Top two stakes now $1 million apiece
Colonial Downs has beefed up the purses of two of its biggest races to create a pair of $1 million turf stakes this season.
The million dollar races are the Virginia Derby, which received a $250,000 purse increase and was upgraded to Grade 2 status, and the Colonial Turf Cup, which was doubled in value. Those two races account for nearly two-thirds of the entire 2006 stakes package of $3.23 million at Colonial Downs.
The 1 3/16-mile Colonial Turf Cup on June 24 and the 1 1/4-mile Virginia Derby on July 16 are also the first two legs in the $3.65 million Grand Slam of Grass series for 3-year-olds. The other two races are the Secretariat at Arlington Park and the Breeders' Cup Turf, this year at Churchill Downs. Any horse who can sweep all four races wins a $3 million bonus.
Colonial will present two other graded stakes, the Grade 3 All Along Breeders' Cup for fillies and mares on turf and the Grade 2 David "Zeke" Ferguson Memorial, a steeplechase race.
The only other race worth more than the track's standard $60,000 for minor stakes is the Virginia Oaks, a $200,000 race on the undercard of the Virginia Derby.
2006 stakes schedule
| DATE | EVENT | CONDITIONS | DISTANCE | PURSE |
| Sat.,June 17 | John D. Marsh | 3YO* | 1 1/16 miles (T) | $60,000 |
| Sun.,June 18 | Oakley Stakes | 3YO F* | 1 1/16 miles (T) | 60,000 |
| Sat., June 24 | Colonial Turf Cup | 3YO | 1 3/16 miles (T) | 1,000,000 |
| Sat., June 24 | All Along BC (G3) | F&M, 3YO & Up | 1 1/8 miles (T) | 200,000 |
| Sun.,June 25 | Buckland Stakes | F&M, 3YO & Up | 5 1/2 furlongs (T) | 60,000 |
| Sat.,July 1 | Brookmeade Stakes | F&M, 3YO & Up* | 1 1/16 miles (T) | 60,000 |
| Sun.,July 2 | D.G. Van Clief Stakes | 3YO & Up* | 1 1/16 miles (T) | 60,000 |
| Sat.,July 8 | Da Hoss Stakes | 3YO & Up | 1 mile (T) | 60,000 |
| Sun., July 9 | W. Meredith Bailes Memorial | 3YO & Up* | 6 furlongs | 60,000 |
| Sat.,July 15 | Virginia Derby (G2) | 3YO | 1 1/4 miles (T) | 1,000,000 |
| Sat.,July 15 | Virginia Oaks | 3YO F | 1 1/8 miles (T) | 200,000 |
| Sun., July 16 | Ferguson Mem. S'Chase (G2) | 3YO & Up | 2 1/4 miles (T) | 50,000 |
| Sat., July 22 | Somethingroyal Stakes | F&M, 3YO & Up* | 5 1/2 furlongs (T) | 60,000 |
| Sun.,July 23 | Punch Line Stakes | 3YO & Up* | 5 furlongs (T) | 60,000 |
| Sat.,July 29 | Tippett Stakes | 2YO F | 5 1/2 furlongs (T) | 60,000 |
| Sun., July 30 | Chenery Stakes | 2YO | 5 1/2 furlongs (T) | 60,000 |
| Sat.,Aug. 5 | Chesapeake Stakes | 3YO & Up | 6 furlongs | 60,000 |
| Sun., Aug. 6 | Polynesian Stakes | 3YO & Up | 1 1/16 miles (T) | 60,000 |
*Virginia-bred