The following is a press release from Colonial Downs which followed the Virginia Racing Commission meeting December 19.

Richmond, VA – December 19, 2019 – Colonial Downs Group is pleased to announce the Virginia Racing Commission has approved 18 race dates in 2020 for Colonial Downs Racetrack. Racing will be conducted beginning July 23 and run through August 29 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays with a scheduled post time of 5:30 pm.  

Colonial Downs will distribute $500,000 per day in purses and provide a lucrative series of state bred and certified races for the second straight year. The popular MATCH Series will be run at the New Kent track on August 15. The G-3 Virginia Derby will close out the race meet on August 29 along with the Virginia Oaks, Rosie’s and Kitten’s Joy Stakes. Four Wheel Drive won the inaugural running of the Rosie’s Stakes and went on to capture the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint establishing himself as a contender for Eclipse Award honors.

Frank Petramalo, Executive Director of the Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (VHBPA) stated, “The horsemen look forward in 2020 to building on our successful 2019 race meet. The renowned Secretariat turf course and highly praised mile and a quarter dirt track along with our beautiful stabling area provide a perfect setting for horses and their connections. We are certain that our incremental growth plan will establish Colonial Downs as a premier destination for racing in the mid-Atlantic region and beyond.”

Live racing at Colonial Downs racetrack re-emerged in 2019 under the new ownership of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E).  In its first year of ownership, P2E exceeded all expectations to re-establishing Colonial Downs Racetrack and opening four Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums throughout Virginia.  John Marshall, Executive Vice President of Operations said, “Our team is focused on adding more life to our communities and the thoroughbred industry through our 2020 growth plan which features the continued evolution of live racing at Colonial Downs towards becoming one of the nation’s elite turf meets.”

“It was such a successful return of racing to Virginia in 2019, with Colonial Downs receiving wonderful support of top horsemen and women from all regions of the country, as well as horseplayers, fans and the entire racing industry,” added Vice President of Racing Operations, Jill Byrne. “We could not be more enthusiastic for the 2020 season. Offering $500,000 in daily purses, participant incentives, a strong state bred and certified program, Steeplechase races, the addition of the MATCH Series to our stakes schedule, all culminating with Virginia Derby night, makes for an exciting and lucrative 18 days of racing. Equine and human safety and welfare and the integrity of our racing product also remain top priorities for Colonial Downs, as we demonstrated in 2019, and we will continue to work with our partners and the horse industry as a whole to emphasize that important responsibility.”

Tickets for the 2020 live race meet including the Virginia Derby and Oaks go on sale February 2, 2020 at www.colonialdowns.com.

About Colonial Downs: Colonial Downs Group operates a thoroughbred horse racing facility with full card simulcasting in New Kent County, Va., and a network of historical horse racing satellite wagering facilities branded as “Rosie’s” throughout Virginia. Colonial Downs Group has made a $300 million investment in the Commonwealth of Virginia and created 1,000 new jobs. This effort will generate $25 million annually in state tax revenues, $17 million annually in local tax revenues and $25 million annually to Virginia’s horse industry. The project did not receive any tax credits or government incentives.

Southwoods Farm in Buckingham County is off Route 15, about ten miles south of the Fork Union Military Academy.

The 42-acre farm is owned by Robert and Jeannette Reck, and their son Christopher (shown below with Jeannette) spends time there when he’s not racing at Penn National.

Robert is shown with the two newest Virginia-Certified horses they are stabling — both still officially unnamed. One is by Uncle Lino out of Killin Them Softly and the other is by Uptowncharlybrown out of Sara The Great.

Both arrived on October 1st and are owned by Christopher’s girlfriend.

The Recks relocated to New Canton, Virginia after Jeannette retired from her job in New Jersey.

The two young Certified colts are among seven horses the Reck’s have on their property.

Another pair of horses — Virginia-Certified three-year-olds named Call On Clara and la Limonada — enjoy down time in an adjacent pasture at Southwoods.

Neither of the pair was ready to compete yet at Colonial Downs this summer but they each earned runner-up finishes at Penn National this fall. They will spend time in New Canton until March then head back to Penn.

Robert checks out activities at the farm on a fall afternoon.

