Virginia Thoroughbred Association

06/23/2025

Congratulations to Virginia-Certified Whenigettoheaven who beat Virginia-bred Determined Kingdom in Saturday's $100,000 Ben's Cat Stakes at Laurel! The 6-year-old Street Magician gelding was bred by Larry Johnson and is owned now by Ken Ramsey and trained by Nolan Ramsey. The stakes was open to Maryland-bred/sired and Virginia-bred/sired horses --- as part of a new partnership between the two racing circuits that will feature six $125,000 similar stakes during the upcoming Rosie's Gaming and Colonial Downs meet (Jim McCue photo).

06/23/2025

Ashland-based trainer Karen Godsey has had a busy Monday so far prepping her 25 stalls in the Colonial Downs stable area --- which opened this morning --- in advance of training that begins on Wednesday and the 41-day summer meet itself that begins July 9. The backstretch area opened this morning and Karen will ship her first load of horses in early this afternoon. The meet in New Kent runs from July 9 - September 13 with racing every Wednesday thru Saturday.

06/20/2025

Coming soon! The Colonial Downs stable area opens this coming Monday June 23 and training begins next Wednesday in preparation for a 41-day race season that kicks off July 9 and continues thru September 13 --- and Virginia-connected horses will get plenty of racing opportunities over the 10-week meet! In addition to a pair of overnight races daily for Virginia-Restricted runners, Virginia-Bred/Sired horses have 14 stakes/handicaps available to them --- four $125,000 stakes specific to VA-Bred/Sired, six $125,000 stakes open to both Virginia & Maryland-Bred/Sired, and another six $100,000 handicaps/stakes open to VA-Restricted horses. Check out the condition book & stakes schedule at colonialdowns.com/horsemen

06/19/2025

Coming soon! In a collaboration to further increase the popularity of the Claiming Crown series for racing's blue-collar horses, Colonial Downs will host an eight-race Claiming Crown Preview Day on Thursday, August 21! The top two finishers in each race will receive an automatic berth in the corresponding Claiming Crown championships on November 16 at Churchill Downs. The winner of each race will also receive a travel stipend from the Virginia HBPA of up to $2,000, provided the horse starts its respective championship. Purses will total $550,000 for the eight Claiming Crown Preview races run under starter-allowance conditions. Preview Day races are run on turf and dirt, at both sprint and two-turn distances and for males and females.

06/18/2025

Coming soon! Believe it or not, the Colonial Downs stable area opens this Monday, June 23rd in anticipation of a 41-day summer thoroughbred race season that begins July 9. A new $1.9 million dormitory will make its debut which will provide more space for grooms --- which in turn should help attract more trainers. More investments were made in turf course irrigation equipment, and 5,000 cubic yards of material have been applied to the dirt track. Training, which begins next Wednesday, will be held seven days a week from 5:30 AM - 9:30 AM. Lots more to talk about!

06/16/2025

Attention horsemen — Time is running out to get your 2-year-old registered in the lucrative Virginia-Certified Residency program! To meet the 6-month residency requirement, 2-year-olds must ship into a Virginia participating facility by the end of the day on June 30th and applications with applicable fees are due to the VTA by July 31st. Horses must spend a minimum of 6 months at a participating facility before they can start earning bonuses of up to 25% for wins in much of the Mid-Atlantic region. Details are at vabred.org.

06/16/2025

Attention horsemen --- Time is running out to get your 2-year-old registered in the lucrative Virginia-Certified Residency program! To meet the 6-month residency requirement, 2-year-olds must ship into a Virginia participating facility by the end of the day on June 30th and applications with applicable fees are due to the VTA by July 31st. Horses must spend a minimum of 6 months at a participating facility before they can start earning bonuses of up to 25% for wins in much of the Mid-Atlantic region. Details are at vabred.org.

06/13/2025

06/11/2025

06/06/2025

Best wishes to Virginia-Certified 4-year-old gelding Book'em Danno who is second favorite in Saturday's $400,000 True North Stakes (G3) -- -which is on the Belmont Stakes undercard at Saratoga! The son of Buccero, who was raised at Gracie Bloodstock in Middleburg, has bankrolled over $1.1 million and is the 5/2 second choice. He won the Boston Handicap at Colonial Downs March 14 and seeks his second win of the year. The True North has been carded as Race 7 and will go off at 2:37 PM. First post is 10:45 AM and the Belmont Stakes itself is at 6:50 PM (Coady Media).

05/21/2025

Congratulations to Virginia trainer Susan Cooney who had a big win on Saturday's Preakness Day card at Pimlico with The Amazing Mizzen! The 4-year-old Mizzen Mast filly was sent off at odds of 43-1 and beat runner-up Betula by a neck in a second race thriller. J.G. Torrealba had the winning ride atop the Kentucy-bred who paid $89.60 to win (Jim McCue Photography).

05/12/2025

Thanks to Virginia horse racing industry folks who visited Woodstock over the weekend and enjoyed the harness races at Shenandoah Downs! The attendees included former longtime Virginia HBPA Executive Director Frank Petramalo, past Virginia Racing Commission (VRC) head --- and local resident --- Clint Miller, current VRC Chair Stephanie Nixon and Keysville-based thoroughbred trainer Beth Worton who spent Mothers Day at the track with her family and got a ride in the starters car. The harness season continues every Saturday & Sunday thru June 8.