BAUER"S BETS: FAST & FIRM at TAMPA

 Today kicks off this season's Stakes program with a pair of $100,000 six furlong events for two year-olds.

Race 7 features the Sandpiper Stakes for Fillies. Post time is scheduled for 3:10 PM. RadioStPete live coverage, including the call from announcer Jason Beam will start at 3:07.

STRATEGIC BIRD (1) gets top billing off her impressive twelve length romp over Florida-bred Maiden Special foes at Gulfstream on November 13. Antonio Gallardo rides for trainer Mark Casse. This one could be any kind, she could improve after her first outing or bounce due to the big effort and return on short rest. A very interesting race.

THE BET   A $3 exacta part-wheel (up and down) with STRATEGIC BIRD (1) as the key. The other runners to use are: DEVILETTE (8), SHE'S MY WARRIOR (6), DEVINE CHARGER (2) and SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL (10).  1/2,6,8,10  also  2,6,8,10/1  Total Bet $24

Race 9 is the Inaugural Stakes for Colts and Geldings. Post time is scheduled for 4:20 PM, RadioSt.Pete coverage will start at 4:17.

CONCRETE GLORY (10) is the choice here, as he has won his last trio of starts by daylight margins, the last pair by seven lengths or better. Those last two huge wins were his only races on dirt, a repeat of those performances will put him back in the winner's circle. Antonio Gallardo takes the mount for the Gerald Brooks barn.

THE BET  $20 to win on CONCRETE GLORY (10) and a $3 exacta part-wheel (up and down) with MAGICAL MOUSSE (3), CATTIN (5) OLD TOWN ROAD (7) and LIGHTNING LARRY (8).  10/3,5,7,8  also  3,5,7,8/10   Total Bet $44       GOOD LUCK!!

PREVIOUS RESULTS  12/3  Cashed the win bet, missed the exacta. Collected $48 on the $32 total wager, a $16 profit. The bankroll is now $1074.20.

    

 

Gulfstream and Calder Weekend Recap

by Jim Freer

On Saturday at Gulfstream Park, Angelica Zapata showed that she is not "just a Calder horse" and that she is far more than a dirt track specialist. She did that with an impressive win in Gulfstream’s $100,000 Wasted Tears Stakes at 1 1./16 miles on turf for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up. The 5-year-old Angelica Zapata beat the fast-closing Ann of the Dance by 1 1/4 lengths and accomplished two goals for her trainer Ron Pellegrini and her owner Herman Van Den Broeck.

The win was Angelica Zapata’s first in five career races on turf and it came in her first Gulfstream race.
That added to the resume of a horse that became a local star last year when she reeled off four straight stakes wins at Calder Casino & Race Course. All were one mile or longer on dirt.

"She got a clean trip," Pellegrini said following the Wasted Tears. "Every other race on turf, she’s had a bad trip." He added: "I’ve always thought this filly could run as good on turf as the dirt. In fact, when she was three, I thought she was a better turf horse." 

Weekend Features: Gulfstream Turf Stakes on Saturday and Monday

By Jim Freer

Friday, Aug. 30 -- The South Florida racing schedule will have several changes this Labor Day weekend.

Gulfstream Park will have a three-day weekend as it adds a nine-race program on Monday with first post time of 1:15 p.m..

Calder Casino & Race Course is sticking with its Friday through Sunday schedule.

Starting this Sunday, Calder will move its daily first post time up to 12:30 p.m., fom the previous 12:50 p.m. The change coincides with Saturday’s end of the annual Calder meet and Sunday’s start of the annual Tropical at Calder meet.

Calder owns and uses two racing permits - its own and the permit of Tropical Park which last held racing in 1972. Calder will not offer any stakes races this weekend.

My Pal Chrisy Wins Gulfstream Stakes in Debut for Wolfson

by Jim Freer

Saturday, Aug. 17 -- The juggernaut team of Miller Racing and trainer Marty Wolfson won yet another South Florida distaff stakes race on Saturday, this time with their newly acquired My Pal Chrisy.The 5-year-old mare’s victory came in the $100,000 Paseana Stakes at six furlongs on dirt at Gulfstream Park.

It was My Pal Chrisy’s first race for her new connections since Miller Racing bought her late last month from trainer-owner Padarath “Tony” Lutchman for an undisclosed price.

Stallion Stakes Series Begins at Calder - maybe for the last time

by Jim Freer

Gulfstream Park and Calder Casino & Race Course will both have stakes races today as they begin their third weekend of head-to-head racing.Calder will have the bigger story as it holds the first two races in the annual Florida Stallion Stakes series for 2-year-olds.
But it could be the start of a last hurrah for Calder which has been the home of the Stallion Stakes series since its inception in 1982.

The series, with divisions for males and for fillies, will continue on Aug. 24 and end on Oct. 10. Until this year, Calder has been the only Florida track running during the summer and fall.
This month Gulfstream and Calder both applied with the sponsoring Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and owners Association (Florida TBOA) to hold the series in 2014.

Calder vs. Gulfstream

by Jim Freer

When the name at the top of a TV monitor or a computer screen is Gulfstream, many fans around the country will bet on a race even if it doesn’t have horses like Orb or jockeys like John Velazquez.

That’s the biggest lesson of the second weekend of head-to-head racing between Gulfstream Park and Calder Casino & Race Course.

Gulfstream walloped Calder 4-1 in the battle for bettors, with a combined $5.5 million to $1.4 million in all-sources handle on Saturday July 13 and Sunday July 14.
The Gulfstream numbers met the expectations of the track’s president Tim Ritvo. For months he has been saying that the Gulfstream brand would be a national attraction during the track’s first summer meet—although certainly not as luring and star-studded as its traditional winter meet.