Lady at the Helm, whose maiden breaking win came at Colonial Down in 2005, still resides at Southwoods. Trainer Chris Reck remembers the day. “In her at first start at Colonial, I ran her short, at five furlongs. She finished 8th but made up lots of ground in the stretch and finished strong. Next start, I ran her back at 1 1/6ths miles and had a ‘bug’ set to ride her but she opted to run another horse. They put Rosie Napravnik on her instead and I wondered who the heck that was. An assistant to trainer Dickie Small said she had just rode her first winner and knew what she was doing.” Lady at the Helm was sent off at odds of 85-1 that race, and she won! The $2 payout was $173.20.

Virginia-breds Alex Joon and Ready and Rich captured back-to-back races at Churchill Downs December 1st to kick off holiday season in grand fashion.

Alex Joon dominated by 8 1/4 lengths in a $76,000 one mile maiden special weight race on dirt. The 2-year-old Flatter colt was seventh at the half but came back strong to finish in 1:37.36. The winner was bred by Morgan’s Ford Farm and is owned by Zayat Stables. The Steve Asmussen trainee is out of the Include mare, Sun Salvation. Alex Joon paid $16.00 to win and after two starts, has a bankroll of $38,173.

In the very next race, Ready and Rich was the best $30,000 claimer in a field of ten and like Alex Joon, was racing seventh at the half. The 3-year-old Super Saver colt came on late in the 6 1/2 furlong dirt test and won by a length in 1:18.31. The victor, bred by the Chance Farm, was one of three horses claimed in the race. He has earned $62,077 in 2019 and overall, has $117,437 from 12 “in-the-money” finishes. He is out of the More Than Ready mare, Ready Reply.

Four other Virginia-breds had maiden breaking victories in the past couple weeks — Taskinas, Oddseverinurfavor, Blacktop Legend and Uncle Andrew. 

Eagle Point Farms’ Taskinas won a $26,000 maiden claimer at Laurel December 6th. The 2-year-old Orientate gelding took the lead from Created Special at the top of the stretch then crossed nearly a length in front in 1:12.72. Taskinas kicked off his career with a sixth in this summer’s Jamestown Stakes at Colonial Downs and this was his first win in four tries. The Rob Bailes trainee was ridden by Forest Boyce. The winner is out of Toccoa by Purple Comet.

Larry Johnson bred a trio of winners over the past two weeks including Oddseverinurfavor, a 4-year-old Despite the Odds filly who prevailed at Charles Town December 4th. She won for the first time in six starts for owner/trainer Donna Lockhard in a $17,000 maiden claimer. She is out of Dowhatyouwanttwodo by Two Punch. 

Blacktop Legend connected in a $41,000 maiden claiming race at Aqueduct Thanksgiving weekend. The 3-year-old Hard Spun gelding competed six furlongs and finished in 1:11.63, best in the field of nine. The winner, bred by Morgan’s Ford Farm, did not compete at age two. In 2019, he has a win, a second and a trio of thirds in seven starts, good for $43,140 in earnings. Out of the Street Cry mare, Street Interest, Blacktop Legend is owned by the Bob Peterson Stables, Frank Bellavia and Gary Gullo, who also trains.

Uncle Andrew collected his first win December 7th at Fairgrounds in a $17,000 maiden claimer for 2-year-olds. The Jack Milton gelding captured the one mile race by 3 1/2 lengths in 1:40.0. Bred by Lazy Lane Farms, the winner is out of the Hansel mare, Bonnie Rose.

Sir Rockport and Toto’s Darling, both bred by Larry Johnson, also scored recent wins. The former was a gate-to-wire victor at Penn National December 6th in a 5 1/2 furlong claiming race. He won for the 9th time in 56 career starts and pushed his bankroll to $249,449. The 7-year-old Rockport Harbor gelding is owned by Five C’s Stable. The latter, a 4-year-old Despite the Odds filly, upset the field in a December 5th $13,000 claimer at Charles Town after being sent off at odds of 23.5-1. Toto’s Darling wired the field and won by a head in the 4 1/2 furlong test, returning $49.00. She is owned by Amanda Plata.

Finally, Gingeresk won by a head over Ellie’s Cork at Charles Town November 29th and earned her fourth career triumph. The 4-year-old Eskendereya filly finished the seven furlongs in 1:29.74. She was bred by Nancy Rizer & Eric Rizer and is owned by the latter. With $57,850 in earnings, Gingeresk is out of Serenity Hill by Speightstown.

