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Arlington Million Could Move to Colonial Downs

Churchill Downs Inc. has requested permission from the American Graded Stakes Committee to move the GI Arlington Million S., the GI Beverly D. S. and the GI Secretariat S. to Colonial Downs. The three races were fixtures at Arlington Park before that track closed in 2021. Last year, the Million and the Beverly D. were run at Churchill Downs.

The 2023 races are slated to be run on Aug. 12.

In November, it was announced that Churchill had acquired the assets of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment LLC, the owners of Colonial Downs.

“Churchill has made a request and the committee will review it,” said Andy Schweigardt, secretary for the American Graded Stakes Committee. “They hope to have a meeting before Christmas to make a decision.”

Approving Churchill's request may not be a formality. Schweigardt explained that in order for the committee to grant approval to a track to move a graded race a number of factors have to be taken into account.

“They have a rule that covers this that was instituted many years ago,” he said. “We consider moves on a case-by-case basis. The basic requirements are that the new venue has to be in the same region as the old racetrack and the name, conditions, calendar date and purse of the relocated race have to be substantially similar to previous years.”

When asked if Colonial in Virginia is in the same region as Churchill and Arlington, Schweigardt said: “To me, no. But that's just me. The previous tracks would be considered to be in the Midwest. I'm not sure Virginia would be considered the Midwest.”

The 2022 Secretariat was not run because Churchill was having issues with its turf course at the time and track officials wanted to limit the number of races run over it.

Colonial's turf course is a mile-and-an-eighth in circumference and is the widest grass course in North America.

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Colonial Shifting To Weekend Racing For 2023

The 2023 racing dates at Colonial Downs will hold steady at the same 27-program level that the turf-focused track ran this year, but the full first season under the ownership of the gaming company Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), will see a shift to Thursday-through-Saturday racing instead of the Virginia track's traditional Monday-through-Wednesday slot.

The number of racing dates had been a concern for mid-Atlantic horsemen who were leery about CDI bloating the racing schedule beyond what the region's horse population might be able to sustain.

Those concerns were raised back in July, when Bill Carstanjen, CDI's chief executive officer, said during a quarterly earnings conference call that it would be CDI's intent to expand the current boutique-styled summer race meet from 27 to 50 dates, for the purpose of maximizing the number of historical horse racing machines (HRMs) that it can operate throughout Virginia. A state law requires CDI to run one race date for every 100 HRMs.

“Over the next two to four years we expect to grow to up to 50 race dates as we reach 5,000 HRMs,” Carstanjen said in that July 28 call.

At that time, Frank Petramalo Jr., the executive director of the Virginia Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, told TDN that given the current harmony among racing schedules in the mid-Atlantic, “it's important to continue a cooperative relationship between Virginia and Maryland and Delaware [and] certainly Pennsylvania….. We have a lot of racing [in the region] and a diminishing number of horses. We think the way to success is to try to rationalize racing programs.”

The July 13-Sept. 9 schedule for 2023 was approved unanimously Dec. 14 by the Virginia Racing Commission.

The highlight of the meet, the GII Virginia Derby, will be run on closing day.

The switch to Thursday-Saturday racing “will allow for more Virginians to attend and enjoy live racing,” Jack Sours, the vice president for CDI's gaming operations, said in a press release.

But nationally, Colonial's switch to different dates and a 1:30 p.m. Eastern first post will put it in direct competition with Saratoga Race Course, the nation's dominant summer simulcast signal, and up against another CDI-owned track, Ellis Park, on Saturdays and Sundays.

After being closed for six years, Colonial reopened under new management in 2019, ushering in the HRM-fueled purse era in Virginia and carving out a reputation as an independent “comeback” track whose niche was turf racing.

In February 2022, CDI commenced a deal to buy Colonial and its HRM network in a sale announced as $2.485 billion.

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Jessica Paquette Named New Parx Track Announcer

Jessica Paquette, a New England native with nearly 20 years of experience in horse racing, will be the new voice of Parx Racing starting in December. In accepting the position, Paquette becomes the only full-time, year-round female track announcer in the United States.

“I am grateful for the women in the racing industry who have paved the way for my generation to work in so many different areas,” said Paquette. “My hope is that I can similarly help inspire young women who may want to be part of our sport.”

Paquette has previously called races at both Suffolk Downs and Sam Houston Race Park. Additionally, she has been a racing analyst at Colonial Downs Racetrack and Sam Houston and most recently worked as the Director of Communications for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jessica to the Parx family,” said Joe Wilson, Chief Operating Officer for Parx Racing. “The high regard with which she is held in our industry along with a tremendous work ethic makes her the perfect person to usher in this new era for Parx.”

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Retired Trainer Peter Howe Dies at 83

Retired trainer Peter Howe, one of just four people to train an American champion over jumps and on the flat, and the father of Colonial Downs Vice President of Racing Jill Byrne, died Thursday night in Charlottesville, Va. He was 83.

Howe was born in Hartford, Conn., and became an accomplished rider of show horses–competing at Madison Square Garden, the Washington International Horse Show and other top venues–before transitioning to racehorses.

Training mainly for Marion du Pont Scott's Montpelier Stable, Howe conditioned a small but quality stable of flat and steeplechase horses.

The Howe-trained Soothsayer won an Eclipse Award as champion steeplechaser in 1972, and in 1976, Howe conditioned Montpelier's Proud Delta to the older filly/mare divisional championship.

Soothsayer and Proud Delta put Howe in rare company–with Jonathan Sheppard, Sidney Watters Jr. and Jim Ryan–as the only trainers to prepare American champions on the flat and over jumps.

Howe, whose father Walter was an American diplomat and the U.S. Ambassador to Chile under President Dwight Eisenhower, lived at Red Horse Farm near the Montpelier property in Barboursville, Va. Survivors include Byrne, son Jeffrey Howe and his wife Christy, daughter Debby Howe and grandchildren Devon Byrne, William Vanderlinde and Emma and Owen Howe.

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