CNL: Millionaire Gigante heads Md-Va stakes
Maryland- and Virginia-bred or -sired horses square off again Saturday at Colonial Downs, with $125,000 purses sweetened by combined state incentive money. The program features the 1 1/16-mile Find Stakes for 3-year-olds and up in Race 5 and the All Brandy Stakes for fillies and mares in Race 9, both on turf.
Millionaire Gigante, a six-time stakes winner and the 2023 Grade 2 Secretariat champ, headlines the Find as the 6-5 favorite for Steve Asmussen and Paco Lopez. The Virginia-bred son of Not This Time will face Fulmineo (4-1), a two-time stakes winner – including last year’s Boston over the Colonial turf — for Arnaud Delacour.
Gigante is an eight-time winner from 24 starts with earnings of nearly $1.3 million. Bred in Virginia by Ann Mudge Backer and Smitten Farm, he sold for $610,000 earlier this year to L and N Racing LLC and Clark Brewster, who decided to keep him with Asmussen.

Also in the field are Hunter Joe (15-1), Mission North (7-2), Hardspun Reason (3-1), and Crabs N Beer (12-1). Hunter Joe and Crabs N Beer ran seventh and sixth, respectively, in the six-furlong Ben’s Cat, which kicked off the combined Maryland-Virginia series.
All of the Find entrants other than Gigante are Maryland-breds.
The All Brandy is led by 8-5 choice Lifelovenlaughter, fresh off her Jameela victory for Mike Trombetta and one of three last-out stakes winners in the field.
She meets Brookmeade winner Thursday Girl (6-1) and Winfinity (3-1), last-out winner of the Miss Disco on the Colonial main track. The deep field also includes Cut From Class (10-1), Krone (8-1), Atlas Strong (5-1), Juniper Juice (15-1), and She Is Wisky (15-1).
Winfinity and Thursday Girl are both Virginia-breds.
First post for the 10-race card is 12:30 p.m. ET.
Saturday’s stakes are part of a new series of Maryland- and Virginia-restricted races boosted by combined incentive funds. Through the first four events, Maryland-breds have earned $351,100 and Virginia-breds $102,500—well above prior Maryland-only purse levels of $75,000.
The series continues Aug. 23 with a pair of $125,000 stakes for two-year-olds at Colonial Downs.
FIND STAKES ENTRIES
HORSE | TRAINER/JOCKEY | ODDS |
1. Hunter Joe | H A Smith/D Centeno | 15/1 |
2. Fulmineo | A Delacour/V R Carrasco | 4/1 |
3. Mission North | J Fisher/F Boyce | 7/2 |
4. Hardspun Reason | H G Motion/J Toledo | 3/1 |
5. Crabs N Beer | J L Lawrence II/J Ruiz | 12/1 |
6. Gigante | S M Asmussen/P Lopez | 6/5 |
ALL BRANDY STAKES ENTRIES
HORSE | TRAINER/JOCKEY | ODDS |
1. Cut From Class | C Keil/J Toledo | 10/1 |
2. Winfinity | J A Ortiz/B Curtis | 3/1 |
3. Lifelovenlaughter | M J Trombetta/J Ruiz | 8/5 |
4. Krone | M Shuman/P Lopez | 8/1 |
5. Thursday Girl | B T Russell/S Russell | 6/1 |
6. Atlas Strong | T Woolley/M J Sanchez | 5/1 |
7. Juniper Juice | K C Boniface/F Boyce | 15/1 |
8. She Is Wisky | P Capuano/C E Lopez | 15/1 |
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