Six of the nine winners noted also earned a 25% bonus for their owners courtesy of the Mid-Atlantic incentive program. By winning at a track in either New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia or Delaware, winners Sir Rockport, Toto’s Darling, Taskinas, Oddseverinurfavor, Blacktop Legend and Gingeresk all provided their owners with the extra dollars.       

by Frank Vespe | Dec 5, 2019 | Breaking, Business, Regionwide, Top Stories | 0 comments

by Frank Vespe

Tuesday, December 10 brings the 2019 edition of the Fasig-Tipton mixed sale, with the first hip slated to go through the ring at 10:00 a.m.

Featuring the disperal of owner Joseph Besecker’s stock, the catalog offers some some 364 hips, including a big group of horses of racing age added as a supplement after the main book came out. Those horses are included in the online catalog.

Next week’s sale by the numbers:

RANDOM FACTS

• Missing in action The 364 hips on offer (prior to outs) are numbered 1 through 367. Hips 176 and 212 are missing.
• It’s an age thing Weanlings — horses born in 2019 — account for the largest group of horses in the sale, with 89 on offer. There are also 41 two-year-olds and 41 three-year-olds on offer, along with 37 four-year-olds. There are 18 yearlings in the sale.
• Girl Power Of the 364 hips in the catalog, 237 — just over 65% — are female. There are 129 mares and 108 fillies. Of the boys, there are 77 colts and 45 geldings.
• Not quite an alphabet’s worth Alphabetically speaking — many of the youngsters are unnamed — the sale goes from A to Y. The first of the group is A Poni Box, while the last is Yes My Love.

HIPS BY TYPE

• Weanlings 89
• Broodmares 120
• Horses of racing age 100
• Yearlings 18
• Racing/broodmare prospects 31
• Broodmare prospects 4
• Racing/stallion prospects 2

HIPS BY STATE

Also, Argentina and Ireland contribute one horse each.

SIRES WITH THE MOST HIPS

TOP CONSIGNORS BY HIPS OFFERED

COVERING SIRES WITH THE MOST HIPS

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Historic horse racing machines, bars, restaurants and even a hotel could be coming to the site of the vacant Sears at Greenbrier Mall.

Seritage Growth Propertiesrevealed their plans in documents recently filed with the City of Chesapeake.

While the former department store could host Hampton Roads’ second Rosie’s Gaming Emporium, a proposed four-story hotel and 23,000 square feet in new restaurant space would have to be built.

The New York-based company was formed in 2015 to redevelop former Sears properties. Its mission is to “create and own revitalized shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations that provide enriched experiences for consumers and local communities and create long-term value for our shareholders.”

Sears closed its Greenbrier Mall location in 2018 after nearly 40 years in the spot. It opened with the mall in the early 1980s.

Neither the company nor a local attorney representing them answered phone calls seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.

However, Seritage did tell shareholders earlier this month that they hoped to begin construction next spring, with a target completion date of fall 2021.

The Chesapeake planning staff have yet to make a recommendation on the proposal, which would need Planning Commission and City Council approval before moving forward.

This would be the second Rosie’s for the Hampton Roads region. A location in Hampton opened in October.

“We look forward to bringing jobs, significant tax revenues and a vibrant new form of entertainment to the Chesapeake community,” said Mark Hubbard, a spokesperson with the Colonial Downs Group.

This is the second location in the city considered by the group. Plans for 700 historic horse racing gambling machines, satellite horse race wagering and a bar and restaurant off  Rainbow Lane near Battlefield Boulevard were scrapped earlier this year.

The development would result in Greenbier Mall in having all its anchor stores filled again.

“The kind of retail that would be successful in the future would be that [it] has a large entertainment component. That is put in the right place and done the right way,” Nick Egelanian, a retail-real estate consultant, said in a 10 On Your Side special report earlier this year.

On Monday November 25, the Joint Legislative Audit And Review Commission heard a briefing entitled “Gambling In The Commonwealth” presented by The Innovation Group, a consulting company hired to prepare and present the report. The study mandate was to estimate the fiscal and economic impacts of new forms of gaming, to access impacts on existing forms of gaming (lottery, horse race wagering, charitable gaming), to examine current and potential governance, regulatory and administrative structures for additional forms of gaming, and to review casino gaming laws in other states.

In brief, the report noted casinos authorized in SB 1126, sports wagering and online casino gaming are projected to generate nearly $370 million in net state revenue, accounting for impacts to other forms of gaming and new administrative costs.

