Samuel Marin provided an exclamation point to his first Tampa Bay Downs riding title in the sixth race today, piloting the promising 3-year-old colt Here Comes Francis to a 5 ¼-length victory from Shadow Factor in near-track record time of 1:16.09 for the 6 ½-furlong distance. The contest was the Lambholm South Race of the Week.
Marin, 23, has 108 winners at the meet, three more than five-time Oldsmar champion Samy Camacho with five racing days remaining. Camacho begins a five-day suspension Sunday for a careless riding incident, ending his long-shot bid to tie or Marin.
Camacho, who had won the last four Tampa Bay Downs titles, rode three winners today, 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,” said Marin, who won last year’s month-long Meadowlands meet title in New Jersey with 10 winners. “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 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,” said Moran, who also represents Camacho. “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.
Moran is optimistic both of his riders can challenge Monmouth’s 2024 champion, Paco Lopez.
Camacho’s quest for a sixth Tampa Bay Downs title will have to wait until next season. A rider who shares a corner of the jockeys’ room with Marin, six-time Oldsmar champion Daniel Centeno, believes the youngster has the potential to sur that record he shares with 1970 Kentucky Derby winner Mike Manganello, should Marin keep coming to Tampa Bay Downs.
“He has a positive attitude and is very dedicated, and that’s what you need in this business,” Centeno said. “He is always listening and learning, and he wants to learn more every day. He’ll watch the replays even when he wins and is quick to point out a mistake he made.
“He’s a professional rider who can ride anywhere with anyone.”
Marin values the opportunity to learn from such outstanding riders as Centeno and Jesus Castanon, whose cubicle was on his other side until Castanon departed earlier this month.
“It’s an honor to learn from riders like them. It feels good to be in their corner,” Marin said.
