Electric Day at the 2025 Tampa Bay Derby (GIII)

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Soon I will be spoiled with spring Saturdays at Keenland and May weekends at Churchill Downs in my backyard. Even so, I know that deep down I will miss a day at Tampa Bay Downs, the historic racetrack in Tampa, FL.

The track has its drawbacks - which I will get to in short order - but let's start with the charm of the place.

It's small enough that you can move freely wherever you please. The grandstand is one of the few tracks left with an unimpeded view of the backstretch that doesn't cost a penny extra. Yes, even on a packed day the The Downs, we did not have to pay for a reserved seat in the grandstand. Multiple sections (in fact, all but a few along the finish line) were first-come, first-serve, which I thought was a fantastic touch. Parimutuel lines were tough, but I will give them a pass considering there were about 6x more people there then I've seen on the average Saturday.

We did opt for lunch at the track, which we have done in the past, and it does not disappoint. I've had the pizza before, which was just fine, nothing special, but the last few trips to Tampa, I've found my way to the other side of the deli for a carved Turkey sandwich. Shame on me for not grabbing a picture, but it is a quality sandwich, with fresh carved turkey, and a selection of toppings.

A few negatives worth noting, in no particular order: there is no great way to watch the races. I'm not sure how else to describe it. Yes, you can see the horses on the backstretch, but let's be honest, my eyesight isn't that good. Does anyone actually watch the start of the race anywhere but a screen? The screen in the infield in Tampa sucks. It's bad, y'all. If you read my write-up from Gulfstream last week, you'd recall that I loved the sized and clarity of the screen in their infield. It enhanced the experience and totally made up for the lack of good spots to watch the race there from the track apron.

We ended up watching 90% of the race on the TV's mounted in the grandstand, and then starting at about the 1/8th pole, you can pan your view down and watch the horses close in on the wire. It's just one of the quirks of Tampa. A different sort of "no good place to watch the race" compared to Gulfstream, but an issue nonetheless. I never seem to have that issue at Saratoga or Churchill...

The parking also tends to be a nightmare at Tampa on Sam Davis or Derby day (we hit both this year). Just get there before the first post time and you'll be okay. A perk of being there for Race 1 is that you (usually) get to lose money on $8,000 claimer races. It's a humbling experience.

A few racing highlights from the day:

We got to see Skippylongstocking take down the GIII Challenger Stakes for the second straight year in a field that scratched all the way down to just four horses. He went off at 3/5. He broke a hair slow and rounded the first turn a few lengths off the pace. He made a sharp move around the turn and cruised home to a safe victory.

Irad Ortiz Jr. got it done in the aboard Accelerize, the Repole Stables/Spendthrift colt, in a quality $53k Maiden race early on in the day.

In the big race, the GIII Tampa Bay Derby, we had our eyes (and dollars) squared away on Patch Adams. In hindsight, we should have considered how visually impressive Owen Almighty's Sam Davis was a month prior, where he linked up with the Winstar homebred John Hancock and lost in the end by a neck in a back-and-forth battle. He ended up winning the derby, and Patch Adams was never a factor.

We had a great day and look forward to returning to Tampa Bay Downs, whenever that may be!

B