All-sources handle at Tampa Bay Downs at the 2024-2025 meet was $377,972,374, a 4.5 percent increase over the $361,483,261 handled at the 2023-2024 meet, it was announced Wednesday.
There were 821 races run at the 90-day meet, 266 on turf. Average field size was 8.47 horses per race. At the 90-day meet in 2023-2024, there were 821 races run, 253 on turf. Average field size was 8.26 horses per race.
Baeza, who drew into the Kentucky Derby from the also-eligible list last week, returned to trainer John Shirreffs’s stable at Santa Anita on Tuesday evening.
Baeza, who races for Lee and Susan Searing’s CRK Stable, will be based in California in the buildup to his next scheduled start, the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on June 7. The Belmont is also expected to be the next start for Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty.
In the Derby, Baeza was beaten 1 3/4 lengths by Sovereignty and was a neck behind second-place finisher Journalism.
After wins in turf stakes at 1 1/4 miles and 1 1/2 miles at Santa Anita this spring, including the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Sakes last Saturday, Atitlan will have a different assignment later this month.
Trainer John Shirreffs said on Wednesday that the 4-year-old is scheduled to start in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on May 26. The $300,000 Shoemaker will be Atitlan’s first start at the distance since finishing third by 1 1/2 lengths in the Grade 2 Mathis Mile for 3-year-olds on Dec. 26.
Shirreffs said the decision is based on enhancing Atitlan’s value as a stallion.
Last weekend, Maryland-bred superstar Post Time made his long-awaited 5-year-old debut at Laurel and gave his hometown fans a show. By some quirk of the condition book, the two-time graded stakes winner was eligible for a conditional allowance and easily overwhelmed the field in a 13 1/4-length victory.
Because stakes races are reserved for the second half of the two-week Preakness Meet at Pimlico Race Course this year, the first weekend of racing will be a curious affair. Sure to be dwarfed by events the following weekend, the first three days will mean much more to local Maryland connections and a small group of outsiders searching for winning moments on the historic grounds.
Mullikin finished second Dec. 7 behind the top-level performer Locked in the Cigar Mile. Making his first start since that race in the seven-furlong Churchill Downs Stakes on Derby Day, Mullikin lost ground while pressing a fast pace, which collapsed in a race dominated by late runners, and held stubbornly for a close fifth.
Was that enough to send Mullikin on to the $1 million Met Mile on June 7 at Saratoga? Probably not.
Good Cheer, presumably the best 3-year-old filly in North America, won the Kentucky Oaks by more than two lengths and earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure. Nitrogen, definitely the best 3-year-old turf filly and arguably the second-best horse of her generation, won the Edgewood Stakes by more than three lengths, earning an 88 Beyer.
Weekend racing cancellations during Oaklawn Park’s recently concluded meet led to significant declines in total handle and average wagering per race, according to an analysis conducted by Daily Racing Form. However, the track’s purse distribution was largely unaffected and its average field size remained robust.
All-sources handle at the Aqueduct spring meet was $102,356,937, a 2.8 percent decline from the 2024 spring season, in which handle was $105,265,644, according to figures provided by the New York Racing Association.
With important graded stakes victories accomplished by Fierceness and Mindframe over the weekend, trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Mike Repole will weigh their options for both 4-year-olds, with one being a potential meeting of the two in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga on June 7.
Pletcher said Fierceness came out of his track-record performance in Friday’s Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes in good order, as did Mindframe, who narrowly won Saturday’s Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes. Both horses were expected to arrive at Saratoga on Tuesday while plans are made.