Lottery and charitable gaming are projected to experience small declines in proceeds, but the impact on horse racing revenue would be substantial.

The following article appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch November 26 and was written by Michael Martz.

Casino gambling would be profitable for Virginia and localities, such as Richmond, where they could be built, but the state faces plenty of risks — from a surge in gambling addiction to a potentially devastating blow to existing gaming operations tied to the state’s horse-racing industry — according to a long-awaited legislative study of state gaming options.

The study by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission estimated that, collectively, Virginia could gain $262 million annually in gaming tax revenue from five potential casinos, including one in Richmond that would generate almost one-third of the revenue and about 3,000 of the estimated 10,000 jobs that would be created.

The profits could be much higher, depending on the tax rate and whether a casino were to be built in Northern Virginia, which the study said would generate an additional $155 million in annual state gaming tax revenue and create an additional 4,400 jobs.

The commission had barely finished a two-hour review of the 10-month study on Monday when warning flares went up from Colonial Downs, owner of a horse track in New Kent County and four existing gaming emporiums that could lose business to casinos, and from the Pamunkey Indians, whose tribal sovereignty gives them the option of operating a casino under federal rather than state law.

“The Pamunkey Tribe has been marginalized for centuries and deserve some protections as they seek to gain financial independence and improve the lives of their members,” said spokesman Jay Smith, who added that the study recommendations “do not sufficiently protect Virginia’s only tribe with federal gaming rights.”

Colonial Downs, owner of Rosie’s “historical horse racing” parlors in Richmond and three other localities, said the opening of five or more casinos without an opportunity to compete for the licenses would “lead to job losses and a loss of tax revenue for localities and the state” by undermining a new industry that’s invested $300 million in Virginia in the last two years.

“This would send a terrible message to other job creators and capital providers looking to invest in Virginia,” spokesman Mark Hubbard said.

The study — which also considers sports betting, online gaming and currently unregulated slot-like video machines — appeared to diminish the appetite of some legislators to approve sweeping changes to Virginia gaming laws in a General Assembly session that will convene in January with new Democratic majorities in both chambers.

Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City, one of the authors of the legislative compromise that ordered the study, suggested that the legislature might be wise to “move incrementally” because of the complexity of the issues and the new political reality that the Nov. 5 elections created.

JLARC conducted the study with the help of two national consultants, The Innovation Group and Regulatory Management Counselors, to determine the potential tax and economic benefits of legalizing casino and other forms of gambling in Virginia. It also looked at the critical details of licensing and regulating the operations, helping people with gambling addiction, and protecting existing gaming operations, including the Virginia Lottery.

The lottery, for example, generated more than $600 million for K-12 public education in the last fiscal year but says its profits already are being reduced because of competition from thousands of unregulated, unlicensed and untaxed video machines that their operators say are legal because winning depends on skill rather than chance.

Norment, who has fumed at the reports that the machines would cost the lottery $140 million a year, said that “there’s going to be an unidentified senator who is going to put in legislation to prohibit and ban them.”

The lottery has said that the Rosie’s historical horse-racing parlors, which feature video machines that look like slots but run on the results of past races, pose much less of a financial threat than the so-called “skill machines.” Casino gaming would cost the lottery an estimated $30 million a year, the study said.

However, five potential casinos — in Richmond, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Danville and Bristol, as envisioned by legislation adopted this year to order the study — would reduce live-racing purses by $9 million a year. Colonial Downs would see a 45% reduction in what is now almost $300 million in annual revenues from historical horse-racing gaming parlors.

Colonial Downs is expected to open at least one more Rosie’s operation, and voters in Danville and Dumfries — a town in Prince William County — agreed in referendums earlier this month to allow historical horse racing in their localities. Norment suggested that Colonial Downs is creating a statewide footprint for gaming parlors that could become casinos.

However, that would depend on legislation that would require a competitive selection process for awarding casino licenses to maximize the revenue benefits and minimize risks, as the JLARC report recommends. The study also suggests that Virginia require the state to hire an independent consultant to evaluate the fiscal and economic benefits of casino proposals before choosing winners.

A competitive selection process could establish criteria, including a preference for tribal ownership, that could be evaluated by a special committee that JLARC staff recommended for considering competitive casino proposals. The state would run the process with help from affected localities, the study said.

“I think the state would be remiss if it did not include local input,” JLARC Associate Director Tracey Smith told the commission.

