100 Years of Racing
By Eduardo Cofino
This past weekend, Tampa Bay Downs celebrated their 100th year of racing. Since 1926 Tampa Bay Downs has been the hidden gem of Florida Horseracing, showcasing great horses and races, in a Florida charm setting. What started out as a small, humble track has grown into a century of traditions and unforgettable moments for race fans, families and all. This season the celebration is for everybody, the people who have worked here that built it into what it is today, the generations of fans that continue to support, the great horses and jockeys that have gone on to Hall of Fame careers. The past 100 years have been great journey, and the future looks bright for Tampa Bay Downs.
On Friday February 13th, the celebration kicked off on the main floor of the clubhouse at the start of racing. The event was sponsored and organized by Jockeys and Jeans, with a jockey signing event headlined by several Hall of Fame Jockeys including Laffit Pincay Jr., Jorge Velazquez and Edgar Prado, to name a few. Large crowds gathered for autographs, pictures and fantastic memorabilia. All proceeds and donations went to the PDJF (Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund) and was a huge success. Additionally, a was a great day of racing with large crowds and beautiful weather.
In the evening, the 100th Anniversary Celebration continued at The Tampa Bay History Center in downtown Tampa. A Red-Carpet style event attended by many Industry dignitaries, including those that played an important role in the history of Tampa Bay Downs.
Members of the Sam F Davis family, the Steinbrenner family, the Harvey Myers family, who along with Matt Winn, were the original owners that brought racing to the “Top of the Bay”, and current track owner Stella Thayer, VP of Marketing Margo Flynn, many current and former Jockeys, and so many others.
A real treat for the attendees was meeting the 3 historic track announcers: Tom Durkin, Richard Grunder, and the current announcer Jason Beem sharing stories and entertaining the crowd. Richard Grunder served as track announcer for an amazing 37 years, from 1984-2021. And Tom Durkin got his first big break here when it was still called Florida Downs from 1977-1981. Tom shared how special Tampa Bay Downs is to him, “They gave me my first big opportunity, and I am forever grateful for those that believed in me enough to take that chance.”
Stella Thayer greeted the crowd and gave a heartwarming speech to all, thanking her team, sponsors and all attendees for their support and loyalty.
The celebration continued Saturday February 14th at the track with another glorious day of perfect weather and great racing. The memorabilia sales continued on the main floor of the clubhouse and was a great success as they sold out.
Stella Thayer hosted a VIP party in a beautul trackside location by the finish line with food and drinks and festivities for the invited guests which again included racing dignitaries, owners, trainers, jockeys and more.
The racing was fantastic. There were 2 MSW races that were both won in eye-popping fashion. In race #2 Creed’s Vision won as the 3/5 favorite going 6 furlongs on dirt in a blistering 1:09.05. And in race #5 May Gray a 3 year old filly pulled away turning for home and won in 109:72 while geared down.
2 stakes races were the co-features and both were won by red hot trainer Mark Casse, celebrating his 65th birthday in grand style.
In the Lightening City Stakes, 5 Furling sprint on Turf for fillies and mares, Creed’s Gold found a seam up the rail and pulled away in a very fast 56.02. And in the Turf Dash Stakes Casse’s other winner My Boy Prince closed in a rush on the inside to win a 3 horse photo by a head blistering time of 55.44
A wonderful weekend of the 100 year Celebration of Tampa Bay Downs. The horse racing combined with the beautiful weather and large crowds made for a great trip. Tampa Bay Downs is such a wonderful place. From the people who work at the track, to the fans, the horse racing and the overall ambiance and experience always delivers a great time. And the class of the Celebration events were First Class!
Congratulations on the first 100 years, and the future looks bright for another 100 years.
