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.

Gigante won the 2023 G2 Secretariat Stakes with Javier Castellano up. Photo by Coady Photography.

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

HORSETRAINER/JOCKEYODDS
1. Hunter JoeH A Smith/D Centeno15/1
2. FulmineoA Delacour/V R Carrasco4/1
3. Mission NorthJ Fisher/F Boyce7/2
4. Hardspun ReasonH G Motion/J Toledo3/1
5. Crabs N BeerJ L Lawrence II/J Ruiz12/1
6. GiganteS M Asmussen/P Lopez6/5

    ALL BRANDY STAKES ENTRIES

    HORSETRAINER/JOCKEYODDS
    1. Cut From ClassC Keil/J Toledo10/1
    2. WinfinityJ A Ortiz/B Curtis3/1
    3. LifelovenlaughterM J Trombetta/J Ruiz8/5
    4. KroneM Shuman/P Lopez8/1
    5. Thursday GirlB T Russell/S Russell6/1
    6. Atlas StrongT Woolley/M J Sanchez5/1
    7. Juniper JuiceK C Boniface/F Boyce15/1
    8. She Is WiskyP Capuano/C E Lopez15/1

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