However, the Pamunkeys want any evaluation process to protect their rights as a federally recognized tribe. “We look forward to working with the General Assembly and the Governor to ensure adequate protections are in place for the Pamunkey Tribe,” Jay Smith, the tribe’s spokesman, said in a statement.

The study recommends the lottery as the most capable and least costly way to regulate casinos and other new forms of gaming. However, Family Foundation President Victoria Cobb, a fierce opponent of expanded gambling, said using the lottery “would only ensure that state government has a vested interest in promoting harmful and irresponsible gambling in perpetuity.”

Problem gambling would increase with casinos and other new forms of gaming, according to the study, which said the state has little funding to pay for prevention and treatment of gambling addiction. It said the state could use gaming revenue to pay for services that the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services could administer.

The study was limited to the five cities specified in legislation this year for potential casinos, although Northern Virginia was added at the insistence of House of Delegates leaders who wanted a statewide evaluation of potential sites and their relative benefits.

Successful casinos, each with a minimum $200 million capital investment, could be built in all of those localities, said Tracey Smith, who oversaw the staff study. “This doesn’t necessarily mean that those are the best localities.”

Norment, who had preferred to limit the study’s scope, replied, “Just because we specified some of those within the legislation, there should not be an assumption that we really had the expertise to know what we were doing.”

The following appeared in Bloodhorse.com and was written by Bob Ehalt. Sadler’s Joy is owned by Woodslane Farm in The Plains, VA and has earned $2,471,360 from 27 career starts.

Rene and Lauren Woolcott operate a comparatively small breeding operation under the banner of Woodslane Farm.

They have only four mares in the United States and two in France.

Yet from humble roots mighty oaks can grow, and the Woolcotts can surely take pride in a certain 6-year-old homebred with more than $2 million in earnings who added to an already outstanding résumé as the curtain came down on one part of the turf racing season in New York.

Sadler’s Joy, the pride of the Woolcotts and Woodslane Farm, returned to the winner’s circle for the first time in more than 20 months Nov. 23. He put a rash of narrow losses in some of the sport’s top grass stakes behind him, surging to a two-length victory over Trinity Farm’s Red Knight in the $202,000 Red Smith Stakes (G3T) at Aqueduct Racetrack, the New York Racing Association’s final graded turf stakes for males in 2019.

“He’s such a treasure,” Lauren Woolcott said of the Tom Albertrani trainee, a son of Kitten’s Joy  out of Woodslane’s Dynaformer mare Dynaire. “We bred him, own him, and we still have the mare. She throws such beautiful horses.”

Sadler’s Joy’s 3-year-old half sister by Lemon Drop Kid , Dyna Passer, was third for Woodslane and Albertrani in the Jockey Club Oaks Invitational Stakes in September.

Though the win was only the seventh in 26 starts for Sadler’s Joy, he has been a gem of consistency, finishing fourth or better 23 times. The $110,000 paycheck brought his earnings up to a lofty $2,471,360.

“It’s all about being there, and ‘Sadler’ is always there,” Lauren Woolcott said. “He didn’t have any wins lately, but he always tries.”

Sadler’s Joy had been winless in 10 starts since taking the Mac Diarmida Stakes (G2T) in March 2018, but his two previous tries were testaments to his competitive spirit at the top level among distance turf runners. After losing by a neck in the Sword Dancer Stakes (G1T), he was third, beaten only a half-length, in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes (G1T).

It took a while to bounce back from the Joe Hirsch, in which he uncharacteristically contested the early pace, and Sadler’s Joy missed a third consecutive trip to the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1T).

Instead, Albertrani pointed the chestnut horse to the 1 3/8-mile Red Smith, the runner’s first start in a grade 3 stakes since his stakes debut in the W. L. McKnight Handicap (G3T) in January 2017.

And Sadler’s Joy responded with a grade 1 effort. As the field of 11 in the Red Smith turned for home, they were strung seven wide across the track, with Sadler’s Joy moving in the six path. Reunited with jockey Javier Castellano after he was ridden by Jose Lezcano in his two previous tries, Sadler’s Joy swept to the front at the top of the stretch, raising some concerns he might revert to old antics and wait on horses. Yet in Sadler’s Joy’s fourth, and likely last, start in 2019, Castellano kept the horse’s mind on the business at hand, and the $1.35-to-1 favorite ($4.70) cruised to the wire in 2:15.76.

