OLDSMAR - Just past the halfway point of the meet, jockey Samuel Marin is on pace to eclipse the track’s single-season victory record of 147 set 11 years ago by Antonio Gallardo.

    Marin, a 24-year-old product of Trujillo, Venezuela, rode five winners Friday for the second time this season. He followed up that performance Saturday with three winners and two seconds from five mounts, capping the card in exciting fashion with a victory aboard trainer Mark Casse’s 5-year-old gelding My Boy Prince in the $100,000 Turf Dash Stakes.

    With 81 winners, Marin is on pace to ride 153 winners assuming he competes through the May 3 finale. He has a 28-victory advantage over five-time Tampa Bay Downs champion Samy Camacho in the standings. Marin added three more winners to his ledger Sunday.

    Friday’s card brought into clear focus some of the reasons Marin has been so dominant. His first four winners were all favorites – in some part, of course, due to trainers clamoring for his services because of his all-around skills. But having a target on his back hasn’t stopped him from making the right moves at the right time in a majority of races to get those “people’s choices” home in front.

    Then, in Friday’s final race at a mile on the turf aboard 5-year-old horse Son of a Slew, Marin angled over to the rail from the No. 5 post soon after the start and stayed there throughout while the pace-setters vied for the lead. Son of a Slew gave a strong response along the inside when summoned, posting a ¾-length victory.

    Saturday’s Turf Dash, although shorter at 5 furlongs, was decided similarly, as Marin got My Boy Prince to the rail right before the turn, a maneuver that proved decisive through the stretch as the winner outlasted hard-charging Rezasrolex by a neck.

    Marin’s winning percentage of 26.6 is the best of any jockey at the meet with at least 40 mounts.

    My Boy Prince’s victory was the fifth stakes triumph in a nine-day period for Casse, who also won Saturday’s Lightning City Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs with 5-year-old mare Creed’s Gold.
And, wouldn’t you know it: Less than an hour after the Turf Dash Stakes, the trainer’s 3-year-old filly French Friction won the Dixie Belle Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

    Little Thunder makes big noise. Although the main track was producing faster times than usual Saturday, plenty of horsemen and handicappers took notice when 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding Little Thunder won the seventh race in 1:08.95, .28 seconds off the track record set in 2012 by filly It’s Me Mom.

    Trainer Tim Hamm, who also owns Little Thunder under his Blazing Meadows Farm banner in partnership with the horse’s breeder, Thomas Equels, watched the allowance/optional claiming race from his Ocala training center after supervising a full schedule of 2-year-old breezes earlier in the day. By the time he was finished, he thought he’d be cutting it too close to make it to Tampa Bay Downs in time for the race, entrusting assistant Julie Hutchison with the saddling duties.

    What they witnessed in the horse’s third career start was awesome to behold. Despite only moderate encouragement from jockey Cipriano Gil, Little Thunder kept widening his lead through the stretch, posting a 7 ¾-length victory from Mor Spring Spirit.

    “He’s a horse that every single time he has done something, he has shown up,” Hamm said. “I told my son Shane that when you get a horse that shows up every time, that’s a horse.”
Hamm has been patient in developing the son of Noble Bird-Circular Rainbow, by Circular Quay, who he described as “a big, gangly horse” as a 2-year-old. He decided against running him up north last summer to start him at Tampa Bay Downs and take advantage of Florida-bred money opportunities.

    The plan has worked nicely thus far. Little Thunder broke his maiden here on Dec. 24 as a 3-year-old in 1:22.50 for 7 furlongs. On Jan. 31, he finished second by 3 ½-lengths to the Todd Pletcher-trained Disruptor in an 11-horse field. The 7-furlong time was 1:22.83.
Gil has ridden Little Thunder in all three starts.

    “I can’t say I expected that (kind of performance) Saturday,” Hamm said. “Once he got in front (rounding the turn), he just started to extend and (Gil) rode him out. After seeing those earlier times, I thought he had a chance to shade 1:09, but that was really impressive.”

    OLDSMAR - Bill Boland flexed his right hand a couple of times between autograph-seekers during Friday’s Jockeys & Jeans “Once in a Lifetime” Meet and Greet event at Tampa Bay Downs to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF).

    At 92, Boland – who won the 1950 Kentucky Derby as a 16-year-old apprentice aboard Middleground – remains the picture of good health. The Palm Coast resident, who traveled to the event with his wife of 75 years Sandy, is surprisingly spry for his age, at least to an observer 24 years younger.

    In fact, Boland would have been happy to sign all day to help those jockeys less fortunate than he who are permanently disabled from a riding accident, whether during a race or in morning workouts. “We (his fellow Hall of Famers and racing legends) are lucky. We’re lucky,” Boland said.

    “They (the disabled riders) are great. If you asked any of them, they would do it (ride races) again tomorrow. They are a lot stronger than I am. I couldn’t do it.”

