Bet on the Tampa Bay Derby
The $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby is a Grade 2 race held each March for three year-olds at a mile and one sixteenth on dirt. Inaugurated in 1981 at Tampa Bay Downs was ungraded until achieving Grade 3 status in the 2002 renewal. The race has become increasingly popular since 2007 winner Street Sense became the first Tampa Bay Derby participant to win a Kentucky Derby. The Tampa Bay Derby is currently an official Kentucky Derby prep race with the winner earning 50 qualifying points, the runner-up 20, the third place finisher 10, and five for fourth place.
Tampa Bay Derby Racebooks
As so many regular and casual horseplayers shift their attention to the Kentucky Derby prep races each winter, it’s a great time to find a quality online racebook. The Tampa Bay Derby is just one of many important prep races from January to April. Following closely allows players a better opportunity to select the next Kentucky Derby winner on the first Saturday in May.
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* REMINDER! - you must be of legal age in your state or province to legally wager on thoroughbred or harness horse racing. Please bet responsibly!
Tampa Bay Derby Betting Odds
The best horseplayers have a knack for finding the best value for their wagering dollars. That’s why Bovada Racebook is a popular choice for the profit-driven player. With a lucrative bonus and rebate program, Bovada provides opportunities for the horseplayer that cannot be found at the track or OTB facility including a 50% free bet bonus for all new players on deposits of up to $250. In addition, Bovada provides daily rebates of 3% on all win wagers and 5% on all exotic bets.
2016 Tampa Bay Derby Contenders
After a runner-up placing in the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Carpe Diem made his three-year-old debut a winning one, by taking the 2015 Tampa Bay Derby in convincing fashion, topping a field of seven others by five lengths, despite some reluctance to load into the gate. Once he was away, Carpe Diem tracked the pace closely throughout, moving three wide at the top of the stretch to go to the lead and then pull away. After getting bumped at the start, Ami's Flatter raced near the back of the pack throughout, and was five lengths off the lead turning for home, but rallied to get the Place money at 13-1. In third at 9-1 was Divining Rod, helping to boost the $2 trifecta payout to $147.20.
2015 Order of Finish Win Place Show
1) Carpe Diem $4.00 $3.00 $2.40
2) Ami's Flatter $9.00 $6.80
3) Diving Rod $5.60
(Also Ran: Danzig Moon, Great Stuff, Moonlight Bandit, Ocean Knight, My Johnny Be Good Scratched: Souper Colossal)
Check back closer to race day for the 2016 Tampa Bay Derby contenders!
Did you know?
In 2007, two titans of the Triple Crown trail met in the Tampa Bay Derby with 2006 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Champion Street Sense taking on the well-regarded Sam F. Davis Stakes winner Any Given Saturday. The pair did not disappoint, hooking up at the head of the stretch and remaining nose and nose to the wire where a photo finish determined Street Sense the narrow winner. Street Sense went on to the win the Kentucky Derby and Travers Stakes, while Any Given Saturday would later romp in the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes. The race helped the Tampa Bay Derby gain notoriety as a major prep and elevated it to Grade 2 status by 2009.
The Tampa Bay Derby has a respectable history outside of the 2007 race with such noteworthy winners as Verrazano, Sun King, Limehouse, and Parade Ground. Its most famous alumnus, Street Sense, holds the track record with his 1:43.11 mark for the mile and one sixteenth – both the stakes and the track record for this distance. In 2008, the previous year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and two year-Old Eclipse Award-winning colt War Pass appeared in the Tampa Bay Derby as the 1/20 favorite, but finished last in the field of seven behind upset winner Big Truck.