By Joe Quillen
Sunday 1/17/24–Tampa Bay Downs Race 9
After a couple of days of cancellations at Parx, we get out of the cold and snow for the warmer temps of Tampa Bay Downs as we will look at the ninth race on the race, which is a maiden special weight race for horses four-year-olds and up going a mile and 40 yards on the main track. Nine horses will head to the gate at approximately 4:30 pm ET.
The morning line favorite #5 Aquarius Moon (5/2 ML) faded in this same type of race at Gulfstream, but it was a one-turn mile. He had a very impressive run going two turns at a mile and 70 yards at Monmouth in September. He got a slight break while changing barns after his Laurel race in October, and second race in this barn and a bit easier competition at Tampa Bay versus the championship meet fields at Tampa will help him.
The 2 Magistrate (3/1 ML) is first time dirt after running on the turf at Laurel in his debut then ran twice on the synthetic surface at Turfway Park. He’s first time at Tampa, and he should be fit here to improve off of fading last time out.
The 7 Secret Treasure (5/1 ML) came back from a six month layoff to reappear under the care of a new trainer and goes back to going two turns after making his Tampa Bay Downs debut going 7 furlongs. He will love the extra ground and could upset here.
The 9 Valiant West (6/1 ML) finished almost two lengths ahead of Secret Treasure and is also second race off of a layoff, though this layoff is only three months in length. He’s progressing to a route of ground here as will be on the outside of these horses and come up and win this race at a nice price.
My picks for the ninth at Tampa Bay Downs is 9-7-5-2, and my play is $20 to win on the 9. Good luck everyone and hopefully you are staying warm!
QPW Update Desk
- Parx cancelled their live racing cards on both Monday and Tuesday due to weather and track conditions, and as of Tuesday night when this article was written, already cancelled their card for Wednesday due to the snow and ice that hit the Philadelphia area on Monday night and Tuesday.
- With Mahoning Valley’s thoroughbred racing card and Louisiana Downs’ quarter horse cards cancelled, it was a rare non-Christmas day where there were no thoroughbred or quarter horse races in North America.
- Some news for my good friend PlayActionReal, who is on the Bleacher Brothers show, as Turf Paradise’s abbreviated season begins on Monday, January 29.
Follow Joe on Twitter/Instagram/Threads @JoeQuills. Check out the Bleacher Brothers Show from 8 to 10 pm Eastern Time on the Tony Bruno Sports Network app! Also check Joe’s sports stream podcast on Twitch every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 pm ET, and his YouTube channel where you can catch the show on demand.
