OLDSMAR - Whether you’re new to Thoroughbred racing or you’ve been coming to the racetrack since the days of Secretariat, Forego, Ruffian and Affirmed, it’s hard to pass up a chance to watch the most exciting 2 minutes in sports surrounded by fellow horse lovers who understand what the fuss is about.

    Kentucky Derby Day is May 4, and Tampa Bay Downs plans a celebration like none other on the west coast of Florida. As track management is fond of saying: Louisville has the race, but we have one heck of a party!

   Plus, a full slate of racing to wrap up the 2023-2024 meet and accompany the simulcast excitement from Churchill Downs – which will present seven graded-stakes races in addition to the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve – and many other racetracks.

  Admission at Tampa Bay Downs is $10, with children 17-and-under free. Valet parking is $25. The gates will open at 10 a.m., and the first local race will begin around noon. Automatic wagering terminals will be set up outside in front of the main Grandstand entrance for fans who decide to grab their tickets early and watch at home or elsewhere.

    Post time for the Kentucky Derby is 6:57 p.m. The final minutes before the race are electric, as the realization sinks in that this is it for another year.

    Plenty of Kentucky Derby souvenirs will be available in the Gift Shop, including glasses listing all 149 winners of the race. The cost is $14.95; if you want the traditional mint julep, the cost is $19 ($10 for the glass and $9 for the drink).

There will also be food-truck specials on the grounds, in addition to the usual concession and restaurant fare.

    The 150th edition of the Run for the Roses is expected to feature a full field of 20 horses, including as many as three who have competed at Tampa Bay Downs: the Grade III Tampa Bay Derby winner, Domestic Product; West Saratoga, who finished third in the Grade III Sam F. Davis Stakes and second in the Pasco Stakes; and Grand Mo the First, the third-place Tampa Bay Derby finisher who is 21st in the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points standings, necessitating a withdrawal beforehand to qualify.

   Domestic Product, a homebred owned by Klaravich Stables and trained by Chad Brown, has worked four times at Payson Park Training Center since winning the Tampa Bay Derby on March 9, including a 4-furlong breeze of 48 2/5 on Saturday, the fastest of 58 recorded workouts that day at the distance. “The horse is training super, better than ever, and I’m happy I chose to train him into the race,” Brown told the Daily Racing Form.

    Brown also trains top contender Sierra Leone, who won the Toyota Blue Grass on April 6 at Keeneland.

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