    Fans turned out by the scores during Friday’s racing card to get autographs and interact with their heroes. The roster of attendees included Boland, Steve Cauthen, Mike Manganello, Ramon Dominguez, Alex Solis, Earlie Fires, Edgar Prado, Sandy Hawley, Chris McCarron, Angel Cordero, Jr., Jose Santos, Jean Cruguet, Laffit Pincay Jr., Jorge Velasquez, Jacinto Vasquez, Jon Court and at least 10 members of the PDJF who brightened the day further with their cheerfulness and approachability.

    The event was held as part of the track’s centennial celebration.

    “The PDJF has held a number of events here at Tampa Bay Downs, and to be able to be here with all these Hall of Fame riders and Triple Crown race winners is pretty special,” said Joe Clabes, the President of the PDJF. “They still stick around the sport to help us take care of the injured riders.

    “Everybody here at the track has been fantastic in helping support not only Jockeys & Jeans, but the PDJF. There is always going to be a need,” Clabes added. He said there currently are 51 former jockeys receiving benefits from the PDJF, with other applicants being processed. The organization benefits those with permanent disabilities, including brain injuries and spinal cord injuries resulting in paralysis

Around the oval - Leading jockey Samuel Marin continued his record-breaking pace, riding five winners. Marin scored in the first race on Marty’s Gal, a 4-year-old Florida-bred filly owned by Hit The Bid Racing Stable and trained by Jose Francisco D’Angelo. He added the second aboard Rules for Three, a 3-year-old Florida-bred filly owned by A and LGY-SE Racing and trained by Arthur Agostini.

    Marin next won the fourth race on Two’s a Crowd, a 5-year-old gelding owned by Atlantic Six Racing and trained by Derek Ryan, and added the sixth with Abigail, a 3-year-old filly owned by Waterville Lake Stables and trained by Miguel Clement.

    Marin delivered a clinic in the eighth and final race on the turf, never leaving the inside and receiving the needed response through the stretch from 5-year-old Florida-bred Son of a Slew to prevail. The winner is owned by Glenn Conklin and trained by Mike Dini, who also owns and trains the runner-up Just Comply

    Dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse has been named the sixth Chairman of the Board in the history of Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company, Inc., succeeding Francis Vanlangendonck, who steps down after 35 years on the OBS board.

    Vanlangendonck had held the position of chairman since 2022, succeeding Mike O’Farrell, who was elected chairman in 2007 and was an OBS board member for nearly 40 years. George Onett was the first chairman in 1975, followed by Harry T. Mangurian, Jr., Norman E. Casse, O’Farrell and Vanlangendonck.

    OBS extends deep gratitude to Vanlangendonck and Treasurer, Nick de Meric, who is also stepping down from the board, for their leadership and significant contributions to the success of OBS.

    Mark Casse and his wife Tina manage the vast Casse Racing operations from their base in Ocala. His father Norman was a founding member of OBS and Chairman of the Board of OBS for over twenty years and Mark became an OBS board member in 2001 and Secretary-Treasurer in 2022. Casse has won more than 4,100 races to date with career earnings exceeding $274 million. He has been inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

    Barry Eisaman will continue as Vice President of the OBS board. Dr. Eisaman, a veterinarian, was first elected to the OBS Board in 1996 and Secretary-Treasurer from 2010-2021. Along with his wife Shari, Eisaman operates Eisaman Equine. Many of the elite racing stables in the country rely on Eisaman Equine to provide the foundation for their young horses for their racing career and to rehabilitate older horses for their return to the races.

    David O’Farrell will serve as Secretary for OBS. He was elected to the OBS board in 2022 and serves as the TOBA Board of Trustees chair, steward at The Jockey Club, and a member of Breeders’ Cup Limited. The O’Farrell family’s Ocala Stud is celebrating their 70th year anniversary and is synonymous with the Florida breeding industry and OBS. David and his brother Joe are now directing operations, taking over the helm from their father, Mike O’Farrell. Another generation back, Joe O’Farrell, was a promoter of Florida breeding and pioneer of the two-year-olds in training sale concept. He was one of the founding members of Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company, Inc. in 1974 and the first vice president of OBS.

    James L. (Jimbo) Gladwell, IV was elected Treasurer of OBS. He joined the OBS Board in 2021. Gladwell is a third-generation horseman with deep roots in Ocala and, along with his wife Torie, operates Top Line Sales, one of the leading OBS two-year-old sale consignors. Among the Grade 1 winners who are graduates of Top Line Sales are Princess Noor, Arabian Knight, Saudi Crown, and Muth.

    Joining the OBS Board for the first time are Tristan de Meric of de Meric Sales and William B. Russell, DVM Peterson Smith Equine Hospital. The rest of the board includes Tom Ventura; Jonathan I Green (DJ Stables); John Penn (Pennston Farm); Bryan Rice (Woodside Ranch); George Russell (Rustlewood Farm), Paul Sharp, and Eddie Woods.