A pair of sibling stakes are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 16 at Colonial Downs, headlined by the return of L and N Racing and Clark Brewster’s millionaire Gigante to New Kent for the $125,000 Find. He will face five older male foes. Along with the $125,000 All Brandy, which drew eight older fillies and mares, both added-money events are restricted to Virginia- and Maryland-bred or -sired Thoroughbreds and will be run at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
Saturday’s stakes action starts in Race 5 with the Find, the first leg of the 50-cent Old Dominion 6 wager and concludes with the All Brandy in Race 9. First post for the 10-race program is 12:30 p.m. ET.
With more than $1.2 million in career earnings, Gigante enters Saturday’s Find Stakes seeking a seventh stakes title. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the 2023 Grade 2 Secretariat winner is the 6-5 morning line favorite. Over the winter, Gigante won back-to-back listed stakes at Fair Grounds but has not returned to the winner’s circle in five starts since. From four local starts, the Virginia-bred son of Not This Time has three wins, including the 2023 Kitten’s Joy. Paco Lopez rides the 5-year-old horse, who drew post 6.
A main challenger is Starlight Racing and Mark Grier’s Fulmineo, who scored back-to-back stakes wins last year in the James W. Murphy at Pimlico and the Boston at Colonial Downs. Trainer Arnaud Delacour will run the 4-year-old Bolt d’Oro colt without blinkers in the Find. Listed at 4-1 in the morning line, Fulmineo will be reunited with jockey Victor Carrasco.
Here is the complete field for the $125,000 Find Stakes from the rail out, with jockey, trainer and morning-line: Hunter Joe (Daniel Centeno, Hamilton Smith, 15-1); Fulmineo (Carrasco, Delacour, 4-1); Mission North (Forest Boyce, Jack Fisher, 7-2); Hardspun Reason (Jevian Toledo, Graham Motion, 3-1); Crabs N Beer (Jorge Ruiz, James Lawrence II, 12-1); and Gigante (Lopez, Asmussen, 6-5).
The All Brandy features three sharp, last-out stakes winners, led by The Elkstone Group’s Lifelovenlaughter, the 9-5 morning-line favorite. Trained by current meet-leading conditioner Mike Trombetta, Lifelovenlaughter comes off a win in the six-furlong Jameela at Laurel Park. The 5-year-old Lemon Drop Kid mare has earned three of her five wins at the All Brandy distance.
Her main competition includes two fillies exiting local stakes wins: Timbercreek Racing’s Brookmeade winner Thursday Girl and Dream Big Racing’s Miss Disco victress Winfinity.
Here is the complete field for the $125,000 All Brandy Stakes from the rail out, with jockey, trainer and morning-line: Cut From Class (Jevian Toledo, Caitlin Keil, 10-1); Winfinity (Ben Curtis, John Ortiz, 3-1); Lifelovenlaughter (Jorge Ruiz, Trombetta, 8-5); Krone (Paco Lopez, Mark Shuman, 8-1); Thursday Girl (Sheldon Russell, Brittany Russell, 6-1); Atlas Strong (Mychel Sanchez, Tim Woolley, 5-1); Juniper Juice (Forest Boyce, Kevin Boniface, 15-1); and She Is Wisky (Carlos Lopez, Phillip Capuano, 15-1).
Live racing resumes at Colonial Downs on Wednesday, Aug. 13. First post for the eight-race card is 12:30 p.m. ET. Colonial’s races will be prominently featured on FanDuel TV all season long.
Racing fans who can’t make it to Colonial can wager at any of the Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums throughout the state, The Rose Gaming Resort in Dumfries or VA-Horseplay locations in Chesapeake and Henrico. Bettors also can wager on racing from Colonial Downs via www.TwinSpires.com, the official advance-deposit wagering service for Churchill Downs Incorporated and its family of racetracks. TwinSpires.com boasts an improved wagering experience and mobile app combining the latest technology with the ability to wager on virtually every quarter, harness and thoroughbred horse race from venues around the globe. TwinSpires.com also offers access to unmatched insight and analysis from horse racing experts, handicappers, insiders, educators and Bloodstock Research Information Services (Brisnet).
About Colonial Downs
Colonial Downs Racetrack, in New Kent, Virginia, hosts live thoroughbred racing on two nationally renowned surfaces – the Secretariat Turf Course, the widest turf course in North America at 180 feet wide and on a 1 1/4-mile dirt track. The Colonial Downs Group, which is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN), also operates Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums® throughout the commonwealth, which offer innovative historic horseracing (HHR) gaming and full card simulcasting as well as Rosie’s Game Room in Collinsville, and The Rose Gaming Resort® in Dumfries which offers 1,650 HHR gaming terminals, full-card simulcasting, eight bars and restaurants and more than 100 hotel rooms.
