OLDSMAR, FL. – Saturday at the Oldsmar oval shapes up as one of those days thoroughbred racing fans dream about.
A nine-race card with four turf races has attracted 83 horses, with only the second race having fewer than eight entries. The first post time is 12:05 p.m.
Adding to the excitement, Tampa Bay Downs will simulcast three major Kentucky Derby prep races for 3-year-olds: the Grade I Toyota Blue Grass from Keeneland, the Grade I RUNHAPPY Santa Anita Derby from southern California and the Grade II Wood Memorial Presented by Resorts World Casino from Aqueduct. All three races are contested at a distance of a mile-and-an-eighth.
Another 10 graded stakes will be simulcast as Keeneland, Santa Anita and Aqueduct bundle their big races on the same day in expectations of massive pari-mutuel pools.
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In the $1-million Toyota Blue Grass, scheduled to go off at 5:15 p.m. as Keeneland’s ninth race, Grade III Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby winner Tapit Trice will break from the No. 1 post.
The Todd Pletcher trainee, who will again be ridden by Luis Saez, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the 11-horse field.
Also entered is the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby runner-up and Grade III Sam F. Davis Stakes third-place finisher Classic Car Wash. The Mark Casse-trained gelding is in the No. 4 post under Javier Castellano.
Should either, or both, advance to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on May 6, they will bid to become the fourth horse to win the Run for the Roses after competing at Tampa Bay Downs, joining Street Sense, Super Saver and Always Dreaming
The $750,000 RUNHAPPY Santa Anita Derby, which is the sixth at Santa Anita, will begin at 5:43 Eastern Daylight Time.
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Heading the nine-horse field at 8-5 on the morning line is trainer Tim Yakteen’s colt Practical Move, who won the Grade I San Felipe Stakes on March 4. Ramon Vazquez is the jockey on Practical Move, who has the No. 5 post.
The $750,000 Wood Memorial Presented by Resorts World Casino is the 11th race at Aqueduct, with post time at 6:16 p.m. There are 13 entered, with trainer Brad Cox’s Hit Show the 5-2 morning-line favorite despite drawing the outside post.
He won the Grade III Withers Stakes on Feb. 11 in his most recent start. Manuel Franco is the jockey.
Three horses with Tampa Bay Downs form are entered in the Wood Memorial. They are trainer Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.’s Lord Miles, who finished fifth in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby and will be ridden by Paco Lopez; Joseph’s colt Knox, who was sixth here as a 2-year-old in December in the Inaugural Stakes and will have the services of Jose Antonio Gomez; and Pletcher’s colt Classic Catch, who was third here on Jan. 13 in an allowance/optional claiming race and will be ridden by Trevor McCarthy.
Like the Blue Grass and the Santa Anita Derby, the Wood Memorial offers 100 “Road to the Kentucky Derby” qualifying points to the winner and 40, 30, 20 and 10 to the next four finishers. For Lord Miles, Knox and Classic Catch, it’s put-up-or-shut-up time if they want to make it to Louisville.
Back home, Saturday’s fifth race is the annual Oldsmar Cup, celebrating the relationship between Tampa Bay Downs and the city. The 1-mile turf contest has attracted a field of nine 3-year-olds running for a claiming price of $20,000. The 5-2 morning-line favorite is trainer Mike Dini’s gelding Bramble Blaze, who will be ridden by Maddie Rowland.
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Quinonez is Boot Barn Jockey of the Month.
Alonso Quinonez found his horse of a lifetime late in 2007, about the same time the then-23-year-old Mexico product was beginning to establish himself on the ultra-competitive southern California circuit.
After riding 3-year-old filly Intangaroo to a second-place finish in September at Santa Anita in a $45,000 allowance race, Quinonez had to wait out three races before late trainer Gary Sherlock gave him another shot on the filly (whose dam, Tasso’s Magic Roo, won the Sandpiper Stakes, Gasparilla Stakes and Suncoast Stakes in 1998 at Tampa Bay Downs).
By the time he got another shot on Intangaroo, she was a pedestrian 1-for-7. But Quinonez had learned enough from his one try and from watching her races to be confident he could make a difference.
“If you were able to take her way back and get her to relax, she’d come flying at the end. She loved to do that,” he said. “But if she was too close to the pace, she wouldn’t finish (strong).”
