the Grade 3 Endeavour Stakes for older fillies and

mares. Both feature a 20-percent increase in purse money from last year. This is

the second year the Florida Oaks will be run on the turf.

Another graded stakes on the calendar is the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes for

older horses at 1 1/16 grassy miles on February 25. The purse has been raised to

$150,000.

Tampa has also announced a purse increase of $1,000 for first-level allowance

races, as well as for all open claiming events from $16,000-$25,000.

The stakes action opens with Saturday's $75,000

Lightning City, a five-furlong turf dash for fillies and mares. Defending

champion Suzzona will bid for her fifth career stakes score, having annexed The

Very One, the Candy Eclair and the Turf Amazon in the interim. The overflow

field of 14 also features Grade 3 Royal North winner Jenny's So Great; Supreme,

runner-up in the Royal North and subsequently second again in the Franklin

County; Grade 1 Princess Rooney third Indulgence; Turf Amazon runner-up Bounding

Bi; New York stakes veteran Legally Blanca; and Don'ttalktome, a 3 1/2-length

winner of the Connie Ann over Calder's turf two back.

The meet runs through May 6, with a post time of 12:25 p.m. (EST).