Colonial cuts Turf Cup purse

Colonial Downs has cut the purse for its Grade 3 Colonial Turf Cup from $1 million to $750,000 for the 2007 meet and will put the $250,000 difference into overnight purses.

"It was a matter of sitting down, as we do periodically, with our horsemen and figuring out how we want the 2007 meet to look," said Ian Stewart, Colonial Downs president and chief financial officer. "Everybody recognized that we probably needed to increase overnight purses, and the decision to cut the Colonial Turf Cup purse was part of that compromise."

The Virginia HBPA estimates that overnight purses at Colonial's 2007 meet will rise by 12 percent compared to this season. The meet runs from June 15 to Aug. 7, and the Turf Cup is scheduled for June 16.