Tampa Bay Downs begins its 84{+t}{+h} year at the Oldsmar facility with only minor changes for the 91-day meet.

The track will offer a 25-race stakes schedule worth approximately $2.5 million. Highlighting the stakes schedule is the Grade III $300,000 Tampa Bay Derby, the Grade III $175,000 Florida Oaks and the Grade III $150,000 Hillsborough Stakes on Festival Day (March 13); and the Grade III $225,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes and the Grade III $125,000 Endeavour Stakes on Festival Preview Day (Feb. 13).

While added money has been put in the 2- and 3-year-old stakes races leading up to Festival Preview Day, the Florida Oaks and Hillsborough Stakes have been cut by $25,000 and the season-ending $75,000 Chris Thomas Turf Classic has been dropped from the stakes schedule.

The Sandpiper Stakes (Dec. 26), the Inaugural Stakes (Dec. 26) and the Gasparilla Stakes (Jan. 16) all have been increased to $75,000, up from last season's $65,000 purse. The Endeavour Stakes was a $150,000 stakes race last year with $50,000 coming from the Breeders' Cup Association. That money is no longer available but the track increased its guarantee to $125,000.

There will be plenty of outstanding jockeys at Tampa Bay Downs, led by perennial Tampa leading jockey Daniel Centeno, as well as Breeders' Cup Marathon runner-up and leading rider at Colonial Downs Rosemary Homeister Jr.

Homeister is currently the second-leading female rider in history, behind Julie Krone. Pablo Morales, who was the fourth overall jockey at TBD for the 2007-08 season, will return after a year's hiatus.

Some minor changes to the mutual wagering for this season includes the addition of the 50-cent Trifecta and Pick 4 wager. Also, the track will have a smaller takeout for exacta, Pick 3, Pick 4, Super Hi-5 and Pick Six wagering. The decrease in takeout has been a trend at TBD for the past several years, as management continues to reward the players that support the industry locally.

The track hopes it can continue to build upon large field sizes, with goals to increase upon last season's average field size of 9.32 horses per race.