By HorseracingFLA Staff
Saturday, June 26 –Tampa Bay Downs on Friday released entries for Tuesday June 30, the first day of its third annual summer Festival of Racing.
The Festival’s second day will be Wednesday July 1. Entries for that day will be released late this afternoon.
Tampa Bay Downs’ Tuesday card has eight races, with first post of 12:20 p.m.
All of the races are claiming or optional claiming Total purses are $102,000.
Five of the races are on turf. There are a total of 60 entrants. Forty-six of them raced at Tampa Bay Downs earlier this year.
Tampa Bay Downs ended the regular part of its 2014-2015 race meet on May 3. It will begin the regular part of its 2015-2016 meet on Nov. 28.
By holding the two summer race days, the track is meeting a state regulatory requirement for its simulcasting business.
June 30 is the official closing day of Tampa Bay Downs’ 2014-2015 meet and the final day of Florida’s current fiscal year. July 1 is the official opening day of the track’s 2015-2016 meet and the first day of the state’s next fiscal year
Since 2013, Tampa Bay Downs has held racing each June 30 and July 1 to comply with the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering’s requirements for being a year-round host track for Florida-wide simulcasting of races held at thoroughbred tracks in other states.
Tampa Bay is eligible for that lucrative business if it has racing on the first and last days of a fiscal year with a regular meet of 40 or more days in between. Tampa Bay’s traditional early December through early May meets have between 85 and 90 race days.
HorseracingFLA will have daily coverage of Tampa Bay Downs’ two racing days through this coming Thursday.
A list of Tuesday entries and other information about Tampa Bay Downs’ summer racing may be found on the track’s Website
