Labor Day racing

The stabling area at Colonial Downs will open Wednesday, June 10 for horsemen and new arrivals in preparation for the 2026 summer Thoroughbred meeting, the track announced Monday. With training scheduled to begin the following Thursday, live racing is set to kick off Thursday, June 25 with a record-setting season featuring an expanded schedule. The meet will offer 45 days of live racing and will be conducted everything Thursday through Sunday from opening to a special Labor Day program Monday, Sept. 7. It will be the most live racing days...

The GI Spendthrift Farm Hopeful Stakes is carded as the anchor for Monday's Labor Day festivities, which marks the last set of races for the season upstate. A scan through the past winners of the top-level affair over the past 25 years include a strong list of future sires. How about for starters Sky Mesa (2002), First Samurai (2005), Shanghai Bobby (2012) and Competitive Edge (2014)? More recently Practical Joke (2016), Mind Control (2018), Basin (2019), Jackie's Warrior (2020), Gunite (2021) and Forte (2022) got their picture taken before heading...