OLDSMAR - Dennis Petrucelli, a former rider who has overseen the Tampa Bay Downs jockeys' room as the track’s Clerk of Scales for 15 years, feels a surge of familiar energy every Opening Day.
    The first card of the Oldsmar oval’s 100th anniversary season today in front of a crowd of 4,021 was no different. The all-sources handle reached $3,790,951.
    “You get to see all the people who rode here the year before, and you get to meet some new guys who are up-and-coming future stars,” Petrucelli said. “Maybe when they leave they’ll go someplace up north and get lucky and keep going.
    “You can’t beat Opening Day here. The money has gotten so good for a smaller track, and you look at the crowd. Free admission on Wednesday is a great idea, and people end up betting it back at the windows.”
    From a personal standpoint, it’s especially meaningful for the 80-year-old Petrucelli to be back at work after a six-month offseason. “All I’d be doing otherwise is sitting at home watching TV,” he said.
    Antonio Gallardo began riding here about the same time Petrucelli took charge of the room. The 38-year-old Gallardo, who won today’s third race on 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding Issano for owner-trainer Justin J. Nixon, loves returning to Tampa Bay Downs to renew friendships and spirited yet friendly rivalries.
    “It seems like there’s a little more energy on Opening Day,” said Gallardo, who won the riding title at Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania this year. Before today’s assignments, Gallardo last rode on Oct. 23.
    “It’s weird – you stay at home for so long, it gets a little boring. You need some action. Opening Day gives you a different vibe. You see how many people are here, and they’re saying ‘Antonio, it’s nice to see you, how you doing?’
    “You can feel the adrenaline, because you’re back competing against a lot of people you haven’t seen for six months.”
    On Wednesday’s card, 24-year-old defending jockey champion Samuel Marin and 61-year-old kid-at-heart Jose Ferrer each rode two winners and will begin Saturday’s action tied at the top of the jockey standings. In what other sport, besides an occasional golf tournament, can you watch the generations come together like that?
    “It (Opening Day) is completely special here, and then when you win a race right away you feel confident and comfortable being back,” said Ferrer, who began his career in 1982. “The crowd here might not be big for some tracks, but this being a small grandstand it feels like there are a lot of people here and you are close to them.
    “It’s nice to be back and it’s great to be around all the fans in Tampa again,” added Ferrer, who has won more than 4,800 races.
    Trainer Gregg Sacco, who just turned 60, knows how racing can bring people of all ages and backgrounds together. His late father William J. Sacco trained horses here in the early 1950s when the track was known as Sunshine Park, and his uncle Johnny was a jockey at the same time.
    Nowadays, Sacco’s son Will – who turns 25 next week – manages the stable’s New York string while Gregg is in Oldsmar. No matter where he is stationed, though, the memories come flooding back every Opening Day.
    “It’s a blend of old faces and new faces, of horsemen and jockeys coming from all over. Opening Day is exciting for everybody, including the fans,” Sacco said. “This is my fourth season here and Tampa has some of the greatest fans in the country.”
    Sacco has been training 35 years. In a sport that is often fragmented, he knows what it means to compete at a track that first opened for business in 1926. “It’s kind of crazy – my dad and my uncle Johnny won races here in 1951, and here I am today,” Sacco said. “Every year, it looks like Tampa does something new, whether it’s in the clubhouse or the grandstand or the eateries. They keep changing with the times, which you need to do to attract the younger generation. You look at the picnic area for families on the other side of the paddock – it’s just a very comfortable track for everybody of every age group.”
    Schedule info. Day 2 of the 2025-26 meet is Saturday. Beginning next week, Tampa Bay Downs will race on a Wednesday-Friday-Saturday schedule through Dec. 20, with Sundays added to the mix on Dec. 21.
    The track – including The Silks Poker Room and The Downs Golf Practice Facility – is closed in its entirety on Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, and on Christmas, Dec. 25.
    Register for “10 Days of Festivus.” The “10 Days of Festivus Challenge” Handicapping Contest begins Friday, Dec. 5, and runs through Wednesday, Dec. 24. There is no charge to enter, but players must register by 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 5 to be eligible. The winner receives a $1,000 cash prize and the runner-up earns $500.
    Each day, players are required to select one of two designated CHALLEGE RACES, with results determined from a mythical $2 win-place-show wager on their pick. Players begin with a free lifeline and have an opportunity throughout the contest to purchase five more. Players lose a lifeline if their choice does not finish first, second or third, or if they fail to make a selection on a contest day.
    A full set of rules is available at www.festivuschallenge.com , which is also the place to register.  comments powered by Disqus