Carloun wins the inaugural running of the Grade 1 William Allison Stakes during the Gold Cup\u2019s 2024 fall meet at Glenwood Park (Douglas Lees<\/p>\n
Based on the recent success of running several National Steeplechase Association (NSA) sanctioned races at Virginia\u2019s spring Point-to-Point meets the past couple years, that strategy will continue and even expand in 2025 according to NSA Director of Racing Bill Gallo.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a good experience at the Old Dominion and Blue Ridge meets and will be adding the Loudoun Hunt Meet at Morven Park in Leesburg to the mix next year,\u201d said Gallo. \u201cWe thought it would be good to reach out to Point-to-Point meets that were well established and had good racecourses that were safe to race over and give them a chance to expand their racing opportunities. We refer to them as hybrid meets now since they include regulated NSA sanctioned races and other races they traditionally have run that are not regulated. These mixed meets give Point-to-Points a bit more validity and substance,\u201d added Gallo. \u201cIt clearly gets the top riders and trainers to participate in these meets. It\u2019s a win-win situation. It\u2019s a small step but a very positive one. It\u2019s good for the Point-to-Points and good for the NSA as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new Loudoun Hunt PTP is scheduled for Sunday April 20 and will feature a minimum of two sanctioned races though the final program is still being created. The Old Dominion PTP, slated for Saturday April 5 at the Ben Venue Farm in Washington, Virginia, hosted two sanctioned races last year \u2014 one hurdle and one timber \u2014 and will get an additional sanctioned hurdle race this spring to bring its total number up to three. The Blue Ridge, which has a new date of Saturday April 12 at the Woodley Farm in Berryville, will host a four-pack of sanctioned races, up from two last year. They will have three hurdle events and a timber race.<\/p>\n
Overall, the NSA is coming off a strong 2024 which saw purses rise one million dollars \u2014 from just under $6 million, to just under $7 million. Gallo referred to the gain as \u201cunheard of\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fall meets in Virginia were great and a big reason why we had a successful year,\u201d he said. \u201cWe did have a course problem at Great Meadow but the transition to running it at Glenwood Park in Middleburg worked out nicely. Thank God we had that option for the International Gold Cup card as opposed to cancellation of a major meet. Horsemen liked running at Glenwood Park.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMontpelier had their strongest race card ever and had the biggest crowd that I\u2019ve ever seen there,\u201d continued Gallo. \u201cAnd Foxfield put a tremendous amount of effort into their course thanks to Jack Sanford and Reynolds Cowles. They are presenting themselves beautifully with major renovations and increased purses.\u00a0As a result, they have two premier meets now. Horsemen really appreciate those efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two new additions to the Virginia stakes schedule also played a major factor in 2024\u2019s growth. The Grade 1 Commonwealth Cup was run during the spring Gold Cup card and the Grade 1 Will Allison Stakes was contested during the fall International Gold Cup card. The pair represented the first Grade 1 steeplechase stakes to ever appear on the Commonwealth\u2019s calendar.<\/p>\n
The jump race program at Colonial Downs also was key. \u201cWe love going to Colonial,\u201d added Gallo. \u201cIt is such a great opportunity. It\u2019s not just the volume of races, but the purses are very good too. It\u2019s pivotal for us. The meet there offers $50,000 purses for maiden special weights \u2014 which is substantial for us \u2014 along with several ratings races for claiming type horses which are in the mid to lower end \u2014 like they are in any kind of racing. The meet was complemented by two $100,000 filly stakes which were held a month apart which fit perfectly with the program.\u201d Discussions are currently taking place about what the 2025 summer season in New Kent will look like.<\/p>\n
Gallo reminisced about the NSA\u2019s path forward after the pandemic. \u201cCovid was crippling to us. We salvaged some meets that year to keep our horsemen going but didn\u2019t have fans at any of the races \u2014 which is a big source of revenue. It was very difficult financially. We\u2019ve rebounded and rallied to the point that race meets are much better and NSA is doing much better. We are very excited about the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Carloun wins the inaugural running of the Grade 1 William Allison Stakes during the Gold Cup’s 2024 fall meet at Glenwood Park (Douglas Lees Based on the recent success of running several National Steeplechase Association (NSA) sanctioned races at Virginia’s spring Point-to-Point meets the past couple years, that strategy will continue and even expand in 2025 according to NSA Director of Racing Bill Gallo. “We’ve had a good experience at the Old Dominion and Blue Ridge meets and will be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[97,52,2044],"tags":[2561,2563,2557,2559,2560,1856,2558,2562],"class_list":["post-7204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-events-magazine","category-events-magazine","category-magazine","tag-ben-venue-farm","tag-colonial-downs","tag-director-of-racing-bill-gallo","tag-loudoun-hunt-meet","tag-loudoun-hunt-ptp","tag-national-steeplechase-association","tag-old-dominion-and-blue-ridge","tag-woodley-farm"],"yoast_head":"\n