Gerald Bennett

Born: March 12, 1944 | Birthplace: Springhill, Nova Scotia | Residence: Tampa, FL

First Win: Greenwood, Canada | Started Training: 1974 | Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Monmouth Park, Presque Isle Downs, Delaware Park

On Dec. 8, 2021, Bennett became the 14th trainer in North American history to win 4,000 races when he sent out Averill Racing’s 8-year-old D’craziness to win a claiming race at the Oldsmar oval (Tom Amoss made it 15 with No. 4,000 in August at Saratoga). Bennett enters the 2022-2023 meet seeking his eighth consecutive Tampa Bay Downs training title and ninth overall. If he gets it done, he would tie Jamie Ness for most Oldsmar titles (Ness won nine in a row, from 2006-2007 through 2014-2015; Bennett and Ness tied for the top spot in 2010-2011). The late Don Rice won eight overall Tampa Bay Downs titles. Bennett won 36 races last season, six more than runner-up Kathleen O’Connell. Bennett unveiled a potential star last season in Carpenters Call, who broke his maiden in December at the Oldsmar oval, followed up with a pair of allowance victories and traveled south to Gulfstream Park for a third-place finish in the Grade III Kitten’s Joy Appleton Stakes. The 4-year-old colt became a stakes winner at Presque Isle Downs in August, winning the Peach Street Stakes. The good times continued for Bennett at Monmouth Park, where he tied for fourth in the standings with 21 winners. That included a victory by Feast, campaigned by Bennett’s own Winning Stables, Inc., in the Rumson Stakes. On April 23, 2021, Bennett passed the late Frank H. Merrill, Jr., as the all-time leading Canadian-born trainer with a victory by 4-year-old gelding Baby Boomer at Gulfstream Park, giving him 3,975 for his career. Bennett, the father of trainer Dale Bennett, tied a Tampa Bay Downs record on Dec. 7, 2016 by saddling four winners from four starters. Bennett enjoys turning around horses that have gone off-form, and few conditioners can match his feats with Beau Genius. He acquired the minor stakes winner after his 3-year-old season and trained him to victory in 13 stakes, including the 1990 Grade I Philip H. Iselin and the 1990 Grade II Michigan Mile and One-Eighth Handicap. Beau Genius also won the 1990 Hallandale Handicap at Gulfstream, memorable as the final victory for Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker. Other notable Bennett trainees include stakes winners Secret Romeo, Banker’s Jet, Fast Flying Rumor and R Angel Katelyn. Bennett previously trained Standardbreds in Canada.