The journey to the 151st Kentucky Derby stops, for some horses, in Virginia on March 15 as Colonial Downs hosts its first Derby points stakes event. The $500,000 Virginia Derby at 1 1/8 miles on the dirt is a nice race in itself with that big purse, and Ontario breeders Ivan and Colleen Dalos are represented by Kentucky-bred AUTHENTIC GALLOP (Authentic), whom they bred in Kentucky.
The Colonial Downs card is a good one, with several stakes races including the Virginia Oaks.
The winning horses in the Virginia Derby and Virginia Oaks will receive 50 points toward the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) or the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), respectively. The second-through-fifth-place finishers will earn 25-15-10-5 points. First post for Saturday’s 10-race card is noon EDT. The Virginia Derby is scheduled as Race 9 and the Virginia Oaks, Race 8.
Authentic Gallop, sold as a yearling by the Dalos family for $300,000 to Greg Tramontin’s Greenwell Thoroughbreds LLC, has two wins in his last three races. He is a son of the amazing Canadian-bred mare GALLOPING AMI (Victory Gallop), named Canada’s Outstanding Broodmare in 2016 and she has had 10 foals to race, eight winners and four stakes winners.
Galloping Ami’s foals were all born in Ontario until four years ago when she stayed in Kentucky as she got older. Her 2021 foal, the filly Kopion, won the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes, Grade 2 Santa Monica and Grade 3 Santa Ynez.
Authentic Gallop’s best race was his latest when he worked hard to win an allowance/optional claiming race at Oaklawn on Feb. 7 at 1 1/16 miles, earning an 84 Beyer Speed Figure. He won his maiden at Oaklawn on Dec. 13 at 1 1/16 miles before finishing third at the Fair Grounds.
“He’s a horse that doesn’t have a great understanding of competition,” trainer Tom Amoss said. “We ended up taking the blinkers off of him in his last race because we wanted him to understand that he has got to compete when he gets in a dog fight. As it turns out, although that race is not a ‘wow’ race when you watch it live, it helped quite a deal because it was a four-horse battle down the stretch. He took a challenge from the inside; he took a challenge from the outside. The way he prevailed in that race hopefully gets him where he needs to be in terms of understanding competition.”
The Virginia Derby’s favourite at 9-to-5 in the morning line odds is Getaway Car (Curlin), trained by Bob Baffert. The speedy colt has won three of seven races including the Sunland Derby in his 2025 debut, taking that race by a nose. Irad Ortiz will ride. The unbeaten John Hancock (Constitution) led all the way to win the Sam F. Davis Stakes last time and Mike Smith is on board.
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