Tampa Bay Downs kicks off its turf-heavy winter meet

As most of the country is heading into winter, Tampa Bay Downs and its warm winter turf racing are back. Tampa kicks off a 92-day racing season Wednesday with nine races and continues with the familiar Wednesday, Friday, Saturday schedule, adding Sundays starting Christmas Eve.

One of the reasons Tampa has remained popular with horseplayers is that it has plenty of turf racing. In the last year, Tampa ran 35 percent of its races over the lawn. Here are the stats over the last 365 days:

Dirt - 545 races, 39.6 percent favorites, field size of 7.14

Turf - 288 races, 37.5 percent favorites, field size of 8.57

A new factor this year is an additional middle Pick 4. On Wednesdays, Pick 4s will start on race 2, race 3 and race 6.

Looking at average pools and payoffs, Tampa features strong pools and payouts in the Pick 5. 

Top trainers and jockeys

Looking back at the last year, trainer Gerald Bennett not only dominated the trainer standings, but he did so at a strong +25 percent HRN impact. 

Samy Camacho ran away with the jockey title, but Jose Ferrer posted a strong 18 percent win percentage and +25 percent HRN impact behind him. It's worth noting that Ferrer won 42 of his 57 races on the dirt, which is 22 percent at a +33 percent impact, and on turf he was only 13 percent with a +7 percent HRN impact. 

Turf course running styles

With all the turf action, it pays to pay attention to how the turf course plays. Overall, turf routes played fairly, while somewhat favoring inside post positions more than the outside, and 42 percent of races were won by stalkers who were one to four lengths off the pace at the first call. 

Opening day insights

Race 6 is a maiden claimer with a full field of 12 runners and five first-time starters. This is a case where the HRN First Time Power Ratings can be helpful. The First Time Power Ratings highlight no. 4 Expecting a Winner, 9-2, as a 4-star play. The 2-year-old filly is trained by Mary Ann Bennett, the wife of leading trainer Gerald Bennett. 

Interestingly, with only a few starts over the last few years, Mary Ann Bennett has done very well with first-time starters, and the payoffs have been great, as indicated by the HRN impacts highlighted in green. Additionally, Neolithic is a productive debut sire with 20 percent winners and 23 percent winners debuting in dirt sprints.  

Good luck on Tampa Bay opening day. Be sure to check out the First Time Power Ratings report, which is an invaluable tool when playing first-time starters. You can find the report and stop missing out on great first-time starter plays by visiting Picks.HorseRacingNation.com.