Get your off track betting action at Tampa Bay Downs, one of the many available horse racing tracks at YouWager.lv’s racebook.
Just outside of Tampa in Westchase, Florida, is Tampa Bay Downs, a thoroughbred horse racing facility. One of the greatest surfaces in the country for training and racing is the primary track, a one-mile oval with a sand and loam composition. There is a seven-furlong chute on the 976-foot-long main track, which has a width of 75 feet. The 1998 completion of the turf course resulted in a circumference of seven-eighths of a mile with a quarter-mile Thirteen barns total, including two receiving barns, accommodate 1,460 horses on the backstretch. There are 1,700 seats in the Clubhouse and 4,300 in the Grandstand.
Tampa Bay Downs History
One of the oldest and best-kept racetracks in America, Tampa Bay Downs is the only thoroughbred racetrack on Florida’s west coast. The racecourse, which debuted as Tampa Downs in 1926, has a lengthy and interesting past. 1947 saw the park renamed Sunshine Park and brought into the contemporary era with the addition of an electronic tote board, picture finish, and electric starting gate.
The racetrack was a favorite destination for numerous sportswriters visiting the Tampa Bay area in the 1950s to cover baseball spring training. A group of Tampa athletes purchased the track in 1965 and changed its name to Florida Downs.
Tampa Bay Downs was the new name given to the track upon another ownership change in 1980. Since taking over the facilities immediately before the 1986–1987 season, the current owners have made continuous improvements.
At the end of the 1997 season, Tampa Bay Downs President and Treasurer Mrs. Stella Thayer announced the installation of a 7/8-mile turf course featuring a 1/4-mile chute, ushering in a new era for the Tampa oval. The turf race took place on May 2, 1998, Kentucky Derby Day, following the completion of the course in the spring of that year. Both horsemen and customers now have more opportunities thanks to this innovation.
Eight track records and a 3-percent rise in on-track handling to more than $40 million were the season’s highlights in 2011–12. To $162,320, the average daily purse amount rose. Bettor excitement greeted the arrival of Trakus, a computerized device that gives handicappers a plethora of useful data by showing the position and whereabouts of every horse during a race.
Off Track Betting Guides
Get your off track betting action at Tampa Bay Downs, one of the many available horse racing tracks at YouWager.lv’s racebook.