Maryland, Virginia Combine On State Bred Stakes Schedule

As part of the cooperative effort between Maryland and Virginia, multiple stakes from June 2025 through March 2026 will be for both Maryland-bred or -sired and Virginia-bred or -sired horses.

The stakes will be run at Laurel Park and Colonial Downs. Six of the 16 stakes are scheduled for the turf, including two for 2-year-olds at Colonial. Virginia-certified horses are not eligible to compete in the series of state-restricted stakes.

In 2024, Maryland and Virginia officials began discussions on regional cooperation for scheduling of racing dates to maximize opportunities for owners, trainers and breeders. The Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority, created by legislation in 2023, played an active role in the process, which resulted in efforts by both Maryland and Virginia.

A key aspect of the 2025 schedule is the renewed working relationship with Colonial, which continues to expand its live racing schedule given revenue from historical horse racing machines. Colonial will offer 47 programs this year over roughly 12 weeks, with most racing in July and August.

The annual Maryland-bred stakes program, valued at the usual total of $1.05 million, now will combine with $750,000 from the six Colonial stakes to create an overall $1.8 million restricted stakes program. Colonial is providing the $750,000 in purse money for its stakes.

Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association President Katharine Voss said horsemen and breeders in both states worked to fashion the program. As an added bonus for Maryland, eight of its state-restricted stakes will increase in value from $75,000 to $100,000, and a pair of late-season 2-year-old events—the Maryland Juvenile and Maryland Juvenile Fillies—will be worth $125,000, up from $100,000.

“This program came out of the initial discussions to work on coordination of schedules in the region,” Voss said. “With Laurel being dark in July and August, we had some stakes but no place to squeeze them in. Colonial is thrilled with the merging of Virginia-bred races with our Maryland-bred races.”

Voss noted statistics that indicate Maryland has about four times as many 2-year-old and 3-year-old state-bred horses as Virginia.

“It all seemed to make sense,” Voss said. “We were told by state leaders to consider coordinating racing in the region. When I spoke to Boyd Browning of Fasig-Tipton, he said it would be important for parties to get together to develop regional programs to combat the rapid growth in the Kentucky program (largely from historical horse racing revenue).”

The first two Laurel stakes are the Jameela and Ben’s Cat in June, followed by the Miss Disco, Star de Naskra, Find, and All Brandy—formerly run at Laurel—and a pair of juvenile stakes, the Jamestown and Dolley Madison, at Colonial in July and August. There will be an additional eight stakes, two each on four racing days, in December 2025 and January and March in 2026.

The revised stakes schedule dovetails with the new $600,000 Owner & Developer Bonus Program to support Maryland-bred horses racing at Colonial and Delaware Park during Maryland’s live racing break from July 4 through Aug. 17, 2025. The program rewards the connections of Maryland-bred horses with bonus payments based on a points system tied to race conditions at Colonial and Delaware.

Combined with a similar $600,000 Breeder and Stallion Bonus Program to be offered by the Maryland Bred Race Fund, up to $1.2 million will be available for Maryland-bred horses during the about seven weeks of downtime during the summer.