Category: Virginia Business

Colonial Downs stable area to open June 23

Colonial Downs will open its stable area for the summer meet June 23, with training to begin June 25, the track announced.

Colonial Downs will for the first time host a Claiming Crown Preview day on Aug. 21 featuring eight races run under starter allowance conditions.

An expanded live racing schedule, featuring higher overnight purses and more stakes races, are on tap at Colonial Downs this summer.

Jill Byrne will take the reins as the new executive director of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association, representing breeders.

The Maryland Racing Commission signed off on a controversial proposal to blend Maryland-restricted and Virginia-restricted stakes Wednesday.

Colonial Downs will host an August day of racing in which the races are automatic qualifying races for November’s Claiming Crown.

The field for the March 15 Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs, offering 50 Kentucky Derby points to the winner, is starting to take shape.

The March 15 Virginia Derby – for the first time a Kentucky Derby points race – received 89 nominations, while the Virginia Oaks got 57.

Churchill Downs track announcer Travis Stone will call the action at Colonial Downs during next month’s Virginia Derby mini-meet.

A bill that would have swept racing regulation out of the Virginia Racing Commission and under a new Gaming Commission appears dead.

Determined Kingdom, now past $700,000 in career earnings, has been named Virginia-bred Horse of the Year after winning two stakes in ’24.

Larry Johnson, who put his stamp on the Thoroughbred industry on racetracks and in boardrooms in Maryland and Virginia, passed away Feb. 4.

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