To register a 2024 foal as a Virginia-bred:

Foals must be dropped in Virginia and the foal’s dam must reside in Virginia from September 1st, 2023, until foaling in the following year. Mares purchased at public sale after September 1st may enter the program if they arrive at a Virginia Facility within 15 days of the purchase date (60 days if purchased outside of the U.S.)

If you have not registered your mare facility, please do so by completing… Continue reading →

Six Stakes Worth $1.3 Million to be Contested

(NEW KENT, Va. August 28, 2023) –The 20^th running of the G3 New Kent County Viginia Derby – showcase event on the September 9 closing day card at Colonial Downs that also includes five additional turf stakes – attracted a total of 38 nominations including nine from the Todd Pletcher stable. The 1-1/8 miles Virginia Derby carries a $500,000 purse, up $200,000 from 2022. All six stakes, with combined purses of $1.3… Continue reading →

Iapetus Racing and Diamond T Racing’s Virginia-bred Gigante made his triumphant return to the winner’s circle by pulling a massive 22-1 upset victory in the August 12 Grade 2 $500,000 Secretariat Stakes at Colonial Downs. The race was held in Virginia for the first time, making the victory for the Commonwealth that much sweeter.

Gigante, the 2022 Virginia-bred Champion 2-year-old, was ridden by Javier Castellano for trainer Steve Asmussen and… Continue reading →

Nominations closed August 18 for five all-turf stakes on the Commonwealth Champions Day program scheduled for Saturday, September 2 at Colonial Downs that will showcase Virginia-bred, -sired and -certified horses with $725,000 in purse money on the line. Four of the $150,000 stakes – the Camptown, Bert Allen, Meadow Stable and Nellie Mae Cox – are open to horses in the three categories noted while the $125,000 Jamestown is for Virginia-bred and/or -sired 2-year-olds. 

A pair of Pennsylvania-bred/Virginia-Certified 2-year-olds made their Colonial Downs debuts August 5 in $150,000 5-furlong dirt stakes, and both came away with victories — though they occurred in very different fashion.

Cash is King and LC Racing’s Carmelina and Robert and Tammy Klimasewski’s Going Up got their pictures taken respectively in the Keswick Stakes for fillies and Hickory Tree Stakes for males. 

The former… Continue reading →

The “Festival of Racing” program at Colonial Downs, scheduled for Saturday August 12, features three major graded stakes races — the G1 Arlington Million (Race 10), G1 Beverly D (Race 9) and G2 Secretariat Stakes (Race 8). A total of $2 million in purse monies will be on the line between those three stakes. The first of 11 races is scheduled for 1:30 PM and general admission is free!

(NEW KENT, VA — 8/9/2023) — The second, third and fourth… Continue reading →

Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) is proud to bring three major graded turf course stakes races to the New Kent track for the first time, this Saturday, August 12 – the Grade 1 Arlington Million, the Grade 1 Beverly D Stakes and the Grade 2 Secretariat Stakes. Combined purses for the three stakes races at the Colonial Downs Festival of Racing Presented by New Kent County are $2 million! All are very prestigious, have storied histories and all have been run for… Continue reading →

Cash Is King and LC Racing’s Carmelina and Ray Pennington III’s King Kontie are respective early favorites in co-featured $150,000 dirt sprint stakes for Virginia-Restricted 2-year-old horses Saturday (August 5) at Colonial Downs. The former heads a field of 11 in the Keswick Stakes for fillies while the latter heads a field of eight in the Hickory Tree for males. The pair will be contested as races 6 and 7 at the five-furlong distance.

Carmelina is a Robert Reid Jr.… Continue reading →

Originally Posted on the Secretariat for Virginia Monthly Newsletter for July 2023

SECRETARIAT EXCITEMENT AT COLONIAL DOWNS ON AUGUST 12th! 

They may as well call it “Secretariat Day” at Colonial Downs on August 12! Our “Secretariat Racing Into History” monument will be there along with sculptor Jocelyn Russell and the Secretariat For Virginia Team.  The Secretariat Stakes, with a $500,000 purse, is one of the major… Continue reading →