2025 kicks off in Keeneland’s sales ring in Lexington, Kentucky! Mares in-foal and broodmare prospects are offered right before the 2025 breeding and foaling season begins. Short yearlings will also be seen in this sale. The schedule for this 2 book session is as follows:

• Book 1 Session 1 – Monday, January 13, 10:00AM Hips 1-458
• Book 2 Session 2 – Tuesday January 14, 10:00AM Hips 461-880
• Book 2 Session 3 – Wednesday, January 15, 10:00AM Hips 891-1318

See the file below for all Virginia-bred and Virginia-certified horses listed in the sale.

This Sale will take place in Lexington, Kentucky on Thursday, November 14, 2024. Two-hundred and thirty-four horses will make their way to the sales ring by the end of the day.

See the file below for all Virginia-bred and Virginia-certified horses listed in the sale.

Broodmares, broodmare prospects, weanlings, horses of racing age, stallions, stallion prospects

The Breeding Stock Sale will take place in Lexington, Kentucky at Keeneland on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Please see the sale schedule below

• Book 1 Session 1 – Tuesday, November 5 at 1:00PM Hips 1-253
• Book 2 Session 2 – Wednesday, November 6 at 10:00AM Hips 271-670
• Book 2 Session 3 – Thursday, November 7 at 10:00AM Hips 671-1075
• Book 3 Session 4 – Friday, November 8 at 10:00AM Hips 1076-1492
• Book 3 Session 5 – Saturday, November 9 at 10:00AM Hips 1493-1909
• Book 4 Session 6 – Sunday, November 10 at 10:00AM Hips 1910-2328
• Book 4 Session 7 – Monday, November 11 at 10:00AM Hips 2329-2741
• Book 5 Session 8 – Tuesday, November 12 at 10:00AM Hips 2742-3083
• Book 5 Session 9 – Wednesday, November 13 at 10:00AM Hips 3084-3401

See the file below for all Virginia-bred horses listed in the sale. *There are currently no Virginia-certified horses in this sale*

 VTA MEMBERS:

 Virginia Thoroughbred Association President Amy Moore has called a Special Meeting of the membership for November 26, 2024, at 12:00 pm.  The meeting will be held at Airlie House, 6809 Airlie Road, Warrenton, Virginia, 20187.  The purpose of the meeting is to vote on changes recently approved by the VTA’s Board of Directors to the organization’s Articles of Incorporation.

Currently, the VTA’s Articles of Incorporation provide that directors of the VTA are elected to two-year terms, with half of the directors elected each year.  If adopted by the members, the amendment to the Articles of Incorporation would provide that directors are elected to four-year terms, with half of the directors elected every two years.  (The amendment also provides transition rules for current directors.)  The proposed amendment and the current Articles language are listed below.

Proposed language for Articles of Incorporation Change
Article VII
Directors

The number and qualifications for directors of the Association shall be fixed in the Bylaws. The current directors shall be divided into two classes: Class A directors shall be those directors who were elected to office in 2024; Class B directors shall be the remaining one-half of the directors.  The current two-year term of Class A Directors shall be extended for an additional year to end at the 2027 annual meeting of the members. The current two-year term of the Class B directors shall not change but shall end at the 2025 annual meeting of the members. Thereafter each class of directors shall serve four-year terms so that, as near as possible, every two years one-half of the Directors are elected to four-year terms.

Current language for Article VII
Directors

The number of and qualifications for directors of the Association shall be fixed in the Bylaws. The number of directors shall be divided into two groups with each group containing one-half of the total, as nearly equal in number as possible. Directors shall be elected to two (2) year terms to serve on the Board of Directors. The terms of the two groups of directors shall be staggered so that the terms of one group expire each year. At each annual meeting of the Members one group shall be elected for a term of two years to succeed those whose terms expire. All elections for Directors shall be decided by a plurality of the votes cast by Members entitled to vote.

