Racing
The reputation of Tampa Bay Downs as a proving grounds for champions has grown by leaps and bounds since Thayer assumed control. In 2007, Hall of Fame trainer Carl Nafzger brought his 3-year-old Street Sense to Oldsmar for the Tampa Bay Derby, and the colt's victory was a springboard to his win in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Another Hall of Fame trainer, William Mott, selected Tampa Bay Downs for the first 2011 starts for his 3-year-old filly Royal Delta and 4-year-old colt Drosselmeyer. Royal Delta went on to twice win the Breeders' Cup Distaff and Drosselmeyer won the Breeders' Cup Classic. The track's annual showcase is Festival Day. The centerpiece is the $350,000, Grade II Tampa Bay Derby for 3-year-olds at a mile-and-a-sixteenth. Also on the card are the $150,000, Grade III Hillsborough Stakes for older fillies and mares at a mile-and-an-eighth on the turf and the newly sponsored, $100,000 Stonewall Farm Ocala Suncoast Stakes, for 3-year-old fillies at one mile and 40 yards.
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Famous quotes containing the word racing:
“Upscale people are fixated with food simply because they are now able to eat so much of it without getting fat, and the reason they don’t get fat is that they maintain a profligate level of calorie expenditure. The very same people whose evenings begin with melted goat’s cheese ... get up at dawn to run, break for a mid-morning aerobics class, and watch the evening news while racing on a stationary bicycle.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)