“He came with a lot of determination down the lane. He wasn’t waiting on anyone today,” Albertrani said. “Javier gave him the perfect ride. He likes to make that wide, sweeping move at the end. He was much the best today.”

While plans call for the Kentucky-bred to begin a career at stud in 2020, Albertrani hopes his grade 1 winner can make it to Dubai for the $6 million Longines Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) March 28 at about 1 1/2 miles before calling it a career.

“It was nice to close the year with a win,” Albertrani said. “Hopefully we can get him to Dubai and maybe get a race in him before that in Florida.”

Albertrani said the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) was an unlikely target for Sadler’s Joy because of the shorter-than-preferred 1 3/16-mile distance.

Red Knight, a 5-year-old homebred Pure Prize gelding trained by Bill Mott, found himself behind that wall of horses in the stretch and followed Sadler’s Joy to rally for second under Junior Alvarado. He had 1 1/2 lengths on the third-place finisher, New York-bred Dot Matrix, Ten Strike Racing’s Freud  gelding trained by Brad Cox. Runnymede Racing’s Postulation, sent off at 75-1 odds, was fourth for trainer Michael Matz.

Matthew Schera’s grade 1-winning 8-year-old Glorious Empire set the pace through six furlongs in 1:13.95 but faded to last.

A total of 248 Virginia-Certified horses have won awards from the residency bonus initiative through the first ten months of 2019 including six who earned the maximum $10,000 bonus. 

Two Certified horses competed in the $100,000 Rosie’s Stakes August 31 at Colonial Downs which was won by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Four Wheel Drive. Maryland-bred So Street was runner-up, finishing 3 3/4 lengths behind the impressive winner. The 2-year-old Street Magician gelding, bred by Larry Johnson, did pick up a win at Colonial August 8 and collected a $9,750 bonus check for that effort. So Street has bankrolled $158,923 from seven starts and earned his $10,000 bonus September 28 when he captured the $100,000 Howard County Stakes at Laurel. He spent his six month residency at the Legacy Farm in Bluemont.

Fourth place finisher in the Rosie’s Stakes was Hypothesis, a West Virginia-bred 2-year-old whose only loss in four starts came at New Kent. The Algorithms gelding has earned $86,025 courtesy of three wins at Charles Town. He scored in a maiden special weight, in September’s Henry Mercer Memorial and most recently, in the October 12 Vincent Moscarelli Memorial. Owned by Jill Daniel and trained by Crystal Pickett, Hypothesis spent his six months in the Commonwealth at Whiskey Creek Farm in Berryville.

Two other Certified horses reached the winners circle at Colonial Downs. Maryland-bred Elevated Forever went gate-to-wire in a $25,000 maiden claimer on opening weekend and scored a $3,740 bonus. The 3-year-old Jump Start gelding was best in a 14 horse field at 19-1 with Daniel Centeno in the irons. Elevated Forever spent his six months at Morgan’s Ford Farm & Warwick Stable in Front Royal.

West Virginia-bred Zonda collected a $9,000 bonus from a $60,000 allowance victory August 8 at Colonial. The 3-year-old Scat Daddy filly also bagged a $10,000 award when she captured the $125,000 Maryland Million Ladies on October 19. The James Lawrence trainee is owned by Matthew Schera and has earnings of $159,407. She spent her six months at the Braeburn Training Center in Crozet.

Four other Certified winners earned $10,000 awards this year — New York-breds NY Traffic and Bassman Dave, Pennsylvania-bred Capital Q and Kentucky-bred Dyna Passer.

NY Traffic scored in a $90,000 maiden special weight at Parx on October 12. The 2-year-old Cross Traffic colt is owned by John Farrell & Leonard Liberto and spent his six months at Sunny Dell Farm in Barboursville.

Bassman Dave connected in a $78,000 maiden special weight at Saratoga August 10. Owned by Michael Henning, the 3-year-old Big Brown gelding wired the field which helped generate his current $82,760 bankroll. Bassman Dave resided at Ingleside Training Center in Montpelier Station. 

Capital Q’s lone victory in six starts came in a $75,000 maiden special weight August 4 at Parx. The 2-year-old Ed Padrino filly was best of ten in an upset where she paid $59.00 to win. Owned by Richard Ciavardone, Capital Q spent time in Virginia at Morgan’s Ford Farm & Warwick Stable in Front Royal.

