News

Susan Moulton’s Tufani topped the field of four in Saturday’s (July 20) $125,000 Brookmeade Stakes at Colonial Downs, capturing the Virginia-bred distaff race by 1¾ lengths. Trained by Mike Stidham and ridden by Ben Curtis, Tufani completed 1 1/16 miles on a Secretariat Turf Course labeled as firm in 1:43.26. Tufani and jockey Ben Curtis drive to the wire in the $125,000 Brookmeade Stakes on July 20 (Coady Media) “Very keen to give her a break and let her mature and you can see she’s filled out and she’s grown,” Curtis said. “She used to be very hot, she got warm and ...

Casse, DeVaux, Stidham, McCaughey, Trombetta and more enter multiple runners Opening Day of the 2024 Colonial Downs live racing season is Thursday, July 11, and the card has been drawn. The 12-race program features an average field size of 10.4, as 125 entries were taken with six of those sitting on the also-eligible list. Beginning with three National Steeplechase Association (NSA) races, first post on Thursday is 11:45 a.m. (all times Eastern). The Old Dominion 6, a classic Pick 6 with a $1 minimum, includes five legs which are overdrawn or full at 12 runners. The Late Pick 5 with a 12% ...

Horsemen across the state and beyond reaping the benefits of Virginia Thoroughbred Association’s innovative Virginia Certified program Colonial Downs invites horsemen across the country to discover if their Thoroughbred, bred outside of Virginia, qualifies as Virginia Certified; therefore, eligible to enter in the many Virginia Restricted races. Any horse that maintained residency in Virginia for at least a six-month consecutive period prior to December 31 of its two-year-old year qualifies. There are 46 Virginia Restricted races in the first book alone. Across the 9-week 2024 Colonial Downs racing season, over $2.4 million in non-stakes purses are up for grabs.  “We often hear ...

The 9-week summer thoroughbred racing season at Colonial Downs will be conducted from July 11 through September 7 with racing every Thursday through Saturday. Post time is 11:45 AM on Thursday, 4:30 PM on Friday and 1:30 PM on Saturday. The popular “Festival of Racing” program will return August 10 and feature the Grade 1 Arlington Million, Grade 2 Beverly D ($500,000 purse) and Grade 2 Secretariat Stakes ($500,000). The Million will be run at 1-1/4 miles, the Beverly D. will be contested at 1-3/16 miles and the Secretariat will cover one mile. All three races will be held on ...

Steeplechase racing will be showcased on six different Thursdays throughout the 2024 summer racing season at Colonial Downs and for the first time in several years, pari-mutuel wagering will be offered on the entire jump slate — 18 races in all. Three jump races will be contested on the following Thursdays — July 11 (opening day), July 18, August 1, August 8, August 22 and September 5.  Pari-mutuel wagering has been available on Virginia Gold Cup jump races for years. Douglas Lees photo. First race each Thursday is 11:45 AM and all three will be completed in time for Colonial’s first scheduled ...

Casse returns along with multiple champion Stidham, DeVaux, Desormeaux, and Clement lead the list of new trainers Signaling the beginning of the 2024 Thoroughbred season, Colonial Downs’ barn area will open on Monday, June 24, welcoming returning conditioners, as well as newcomers who are sure to impact the standings. Training is scheduled to begin on Thursday, June 27. Multiple leading trainer Mike Stidham and Hall of Fame conditioner Mark Casse are among the trainers preparing their string for Colonial Downs 2024 Thoroughbred Season. Casse returns after a successful debut meet where he won 10 races, including Fev Rover’s score in the Grade 1 ...

Originally posted on 6/12/2024 at theracingbiz.com, written by Nick Hahn. One day before Seize the Grey seized the day in the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) stopped the gray. Gray games, that is, the slot machine-like contraptions pushed by advocates as “games of skill.” Youngkin vetoed legislation that would have permitted thousands of these machines to proliferate across the state with only minimal regulation. With his May 17 veto, Youngkin checked the advancement of a bill that could have done enormous damage to the economic model of Virginia’s thoroughbred industry, which has in the last five years become a true ...

The following was written by Frank Vespe and appeared in “The Racing Biz” June 6th. Larry Johnson is a Virginia thoroughbred horse breeder and owner whose Legacy Farm is based in in Bluefield, VA. His Future Is Now, a 4-year-old Great Notion filly, broke his maiden at Colonial Downs last August and will compete in the Grade 2 Intercontinental Stakes at Saratoga June 7th. Johnson also bred Mindframe, 7-2 second favorite in Saturday’s $2 million Belmont Stakes! Frank Vespe’s article follows: “It ain’t a science,” Larry Johnson laughed about breeding racehorses.  Maybe not. But he said that a few days before Saturday’s ...

The following appeared in the Paulick Report June 6, 2024. Centennial Farms will look to double their tally in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets when they send out Antiquarian in Saturday’s 10-furlong test for 3-year-olds, at Saratoga Race Course. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the $250,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase will look to follow in the footsteps of Centennial’s 1993 Belmont Stakes-winner Colonial Affair. He was conditioned by Hall of Fame trainer Scotty Schulhofer and ridden to victory by future Hall of Famer Julie Krone, who became the first female jockey to win a Triple ...

The $2 million Belmont Stakes — third leg of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown Series — will be held at Saratoga Racecourse Saturday June 10th. An article on results of the post position draw is below courtesy of the Paulick Report. The Belmont Stakes program features six Grade 1 stakes races — and all will be carded consecutively which will make for some very attractive multi-race wagers. The Belmont itself is Race 12 and will go to post at 6:41 PM. The $1 million Manhattan (Race 11), $1 million Hill ‘n Dale Metropolitan Handicap (Race 10), $1 million Jaipur Stakes (Race 9), ...