Eliot Ness was the prohibition agent who along with his group of untouchables eventually brought down Al Capone but the Ness that Tampa Bay bettors can bet with confidence this upcoming meeting is Jamie Ness.

Gulfstream Park is not the only rodeo for Florida fans to latch on to as Tampa Bay Downs gets a leg up on the more prestigious meeting with it's mid-December opening and horse players get a nice little niche track to delve into early in the year.

First, let's look at the facts. One thing is for sure; the racing at Tampa is on the upgrade. Every single year the program has improved and has lured better horsemen and better stock.

The racing is fast and furious and will go till the first week in May. As for the track itself it's a one-mile oval for the conventional main track and the turf course is 7 furlongs with a quarter of a mile chute.

Local players get a break as far as takeout is concerned too. Win, place and show skim is 17.5%, Daily Double, Exacta, Pick 3 and Pick 4 and Quinella take is between 18 and 21.5% while Pick Six and Trifecta take is just about 25%.

The Superfecta take at Tampa is reportedly the lowest in the country.

As far as the how the track played last year, speed tended to hold more on the main track then the turf but overall you could win from anywhere on either surface.

As far as the humans that stir the drink, horse bettor has to put a big circle around Jamie Ness this meet. He is coming of a super season as he crushed his competition winning the training title by 35 winners.

Tom Proctor, Michael Simone, the Bennett boys, Dale and Gerald and Kirk Ziadie will push Ness every step of the way.

Before we go on the riders, horseplayers should know a few things about The Untouchables, namely Mr. Ness.

This is no silver spoon guy. He has come up from the trenches and knows about hard work as a native of South Dakota.

Like so many in this game, he was taking to the track by his grandfather before he was in the first grade and he's been mesmerized every since. Ness' father was a trainer and he taught him the tough lessons of the sport and how to manage without the high-profile big owner or big horse.

A baller in his spare time, which is few and far between, the trainer loves to hook up at the local gyms and go one and one with the top basketball players in the place.

He has a great eye for a horse and it became evident when he claimed Lookinforthesecret for $12,500 and turned him into a multiple stakes winner.

Modesty is also one of his best traits. Ness: " I make my living out of the claiming box. I do my homework and study the horses on and off the track and I look at the trainers' tendencies. I don't have two-year-olds and I don't have stakes horses. It's a blue-collar barn so I need to know what I've got."

One word comes to mind when horseplayers talk about the riders at Tampa last year and that word is Centeno.

David's mounts earned more than a million over his nearest riding foe and he ran away and hid from the other jockeys even by more than a margin than Ness.

When the smoke had cleared for the meet, he was 81 winners ahead of the second place rider.

Two value riders that horse bettors should be aware of this year are Willie Martinez and Tammi Piermarini. Combined they accounted for 66 winners last year and at prices to boot.

The best way to approach this meet for the casual bettor is to isolate on the top human connections, factor in speed and recent racing form, and go to the window with confidence.