Winning Stables

Owner: Gerald Bennett | Born: March 12, 1944 |

Birthplace: Springhill, Nova Scotia | Residence: Tampa, FL | Tampa Trainer: Gerald Bennett

After capturing back-to-back leading Tampa Bay Downs Owners titles, Winning Stables fell off the pace, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. In addition to six victories, the stable’s runners finished second or third in 31 of 67 starts, a staggering 46-percent “close-call” rate. Winning Stables’s 2020-2021 victory total of 27 winners was 11 more than runner-up Carole Star Stables. Owner Gerald Bennett has also won seven consecutive training titles at the Oldsmar oval, and at 78 he shows no signs of slowing. Throughout the 1980s, Bennett was a mainstay on the Michigan racing scene, dominating the trainer standings at Hazel Park and Detroit Race Course. Bennett conditioned the filly Down From Heaven to nine victories in a row at Detroit Race Course from 1988 through 1989 after claiming her for $5,000. He was leading trainer in 2005 at Great Lakes Downs with 86 wins. Among his many accomplishments, Bennett has won five races in one day. Bennett’s Crimson Knight finished second in the 2011 Grade II Tampa Bay Derby at odds of 86-1. Winning Stables owned Crimson Knight in partnership with Raymond Rech.