BY TAMPA BAY DOWNS PRESS OFFICE
OLDSMAR, FL—Samuel Marin rode five winners at Tampa Bay Downs Sunday to bring his total victories at the meet to 113 and clinch his first riding title at the track.
Marin won the second, third and fourth races Sunday with Classic King ($5.80), Immense Faith ($4.40) and Bold Baby ($3.80) respectively, then won with Florida-bred Just Relax ($3.60) in race six and True Myth ($4.20) in the ninth race.
Marin, 23, has eight more winners than five-time Oldsmar champion Samy Camacho with three racing days remaining through Saturday. Camacho began a five-day suspension Sunday for a careless riding incident, ending his longshot bid to tie or pass Marin.
Camacho, who had won the last four Tampa Bay Downs titles, rode three winners Saturday, his fourth consecutive three-victory performance. He is headed to Monmouth Park in New Jersey for the meet beginning May 10.
Marin, meanwhile, will seek to add to his current Oldsmar total.
“It’s a great feeling, and I’m grateful to everybody who has been involved,” Marin said to the Tampa Bay Downs press office Saturday. “I knew I would have a lot of business here once I started working at Monmouth Park last year with my agent, Mike Moran, and ended up the meet really good.
“So I really wanted to get this, but if it didn’t happen I was still going to be happy because I was going to work very hard to at least be one of the top jockeys here.”
Marin won last year’s month-long Meadowlands meet title in New Jersey with 10 winners. Marin rode 40 winners at Monmouth in 2024, good for third place in the standings. He is returning there after closing day at Tampa Bay Downs on May 4.
“I’m proud of both of my riders,” Moran, who also represents Camacho, said. “They are both the total package—hard workers who are excited about everything and want to try to ride the best horses, and I think they both had awesome meets.
“[Marin] does his homework before the races and is pretty smart. He knows all his mounts’ names and can tell you where they finished last time and who beat him if he didn’t win. You don’t just go around in circles out there, and he is totally prepared,” Moran added.
Return to the April 29 issue of Wire to Wire
