OLDSMAR --trainer Greg Sacco scrolled through his Smartphone to locate a black-and-white win picture taken in 1950 – 15 years before he was born – when Tampa Bay Downs was called Sunshine Park.

    The winner, a horse named Earthquake, was trained by Greg’s father, William J. Sacco, and ridden by Greg’s uncle, John Sacco. Also in the picture is another one of Greg’s uncles, Tony, who owned a luncheonette and gas station back then on the corner of Racetrack Road, just south of the track.

    His father and uncles have passed, but for Greg Sacco, their legacy endures.

    Since arriving here with a string of 25 horses a few weeks before the new meet began, Sacco and his family – wife Kate, son Will and daughter Sydney, a college student – have found time to enjoy many of the sights that have long made the Tampa Bay area (they love downtown Safety Harbor!) such a popular winter destination.

    Yet with the exception of a second-place finish by Psychic Ability in the 2021 Florida Cup Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies, the 57-year-old Sacco has spent recent winters in New York, the mid-Atlantic and south Florida, where it proved profitable to operate his high-profile stable while getting ready to return each summer to his home track, Monmouth Park.

    That’s about to change. Greg Sacco is loving just about everything at Tampa Bay Downs, and with many of his horses about to turn 3, he’s eager to utilize the track and the surroundings to develop them to their utmost ability.

    “They have a great 3-year-old stakes program here, and we think some of our 2-year-olds (who turn 3 on Jan. 1) can be competitive at that level,” said Sacco, who has nominated Pinnacle Racing Team and Madaket Stables’ promising stakes-placed colt Freedom Road to the $100,000 Inaugural Stakes on Dec. 3.

    “This track is outstanding to train on, and the people here can’t be any nicer. We’re the oldest racing family in New Jersey and I still train for Steve Brunetti’s Red Oak Stable (Steve is the son of the late John Brunetti, who owned Red Oak and Hialeah Park). But if everything works out we plan to be here again next year,” Sacco said.

    This is what is known as a whirlwind courtship. In the interest of full disclosure, Sacco made those remarks after his 2-year-old colt, Imagoodfella, won today’s first race under a rail-skimming ride by Angel Arroyo.

    Imagoodfella broke his maiden for owners Monmouth Stud and Phillip Wright. For good measure, Sacco won the sixth race with 3-year-old filly Woods Hole, owned by Winner Circle Stables and ridden by Jose Ferrer (one of three victories for the 58-year-old Ferrer).

    Serious racing fans are well-acquainted with Sacco, who has trained more than 750 winners. He won five graded stakes with Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables’ Mind Control, including the Grade I Hopeful and the Grade I H. Allen Jerkens Stakes. Sacco also trained Joevia, who finished third in the 2019 Belmont Stakes (won by Sir Winston) after leading into the stretch.

    Will Sacco, his father’s assistant, turned 22 today, celebrating his birthday with a pair of winner’s-circle photos with his dad. Despite his youth, Will is no Johnny-come-lately to the sport, having spent most of his summers around his dad’s Monmouth Park barn growing up.

    “It’s the family business, and I love the sport and the animals themselves,” said Will, who attended the University of Kentucky for a month before he decided to answer the call of the backstretch and come back home.

    Will plans to go out on his own as a trainer when he and his dad agree he is ready. “I knew when I left college about the commitment and the sacrifices you have to make,” Will said. “It’s seven days a week, and you never know when you’ll get a call at 2 a.m. that a horse got cast in his stall or something else went wrong.

    “My mom knows how tough a business it is, and she tried to persuade me to be a doctor or a lawyer – not pressuring me, but reminding me what’s involved. But just being around them, seeing them grow up and go from 2 to 3 and develop into racehorses, is something I love. Our family history goes back to the 1940s, and hopefully I can have a son who will be a fourth-generation horse trainer.”

    As long as that enthusiasm persists on days when his dad doesn’t win two races – and there is every sign it will – the possibility seems high.

    Wanna stuff that stocking? Test your skills in “10 Days of Festivus” contest. Registration for the free “10 Days of Festivus Challenge” Online Handicapping Contest begins Thursday, with the contest getting underway Saturday, Dec. 3 and running through Friday, Dec. 23.

    Here is how the contest works: Each day, players select a horse in both of that day’s “Challenge Races,” with bankroll results determined from a mythical $2 win-place-show (across-the-board) wager. Should a player’s choice not finish in the money, they lose a lifeline, and when you run out of lifelines, your participation ends.

    Players begin the contest with one free lifeline. Two additional lifelines can be purchased for $5 each upon registration, with more lifelines available for purchase on Dec. 14 and Dec. 21 (check the contest rules for cost).

    Prizes will be awarded based on the highest final bankroll totals upon conclusion of the contest, with a grand prize of $1,000 and a second-place prize of $500.

    The full rules are available online at www.festivuschallenge.com

    Around the oval. No bettor hit the late Pick-5 today, creating a carryover pool of $38,644 into Saturday. The late Pick-5 will begin with the fifth race.

    Ferrer, as mentioned above, rode three winners today. In addition to his score on Woods Hole, Ferrer won the third race on Justintimeforwine, a 5-year-old gelding owned by Carole Star Stables and trained by Jose H. Delgado. Ferrer added the eighth on Pretty Rachel, a 4-year-old filly owned by Mary T. Self and trained by Scooter Davis.

    Arroyo won two races. Besides tallying on Imagoodfella, he won the fourth race with Shed a Tear, a 3-year-old gelding owned by Angel M. Ubarri and trained by Victor Carrasco, Jr.




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