Monthly Archives: July 2016

2015 Virginia-Bred Horse Of The Year Pulls Upset Saturday In Grade I Stakes at Del Mar

Kosta Hronis played a bit coy earlier in the week about Stellar Wind‘s chances in her second try against Beholder.

He gushed about the honor of being able to run against the three-time champion in the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch (gr. I), but showed no interest in ducking her on their home turf. The owner also made sure to stress one point.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Hronis said. “We like our horse.”

Now everyone knows why.… Continue reading

Weekend Stakes Preview For July 30-31; 3 Virginia-Bred/Owned Horses Will Compete In Stakes

Nyquist vs. Exaggerated and Beholder vs. Virginia-bred Stellar Wind. Four of the biggest names in horse racing will compete in two of the biggest stakes races of the weekend — the $1,000,000 Haskell Invitational (Monmouth) and $300,000 Clement Hirsch Stakes (Del Mar), both Grade I events. And, two more horses with Virginia ties — Rapid Rhythm and Disco Barbie — are entered into weekend stakes. If you don’t have an on line betting account yet … Continue reading

Virginia-Bred & Owned Horses Thrive In Weekend Stakes Action

Two of the three Virginia-bred stakes winners from the inaugural Mid-Atlantic Day racing event at Pimlico June 25th returned to action this past weekend and got a first and second place finish. Queen Caroline, who captured the $60,000 Nellie Mae Cox Stakes that day, won the $100,000 TaWee Stakes at Indiana Grand July 20th while 9-year-old Two Notch Road, winner of the $60,000 White Oak Farm Stakes a month ago, finished second in a $47,000 allowance optional… Continue reading

Trio Of Virginia-Bred Horse Owners Collect A 25% Bonus For Weekend Wins

Three owners of Virginia-bred horses collected a 25% bonus in addition to their purse earnings this past weekend courtesy of a new HBPA/VTA bonus incentive program, which is still in its first month. Respective wins by Service for Ten, Lime House Louie and Money Tree gave owners Mark Lapidus, LLC, the Wildcard Stables and Stoneybrook Thoroughbreds Inc. the extra bonus.

Service for Ten captured a $45,000 allowance optional claiming race Sunday at Laurel with a last to first second… Continue reading

David Lermond Appointed To Virginia Racing Commission Executive Secretary Position

VIRGINIA RACING COMMISSION APPOINTS DAVID LERMOND AS ITS EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

(RICHMOND, VA—7/22/16)—-The Virginia Racing Commission (VRC) announced today that it has appointed Dave Lermond to serve as its Executive Secretary, effective June 25th.

Lermond had been the Acting Executive Secretary since early March, when former Executive Secretary Bernard Hettel stepped down from that position. Lermond had previously been the VRC’s Deputy Executive Secretary and Fiscal Officer since 2008 and currently serves on the Model Rules Committee for the Association of… Continue reading

Virginia-Bred Winner Pays $148.60 In Upset Monday At Mountaineer

Virginia-bred horses Ghost Is Fine and Explore each won a claiming race at Mountaineer Park Monday night, each got the winner’s share of identical $6,300 purses, and each earned a 25% bonus for their respective owners as part of the new HPBA/VTA Virginia-bred owner’s bonus program.

There were two differences though — the distance raced and the return on investment. Ghost Is Fine won at the six furlong distance while Explore connected at one mile… Continue reading

Highly Regarded Sticksstatelydude Earns 2nd Career Victory

Highly regarded Sticksstatelydude, who won honors as top Virginia-Bred 2 Year Old Colt in 2015, captured his second career victory this past weekend in a $77,000 allowance race at Belmont.
Sticksstatelydude wins a $77,000 allowance race July 15 at Belmont. Photo by Pack Pride Racing.

Sticksstatelydude wins a $77,000 allowance race July 15 at Belmont. Photo by Pack Pride Racing.


 The First Dude colt stumbled at the start but recovered quick enough to still go gate to wire in winning the one mile race by 3 3/4 lengths in 1:34.04. Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin… Continue reading

Alert From Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services

SECOND CASE OF EASTERN EQUINE ENCEPHALITIS IN A VIRGINIA HORSE THIS YEAR

~ Disease has a 80 to 90 percent mortality so prevention is key ~

 The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) today announced the second case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) in a Virginia horse this year. The horse, a thoroughbred, was from Suffolk. The horse had been vaccinated and is recovering. Without vaccination the mortality rate is 80 to 90 percent.

VDACS received confirmation… Continue reading

Progress Update on Harness Racing At Shenandoah Downs; Meet Details Announced

Pari-mutuel harness racing will return to Virginia this fall and make its debut at Shenandoah Downs in Woodstock over five straight weekends beginning September 10th, pending final approval from the Virginia Racing Commission.  The meet, presented by the Virginia Equine Alliance (VEA) and Virginia Harness Horsemen’s Association (VHHA), will continue every Saturday and Sunday afternoon through October 9th.

Non-wagering fair races have been held at the Shenandoah County Fairgrounds for 98 years,… Continue reading

On Line Betting Handle In Virginia Continues Upward Trend In June

On line betting handle in Virginia continued a recent upward trend during the month of June as the three licensed Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW) companies combined to handle 6% more than they did in June, 2015.

TVG, which has consistently led the way in handle figures every month since Colonial Downs’ EZ Horseplay went out of business last April, handled $3,014,242 in June wagers. Twin Spires was next with $2,689,609 and XPressBet was third with… Continue reading