Longshot of the Day: Race 7 at Tampa Bay Downs
Track: Tampa Bay Downs
Race 7: $32K optional claimer going 1 mile on turf for 3+ fillies and mares
Post Time: 3:40 PM ET
Horse: #4 Princess Bettina (8/1) use as a win by at 9/2 or higher
Happy Opening Day at Tampa Bay Downs!! One of my favorite tracks that I visited many times when I lived in Central Florida, and they always have a great product during the winter. As always, I’ll try to find a way to make some money with a longshot and today Princess Bettina checks a bunch of boxes at a very juicy 8/1 morning line price. I think that could go down a bit due to the scratch of the #2 Yankee Dollar (4/1), but so long as you can get 9/2 or higher on Princess Bettina, she is a great bet. Let’s start with her class as she is coming out of races against significantly tougher company having just run a competitive third in an $80,000 optional claimer at Kentucky Downs when she was in the Brian Lynch barn. She’s had an interesting career in that she is a Florida bred who started her career on the West Coast with Peter Eurton and picked up a stakes win in the China Doll. She was briefly with Todd Pletcher in Pennsylvania and New York before going back to Eurton in California. She has not gotten back to the winner’s circle since that China Doll Stakes victory in 2023 but ran well when she got transferred to Brian Lynch and ran at Gulfstream Park and the Midwest. Now she is racing for trainer Jose D’Angelo for the first time, and I love that move. D’Angelo is one of the rising stars in our sport as we say just a few weeks ago when he picked up his first two Breeders’ Cup victories with Shisospicy and Bentornato. Over the last five years, D’Angelo has been winning at a 33% clip (3-9) at Tampa Bay Downs when running a horse for the first time after a trainer change. As for Princess Bettina, her third-place effort at Kentucky Downs last time out was a positive step as the race produced two next-out winners, including runner-up Ready to Jam, who came back to win the Autumn Days Stakes at Belmont at the Big A. D’Angelo taps Sam Marin who is the top jockey in the Tampa Bay Downs circuit and knows how to ride the turf course. The great part about this daughter of Will Take Charge is that she has versatility with solid early speed, so that Marin can spot her in a forward position but does not need to fun for the lead. The turf course at Tampa Bay Downs plays fair, but I do prefer horses that can carve out a tracking trip for themselves. While she has not shown a great closing kick the last few times she has run a mile, her only two victories are at this distance, and I feel like this spot will be much easier for her than who she has been facing to this point.