Dyna Passer, who has competed in Grade I and 2 stakes at Belmont this year, prevailed in a wide open $90,000 maiden special weight at Belmont May 23. Owned and bred by Woodslane Farm in Middleburg, the 3-year-old Lemon Drop filly has a bankroll of $185,810 from eight starts.

Winningest horse since the program’s inception is Parisian Diva, a 3-year-old filly who was bred in West Virginia. Owned by Melissa Golden, the daughter of Freedom Child has won eight races in just over 13 months, all at Charles Town. Most recently, she won the $75,000 Tourism Office Breeders Classic Stakes and collected her largest bonus check yet of $8,943. In six victories this year, her awards total $34,723. When combined with two other wins in 2018, the award total rises to $45,643. Parisian Diva’s overall bankroll stands at $242,170 through 13 starts. Her residency was spent at Chance Farm in Gordonsville.

For information on the Virginia Certified Residency program, visit www.vabred.org.        

The following appeared in the Danville Register & Bee and was written by John R. Crane. Virginia’s horse racing industry took another big step forward November 5th when voters in Dumfries and Danville approved pari-mutuel betting. This will open the door for another pair of Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums to open. Current Rosie’s sites are in New Kent, Richmond, Vinton and Hampton.

DANVILLE — It looks like Danville will be getting a Rosie’s Gaming Emporium.

City voters decided to take a chance in favor of allowing an off-track horse race betting facility in Danville, according to unofficial results from the registrar’s office.

According to unofficial numbers from the Virginia Department of Elections, 51.87% (5,083 voters) voted in favor of pari-mutuel wagering and 48.1% (4,717 voters) voted against it.

“We are extremely pleased,” Colonial Downs spokesman Mark Hubbard said Tuesday night. “It’s great that voters in Danville saw the potential for good jobs and significant tax revenues and making Danville a better place.”

Hubbard said it still was premature to say where Colonial Downs would like to build a Rosie’s.

“This was an important first step and now we’ll begin in earnest the process of working with Danville city leaders to determine exactly what project the community would like to see,” he said.

If a facility opens in Danville, it would include two types of betting: historic horse racing involving simulated, video game-like races in which players bet on a chosen horse and satellite betting on real-life horse races taking place throughout North America.

The official ballot question city voters decided was: “Shall pari-mutuel wagering be permitted in the City of Danville at satellite facilities in accordance with Chapter 29 … of Title 59.1 of the Code of Virginia?”

State law mandates localities that have not already approved pari-mutuel betting must hold a voter referendum to decide whether a wagering facility can operate in the community.

The following article appeared in the Prince William Times and was written by Daniel Berti . Virginia’s horse racing industry took another big step forward November 5th when voters in Dumfries and Danville approved pari-mutuel betting. This will open the door for another pair of Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums to open. Current Rosie’s sites are in New Kent, Richmond, Vinton and Hampton.

Voters in the Town of Dumfries have approved a ballot question that will allow for the opening of a “Rosie’s Gaming Emporium,” a pari-mutuel betting parlor with 150 “historical horse-race” betting machines – essentially, electronic slot machines.

The measure was approved by 467 voters who cast ballots in favor of allowing pari-mutuel betting, while 306 people voted against it. 

The Virginia General Assembly approved off-track facilities with historical horse-race betting machines after authorizing a deal to reopen the Colonial Downs track in New Kent County in 2018. 

The Colonial Downs Group has since opened four pari-mutuel betting satellite facilities in Virginia, the first in New Kent, followed by facilities in Vinton, Richmond and Hampton. So far, Colonial Downs is the only entity licensed to operate pari-mutuel betting facilities in Virginia.

The Town of Dumfries, with its proximity to Interstate 95 and U.S. 1, offers a convenient location for the first Rosie’s in Northern Virginia. It also offers a smaller pool of voters to persuade than most localities in the region. Dumfries has 2,700 registered voters, less than 1 percent the 285,000 registered voters in Prince William County.

Rosie’s facilities serve food and alcoholic beverages and allow patrons to vote on both live horse racing and historical horse racing, which happens through machines. People place bets on HHR machines that feed into a collective pool that players can win — with various purses.

The races are “historical,” meaning they are actual races that took place in past years. Because the games pull from such a vast pool of past races, it would be difficult or impossible for players to know the outcome before placing their bets. Rosie’s patrons can also bet on live horse racing. 

It’s not yet known where or when the Rosie’s will open in Dumfries.