Art Institute goes for hot jock, trainer

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Art Institute will face winners for the first time in the featured eighth race at Tampa Bay Downs on Sunday, and bettors would be wise to note that she has the powerful tandem of jockey Jesus Castanon and trainer Tom Proctor in her corner.

Castanon and Proctor have won five of their nine starts together here since the start of 2016 for a whopping $3.93 return on investment for a $2 win bet. Art Institute also has the highest last-race Beyer Speed Figure in the field, a 67 earned for her neck victory last out in a $21,750 maiden special weight race going a mile on turf here Jan. 21.

Sunday’s first-level, $22,500 allowance drew a field of nine 3-year-old fillies set to go 1 1/16 miles on the turf course and carries an optional $75,000 claiming condition.

Art Institute will start from the rail in her third start. In her debut, she rallied from the back of a 10-horse field, 11 lengths behind the pacesetter, to finish fourth, beaten 2 1/2 lengths. The daughter of Arch is a homebred for Glen Hill Farm.

“She didn’t do everything right the first time – she ran green – but even with being wide, she still closed ground, which is hard to do for a firsttime starter when they’re wide,” said Craig Bernick, Glen Hill’s president. “The second time she ran, it looked like there was going to be a bunched finish, and she surged at the end. She’s coming around. I was a bit surprised that her Beyer number is faster than the other horses, so from that perspective, she looks tough in there.”

KEY CONTENDERS, RACE 8

Art Institute, by Arch Beyers: 67-53

◗ Proctor has won with 18 of his last 69 starters (26 percent) who were coming off a victory.

◗ She has breezed four times since her win, including three works at five furlongs.

Rockin, by Hard Spun Last 3 Beyers: 53-62-58

◗ She’s finished third at this level on turf twice at this meet, including when well beaten by Dynatail, who was scheduled to run in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks on Saturday. She tried a synthetic surface in the $50,000 fillies’ division of the OBS Sprint when last seen in January and returns to a turf route here for trainer Keith Nations.

◗ Last Sunday, she worked half a mile in 47.60 seconds, the fastest of 83 moves at the distance that morning.

Air Turbulence, by English Channel Beyers: 60-55

◗ She raced most recently in October at Keeneland, finishing fourth in a first-level, $62,000 allowance. Trainer Chris Block often doesn’t have his horses fully cranked following a layoff of 61 to 180 days, having won with just two of his last 26 such starters (8 percent).