Longtime Virginia HBPA chief Frank Petramalo is retiring after a career that’s seen the racing rollercoaster and says it’s the people that have driven him.
The Virginia Racing Commission this week approved a 2024 Colonial Downs schedule that looks like 2023 – but it’s what may come next that’s most interesting.
Its new owners are bullish about moving Colonial Downs to a Thursday-Saturday schedule, but they acknowledge the challenges ahead.
When Scott Haney and Dorothy Worton claimed Koko Star August 1, they were excited. Then it all went sideways, leaving them frustrated, and horseless.
Colonial Downs’s 27-day racing season this summer will feature 24 stakes with a combined value of $3.5 million, topped by the G3 Virginia Derby.
Colonial Downs will play host to 25 stakes during its 21-day 2021 live racing meet, which kicks off its seven-week stand July 19.
The MATCH Series of races will return in truncated form for 2021, with the series comprising 24 stakes contested in Maryland and in Virginia.
Colonial Downs will race 21 days in 2021 in a meet that stretches from mid-July to early September.
Off to the Races Radio returns August 22 with a show VHBPA head Frank Petramalo, CT track announcer Paul Espinosa, handicapping with Derby Bill and more.
The sudden closure of Colonial Downs left Virginia horsemen in the lurch – but aware things are much better than they were a couple years ago.