ROJA GOES GATE TO WIRE; MY BOY PRINCE RALLIES LATE TO CAPTURE FESTIVAL OF RACING UNDERCARD TURF STAKES

Photo credit: Coady Media

Photo credit: Coady Media

Photo credit: Coady Media

NEW KENT, Va. (Aug 1, 2026) — Favorites prevailed in Saturday’s pair of $150,000 Festival of Racing undercard turf stakes at Colonial Downs, with Roja leading every step of the way in the Andy Guest and My Boy Prince rallying late to nose out stablemate Victory Achieved in the Van Clief.

Gary Barber’s My Boy Prince surged down the center of the course in the final strides to edge out stablemate Victory Achieved in a thrilling finish to the $150,000 Van Clief Stakes, giving trainer Mark Casse a one-two finish.

Ridden by John Velazquez, My Boy Prince covered 5½ furlongs over the turf in 1:03.56.

My Boy Prince broke alertly before losing some momentum entering the turn and settling toward the rear. