According to BarbaraAnne Helberg at Suite101.com, Paddy O’Prado rose to the top of the three-year-old class in terms of total accomplishments when he won Colonial Downs’ Twin Turf. The El Prado colt equaled the accomplishment of English Channel and Battle of Hastings in becoming just the third Thoroughbred to capture both races of the ‘Twin Turf’ for three-year-olds.

Romans is looking at an ambitious graded one turf schedule going forward for Paddy O’Prado that includes the Secretariat Stakes, the Joe… Continue reading →

Virginia-breds A Little War, Malibu Prayer and Charitable Man will all look to boost their resumes and bankrolls by sundown on Sunday. All three were bred by Edward P. Evans.

A Little Warm will tackle the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes Gr.II on Saturday at Saratoga while former Va-bred champion Malibu Prayer takes on five rivals in the Spa’s $250,000 Ruffian Handicap Gr.I on Sunday.

Charitable Man (pictured) is entered in the $150,000 Teddy Drone Stakes at Monmouth on Saturday and… Continue reading →

Connie Collier, known to many Virginia horsemen, passed away peacefully from complications related to cancer at her home on Jyly 25, 2010. An accountant by trade and owner of Accounting by PC, Connie has served for many years as the horsemen’s bookkeeper at Colonial Downs after initially working in the Security Department. (It is a little known fact that in addition to her dedication to the horse industry, 4H and her love of numbers, Connie also had her license as… Continue reading →

In this photo provided by Equi-Photo, Preakness Stakes winner Lookin At Lucky is led by hotwalker Dana Barnes around the barn at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., Friday morning July 30, 2010. Lookin At Lucky is the morning line favorite for Sunday’s $1,000,000 Izod Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.

As groom Pedro Sanchez leads them off the track, Mary Jo Brennan pats Afleet Again after an early morning workout Friday, July 30, 2010, at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., in… Continue reading →

By Emily Dooley/Richmond Times Dispatch

Virginia’s legacy of horse racing is in jeopardy.

The recession and an industry in decline nationally are partly to blame. So are the surrounding states with slots and table-game gambling that offer bigger purses, luring quality horses away with lucrative prize money.

And anti-gambling sentiments at the General Assembly have so far hampered efforts to expand betting options in the Old Dominion.

“The industry is in, I would call it, the most severe downturn that… Continue reading →

Edward P. Evans’ Virginia-bred Quality Road breezed five furlongs in :58 4/5 yesterday morning on the main track in preparation for his Aug. 7 start in the $750,000 Whitney Handicap Gr.I.

According to Ray Paulick’s Paulick Report, there have been 38 Grade I races run in the United States thus far this year, won by 33 different horses, the only repeat winners being Zenyatta, with three, and Quality Road, Blind Luck, and Proviso, with two Grade I wins each.

Where did those 33 runners come from?

The vast majority, 23 of them, were bred in Kentucky. Virginia checked in second, with three Grade I winners, Ireland and California have two each,… Continue reading →

Brandy’s Champ (f, 2yo), Victory Gallop – Rumbling Girl by Thunder Rumble. B – Braeburn Farm Corp. Colonial Downs, 7 /19/2010, mdn clmg, $12,713, 5.5 f, 1:06.54. ($1,000, wnlg, 2008, ftmdec)