Sports: Ortiz wins on a 22-1 long shot

Ortiz wins on a 22-1 long shot

By BERNIE DICKMAN

Before Saturday's $50,000 Gasparilla Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, the lone filly in the nine-horse field to have competed in three stakes races was Frozen Dinner, owned by Tampa doctor Dan Frazier's Pyrite Stables.

But the experiences at Calder for the daughter of Formal Dinner were nothing to write home about. She finished fifth, sixth and seventh, beaten by a total of 47 lengths. Considering she was facing the first four finishers from the Jan. 6 Sandpiper, including the winner, Political Wife, Frozen Dinner didn't appear to have much chance Saturday, as her odds of 22-1 reflected.

But the filly's rider, Felix Ortiz, is having an excellent meeting, and he rode with confidence. Ortiz took the filly from next to last on the backstretch in the 7-furlong race, began to move up on the rail coming to the turn and swung her outside for the stretch run. She won by 21/4 lengths. A time of 1:28:69 was slow for the distance, but the race was on a sloppy track that produced slow times all afternoon.

It was the third victory in 10 starts for Frozen Dinner, who won $28,500 and raised her total to almost $78,000. Trainer Miguel Feliciano said his filly likely will race next in the $50,000 Suncoast Stakes at a mile and 16th on Feb. 24.

MAJOR LOSS: Just how costly was the conflict between the horsemen and management that marred the first few weeks of the Tampa meeting? On one Tuesday during the unofficial boycott of entries and the subsequent lowering of purses, the total handle from all sources was less than $90,000. On Tuesday the handle was $3,340,041.

The three major meetings of the winter months -- Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., and Aqueduct in New York -- are dark on Tuesdays. That gives Tampa a rare opportunity to showcase its better allowance horses and its excellent turf course. Although the Jan. 2 $75,000 Endeavour was the only stakes scheduled for a Tuesday at the meeting, management might be thinking of adding more stakes on everybody's day off. In Tuesday's Daily Racing Form, three other tracks were listed for the simulcast players: Philadelphia Park, Turf Paradise near Phoenix and Sunland Park in New Mexico. The money wagered on Tampa from outside Florida was $2,864,849, nearly 86 percent of the track's action. With other tracks open Saturday, the handle was $1,768,412.

WIN ONE FOR THE GATORS: The University of Florida Foundation is a name unfamiliar to most race fans when it appears on the breeding line of a racehorse, which is infrequently. It refers to the school's Horse Research Center in Zuber, near Ocala. The center usually breeds horses with less-than-stellar bloodlines. The money received from those sales goes back to the facility, along with any breeder's awards when a horse wins at a Florida track.

On Jan. 30, Talking Red scored in a $15,100 allowance race on the grass at Tampa, the 3-year-old colt's third victory in his past four starts. He had won twice at Calder recently, both times on the grass, and gave the Foundation three substantial breeder's awards in 31/2 months.

SANTA ANITA: Guided Tour beat Lethal Instrument by 11/2 lengths Sunday in the $300,000 San Antonio Handicap at Arcadia, Calif. Guided Tour, with Larry Melancon riding, ran the 11/8-mile track in 1:48:26 and paid $8.80, $4.60 and $4.20. The 5-year-old gelding was the 3-1 second choice in a field of eight older horses.

GULFSTREAM: Istintaj held off Fappie's Notebook by a half-length in the $115,500 Deputy Handicap, giving jockey Jerry Bailey a sweep of weekend stakes at Hallandale Beach. On Saturday, Bailey rode Captain Steve to victory in the $500,000 Donn Handicap.

- Times wires contributed to this report.