Equidaily: On the Ground Equidaily.com's visits to various racing venues and events

It was a picture perfect afternoon for the 27th running of the G3 $300K Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs. Offering an eight and a half furlong distance that is no longer available on the east coast of Florida -- as well as graded earnings -- the jewel of this meet has become a significant step along the Ky Derby Trail.

A crowd of 10K+ attended and, in this facility, provided a near-full house and plenty of buzz and excitement.

Free parking got the day off to the right start -- and customer service extended to the overflow lot where golf carts taxied fans from their cars to the front gate [and back again at the end of the day]. The $2 admission was a "value-added" deal as each paying customer received a nice cooler bag giveaway item.

Even with the large crowd the Tampa Bay Downs facility provides plenty of elbow room. Free grandstand seating was not difficult to find. And while there were lines at some of the betting windows -- they weren't long enough to threaten a "shut out" to an alert player.

Left, Nick Zito and Daniel Centeno in the paddock prior to the Florida Oaks. Right, Todd Pletcher, John Velazquez and Tampa Bay Downs GM Peter Berube in the winner's circle after the G3 $150K Hillsborough, won by Cassydora.

The afternoon featured a solid thirteen race card, with four very nice stakes races. Each of the four stakes attracted strong, competitive fields that included graded stakes winners. The top horses were accompanied by top connections. Nick Zito, Todd Pletcher, and Carl Nafzger were among those on hand for the day.

Hall of Famer Julie Krone, left, poses for a photo.

Also in attendance, Hall of Famer Julie Krone. And we spotted Steve Byk, co-host of Sirius satellite radio's daily At the Races & Beyond program. He was checking the simulcast monitors after the race-day ended -- following the results of the Magna 5 which he successfully gave out on the radio show's website.

Radio host Steve Byk [center left, tan coat and hat] looking for a winner in the paddock.

The highlight of the day was, obviously, the Tampa Bay Derby. All eyes were focused on the BC Juvie winner and Eclipse champ Street Sense [#2], and Todd Pletcher's very promising Any Given Saturday [#4].

Turning for home Any Given Saturday was on the outside while Street Sense slipped up the rail and the two fought a ding-dong battle right to the wire with Street Sense prevailing by a mere nose on the head-bob.

Tampa Bay Derby winner Street Sense's connections, trainer Carl Nafzger [left], and jockey Calvin Borel [right], stop to sign autographs after the race.

A beautiful day of racing capped by a race that absolutely lived up to its billing. The crowd went home happy -- and it's days like these that are clearly what the sport is all about...

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