While grateful for the opportunity to continue to race, trainer Kent Sweezey is equally astonished at how deep and difficult the competition is at Tampa Bay Downs. “You haven’t seen an overnight like this,” Sweezey said. “Every field is stacked with also-eligible and exclusions and they cut our purses 10 percent.” Sweezey is part of Friday’s stacked card with entrants in five of the eight races at the Oldsmar, Fla. track. First post is 12:25 p.m. Sweezey’s day gets going started in race 3, a $6,250 claimer where he sends out Northern, who has been claimed six times since last July. Sweezey claimed Northern out of a win for $8,000 on Feb. 9 and raised him into the $16,000 claiming ranks on March 11, when he finished sixth. Sweezey now drops Northern into the $6,250 level at which Northern has won three straight and 4 of 5. “I was curious as to why he was running such good numbers and nobody tried to step him up,” Sweezey said. “They were renting him, passing that horse around. He’s a cool horse, he’s got his little quirks. Hopefully, we got him figured out and he gets back in some place where he’s comfortable.” In the fifth, Sweezey has Blue Chickory entered in an $8,000 claimer, but the 6-year-old mare would need a scratch to get in from the also-eligible list. Her last two races at this level resulted in fourth-place finishes. :: To stay up to date, follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Sweezey looks to have legitimate chances in the three allowance/optional-claiming races that wrap up the card. In the sixth, he sends out the uncoupled entry of Gentleman Joe and Count Again. Gentleman Joe is coming off a second-place finish at this level on Feb. 22. Though it looks like he prefers to be involved early, Sweezey believes Gentleman Joe could rate in a field where there looks to be ample pace. “He’s definitely rateable,” Sweezey said. Count Again just arrived in his barn from Mark Samuel’s Sam-Son Farm. Count Again will be making his first start since he won a maiden race last October at Keeneland for trainer Neil Howard. Sweezey isn’t sure if Count Again might need the race first time off the shelf. In race 7, Sweezey brings the New Jersey-bred Miss Maris back to the races. She is only 1 for 17, but has nine in-the-money finishes. Sweezey was hoping to use this as a stepping-stone to some New Jersey-bred races later this summer when the Monmouth meet gets going. “I don’t think she’s tuned up,” Sweezey said. There is ample speed, though, to set things up for a closer such as Miss Maris or perhaps My Girl Annie, who goes first off the claim for Anthony Ferraro. In Friday’s eighth at Tampa, a second-level allowance, Sweezey has the uncoupled entry of Surprise Again and Glam, both of whom won their last outs. Surprise Again pulled a 24-1 surprise under Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez in a first-level allowance on Feb. 8. She will have Wilmer Garcia aboard Friday. Glam is returning from an October layoff and finished her 4-year-old season with three wins in her last five starts. Sweezey was hoping to have gotten Glam started a little earlier in the meet, but she had an issue with her eye and needed time to recover. “We missed four races over the winter,” Sweezey said. “We were trying to do the right thing by giving the horse a break. She’s doing great right now.” The two main speeds in the race are Distinctive Flower, who goes first off the Dale Bennett claim, and Summering, who returns from a seven-month layoff with blinkers off for Tom Proctor.