Quinonez put his newfound plans into action in Intangaroo’s first start as a 4-year-old in a 6 ½-furlong allowance, and she responded by getting up late for a thrilling neck victory. The best was yet to come. She won her next start, the Grade I Santa Monica Handicap, in February at Santa Anita, and Quinonez was aboard for subsequent Grade I victories that year in the Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs and the Grade I Ballerina at Saratoga.
Now 39, Quinonez keeps striving to get inside the heads, and the hearts, of his mounts. His goal before a race is to understand what his horse is feeling.
Over the last few weeks, Quinonez has developed enough of a rapport to go 6-for-23 – including a repeat victory by 6-year-old gelding Drama Chorus in last month’s $110,000 Florida Cup Grey Goose Turf Classic – to earn the Boot Barn Jockey of the Month Award.
Drama Chorus is a Florida-bred son of Big Drama bred and owned by Peter Mattson and trained by Tim Padilla. Quinonez knows the horse well.
“He has a lot of class. Nothing bothers him in the post-parade, and he warms up like, OK, I’m here. But when he gets close to the gate, you can feel his heart getting pumped up – thump, thump, thump, thump – and then he takes off,” said Quinonez.
The front-running victory highlighted an outstanding run of success for the Quinonez-Padilla connection, who also excel at Canterbury Park in Minnesota.
In 2021, they teamed to win the Minnesota Derby with Thealligatorhunter and the Minnesota Oaks with Molly’s Angel. A lot of Oldsmar bettors snap to attention when they see Quinonez named on a Padilla-trained horse.
“Tim is a really easy guy to ride for. He does the training and he lets me do the riding,” Quinonez said. “When I get to the paddock, we talk about everything except race strategy.”
Quinonez is one of three race-riding brothers to make an impact in the United States. Luis, 55, rides at Oaklawn Park, Lone Star and Remington and is approaching the 4,000-victory mark. Middle brother Belen retired in 2017 and works in Oklahoma breaking horses for numerous clients.
When he gets to Canterbury next month, Quinonez will again be represented by agent Richard Grunder, the long-time Tampa Bay Downs announcer who retired from the booth two years ago. The jockey’s agent in Oldsmar is Chris Creel, who welcomes the opportunity to absorb the rider’s insights and benefit from his knowledge.
“He’s an awesome person to work with. He doesn’t tell you how to do your job,” Creel said. “His skills and his knowledge, and the way he seems to have a clock in his head, are so impressive, especially on the turf. He’ll wait and wait and have enough horse to make a (strong) move on the turn.”
Quinonez is looking forward to returning to Shakopee, Minn., where he and his wife Evelyn enjoy raising their 9-year-old son Keyler during the summer while competing at Canterbury.
“We like to go wakeboarding on one of the lakes or just hang out on the river,” Quinonez said.
Keyler has won four gold medals in Taekwondo and is showing a knack for soccer after taking the sport up recently. “He says ‘I want to be like (Lionel) Messi,’ and I’ll get on the other team and tell him ‘OK, I’m (Cristiano) Ronaldo. Let’s see who’s better,’ ” Quinonez said.
If Keyler proves to be as good a learner as his dad, it won’t be long before he is running circles around him on the pitch.
Around the oval.
In today’s co-featured fifth race, St. Pat’s Day took to the turf like a polar bear to an ice floe, sprinting away to a 7 ¼-length victory in 56.02 seconds for the 5-furlong distance. The 4-year-old Florida-bred filly improved to 2-for-5 in her first grass start. Jose Batista was aboard the March 17, 2019 foal for breeders-owners Irish Eyes Stable and Going in Circles, LLC and trainer John Vinson.
Batista and Vinson also teamed to win the ninth and final race on the turf with Tee at One, a 3-year-old Florida-bred gelding owned by Julian Serna, Jr. Tee At One paid $26 to win.
Clay’s Moon Stone rallied to win the other co-feature, the second race, by a length-and-a-half from long-shot Elusive Amelia, withstanding a claim of foul lodged by runner-up jockey Alonso Quinonez for alleged interference in deep stretch. The 6-year-old mare Clay’s Moon Stone was ridden by Samy Camacho for owner Harry Veruchi and trainer Jon Arnett. Her time for the mile and 40 yards on the main track was 1:40.71.
Tampa Bay Downs is closed Sunday to enable horsemen and horsewomen, track employees and fans to celebrate the Easter holiday. Thoroughbred racing then continues Wednesday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:20 p.m. Following the holiday, the track will be 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.
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