The VTA Board believes that this change will enhance the recruitment of Board members, reduce turnover in the VTA’s leadership, and allow the VTA to benefit from the experience of directors who have more familiarity with the issues facing the organization.  The Board recommends that members vote FOR the amendment to the Articles of Incorporation.

WE NEED YOUR VOTE: Our Bylaws require a quorum of more than one third of the membership to approve these changes. You are welcome to attend the Special Meeting and vote on the changes in person.  If you choose not to attend the meeting, we ask that you please vote by proxy or electronically through the email sent to you.  If you have any questions or you have not received a proxy in the mail or a Constant Contact email detailing how to vote, please email me or call our office so we may get you the materials you need to vote.

Debbie Easter
Executive Director
Virginia Thoroughbred Association
(434) 531-2480
Debbie.easter@easterassociates.com

“The world’s premier breeding stock event”

The November Sale will take place in Lexington, Kentucky on Monday, November 4, 2024. Starting at 2:00pm, 309 horses will make their way to the sales ring by the end of the night.

See the file below for all Virginia-bred and Virginia-certified horses listed in the sale.

The grand finale of the yearlings’ sales will take place in Lexington, Kentucky. The schedule for this four-day sale is as follows: hips 1-404 will head to the ring on October 21st. October 22nd hips 405-808 will sell. On October 23rd hips 809-1212 will sell. Lastly, on October 24th, the sale will conclude with hips 1213-1614 at the sales pavilion. Each day will begin at 10:00am.

See the file below for all Virginia-bred and Virginia-certified horses listed in the sale.

Up next is the OBS yearlings sale in Ocala, Florida . This two day sale that will begin at 11:30AM on Tuesday, October 8th with hips 1-266 and the supplements. The sale will continue on Wednesday, October 9th at 11:30AM with hips 301-569 and conclude with the supplements.

See the file below for all Virginia-Bred horses listed in the sale. Please note there are no Virginia-Certified horses.

Fasig-Tipton heads to Timonium, Maryland from Saratoga to continue with yearlings in the sales ring. This is a one day sale that will begin at 11:00AM on Tuesday, October 1st.

See the file below for all Virginia-Bred and Virginia-Certified horses listed in the sale.

It was a season with beautiful clear skies, the occasional summer storm, and the adventurous goose who bravely wandered to the track during training. We had wiener dog races, a county fair, a golf tournament, and most of all, exciting racing!

With all that behind us, it is not the only thing we said “farewell” to when the last horse crossed the finish line on Saturday, September 7, 2024. It was a farewell to the GIII Virginia Derby as we have known it traditionally run on the renown Secretariat Turf Course. On August 11^th, at the Colonial Downs Festival of racing, Governor Glen Youngkin announced that the Virginia Derby would be one of the qualifying races on the road to the Kentucky Derby. It is scheduled to now be run on the dirt course at nine furlongs on March 15^th, pending approval by the VRC and VHBPA.

The evening before the final running of the turf version of the Virginia Derby, Churchill Downs, Inc and the Virginia Thoroughbred Association hosted an elegant reception at The Jefferson Hotel commemorating this race Virginians and horsemen throughout the country have come to know and celebrate.

Guests included Virginia Johnson, co-author of Virginia Horse Racing: Triumphs of the Turf, Matt Lohr, Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, and a special appearance by historical actors from St. John’s church portraying prominent Virginians President George Washington, Martha Washington, President Thomas Jefferson, and Governor Patrick Henry who all enjoyed mingling with the partygoers. Many connections to the horses running on Virginia Derby Day were in attendance along with representatives of the Commonwealth’s Legislature as well as the many supporters from all stakeholders who have been such a big part of Virginia’s successful horse industry. The food and ambiance represented all things Virginian with dogwood branches, magnolia leaves, ham biscuits, chicken with waffles (a southern favorite), fried green tomatoes, oysters, shrimp, and crab cakes.

As the temperature cools and the leaves begin to change, the atmosphere may quiet down at Colonial Downs, but we are all looking forward to our first Road to the Derby prep race in Virginia in the spring.