Sweet Nola has proven to be quite the productive claim for owner-trainer Juan Arriagada.
Haltered for $6,250 in February, Sweet Nola has six wins and three seconds from nine starts since and has earned $117,380 for Arriagada. While the last three wins in this run have come over the synthetic surface at Presque Isle Downs, the first three came on the dirt at Tampa Bay Downs, where on Wednesday Sweet Nola looms a short-priced favorite in a starter allowance for fillies and mares going seven furlongs that serves as the feature on the nine-race card.
Arriagada said it has been pleasantly surprising that Sweet Nola has done this well. On the day his brother claimed her – Arriagada was on days at the time – she was beaten 26 1/4 lengths.
“I don’t think anybody can have much expectation after that day she ran so bad. It doesn’t happen in racing very often,” Arriagada said.
Six weeks after that bad race for $6,250, Arriagada cut Sweet Nola back to seven furlongs in a $10,000 claiming event and she scored a 4 1/4-length, front-running victory. Sweet Nola would go on two win two more races at Tampa Bay before spending the summer at Presque Isle.
Arriagada said that, at least in the mornings, Sweet Nola shows a preference for dirt.
“When I see her breeze here and I see her at Presque Isle, she handles the track way better here,” Arriagada said Monday from Tampa. “At Presque Isle, she climbs a little, she feels a little bit weird. I think she won those races because she’s better than they are. I think if nothing goes different, she’ll be pretty tough Wednesday.”
Arriagada pointed to Ritabook and Awesome Pic as the two horses he’s most worried about. Ritabook was claimed for $6,250 by trainer Victor Carrasco Jr. at Tampa in April. She spent the summer at Delaware Park and had three wins and four seconds from nine starts. She does have speed, as does Sweet Nola.
Awesome Pic is just 1 for 11 at Tampa, the win coming in February 2023. Last meet, she went 0 for 9, albeit against a higher level than she faces Wednesday.
A potential live longshot in this field is Twizzle, a four-time winner over Tampa’s dirt surface. Her form is dirtied up with several poor finishes facing tougher company at Gulfstream Park. She does have Samuel Marin named to ride. Marin, Tampa’s leading rider at the 2024-25 meet, has won six races over the first two days of this meet.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.