In a collaboration to further increase the popularity of the Claiming Crown series for racing's blue-collar horses, Colonial Downs will host an eight-race Claiming Crown Preview Day on Thursday, Aug. 21, at Virginia's Thoroughbred track in New Kent.
The top two finishers in each race will receive an automatic berth in the corresponding Claiming Crown championships on Nov. 16 at Churchill Downs. The winner of each race will also receive a travel stipend from the Virginia HBPA of up to $2,000, provided the horse starts in the Claiming Crown championship races in Louisville, Ky.
Purses will total $550,000 for the eight Claiming Crown Preview races run under starter-allowance conditions.
Churchill Downs Inc. bought Colonial Downs in 2022. Churchill Downs Race Track, CDI's flagship track in Louisville, will be the Claiming Crown site for the third time in four years, with CDI-owned Fair Grounds in New Orleans the 2023 host.
The National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) co-founded the Claiming Crown. Created in 1999 to provide claiming horse owners and trainers their own version of the Breeders' Cup, the multi-race program gives thoroughbred racing's workhorses a day in the spotlight in recognition of their importance to filling out race cards across the nation.
Claiming Crown Preview Day is sponsored by the National HBPA, TOBA, Colonial Downs and the Virginia HBPA, the track's horsemen's organization and an affiliate of the national association.
The Colonial Downs Claiming Crown qualifiers will carry purses ranging from $50,000 up to $100,000 for the signature Claiming Crown Jewel at 1 1/8 miles for 3-year-olds and up.
"The Churchill Downs racing management team has been terrific," said Dr. Doug Daniels, the National HBPA's chairman of the board as well as the Virginia HBPA vice president. "Churchill Downs Inc. and Churchill Downs Race Track have embraced the Claiming Crown since we moved it to Louisville for the first time in 2022. When we started discussing having qualifier races at Colonial Downs, they came up with the idea of having a true preview day, with a qualifier for each division. A Claiming Crown Preview Day at Colonial Downs will be a truly special event in its own right. The Mid-Atlantic has a huge pool of horsemen who have long supported the Claiming Crown wherever it was. We believe these purses also will attract horses from other areas of the country."
"Why do one or two qualifying races when we can do eight?" said Dan Bork, Churchill Downs' longtime assistant racing secretary who now also is Colonial Downs' racing secretary after years working summers at Ellis Park. "Collaborating with the Virginia HBPA is resulting in not just a launching pad to the Claiming Crown but a standalone day that, especially falling on a Thursday, will be the racing world's center of attention. Colonial Downs is an amazing venue, and we welcome the opportunity to introduce our acclaimed turf course and main track to horsemen who have not raced in Virginia before."
Starter-allowance races, such as the Claiming Crown, are restricted to horses that have competed at least once for a certain claiming level or cheaper during a designated time frame. The Claiming Crown and Preview Day races are run on turf and dirt, at both sprint and two-turn distances and for males and females. As overnight races, the Preview races do not require the Claiming Crown championship races' request for eligibility form or the administrative fee.
"Claiming Crown Preview Day will provide Colonial Downs and horsemen across the East Coast and Midwest not only another big day but it will further promote and publicize the Claiming Crown and its importance on the racing schedule," said Virginia HBPA executive director Glen Berman. "We are proud to work with Colonial Downs, Churchill Downs Inc., the National HBPA and TOBA to bring the event to Virginia and give the horses that are the backbone of American racing another day at center stage."
See Colonial Downs' first condition book, running July 9-Aug. 13, on Equibase.
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