Tampa Bay Downs has a ten-race card today with first post of 12:40 p.m.
Gulfstream Park has an 11-race card, with first post of 12:55 p.m.
According to the Weather Channel, there is a zero percent chance of rain in the area in and around Oldsmar where Tampa Bay Downs is located and just a 15 percent chance of rain in the area in and around Hallandale Beach where Gulfstream is located.
We will have coverage on-site at both tracks on our blog.
*Tampa Bay has a Super High-Five carryover of $4,215 on the third race—its first today with the minimum required seven starters for that bet.
The bet is $1 minimum. If no tickets have the first five finishers in order, the pool rolls over to the next race with seven or more starters.
The third race is a $5,000 claimer at 6 ½ furlongs on dirt for fillies and mares 4-YO and up. There are seven entrants following the morning scratch of Kaluma.
*Following the morning scratches, there are only 72 starters listed for Gulfstream’s races.
That is very small for Gulfstream, especially on a Saturday.
It can be attributed to the annual April move north by many trainers. However, some of those trainers are keeping some horses year-round at Gulfstream or at South Florida training facilities. That has resulted in several recent days when there have been average field sizes of more than eight horses.
On the positive side the list of trainers with horses running today includes Todd Pletcher, Bill Mott and Christophe Clement. All have kept some horses at their South Florida winter bases, primarily for turf races that during April are more susceptible to wet weather at northern tracks than at Gulfstream.
Today’s featured tenth race is a 11/8 mile allowance/optional claimer for 3-year-olds and up. The purse is $44,000 and the claiming price is $62,500.
Mark Casse has two horses entered. Mott, Clement, Michelle Nihei and John Toscano each have one entrant.
There is a $71,952 carryover on the Rainbow 6, starting with the sixth race.
–Photo on home page by Barry Unterbrink
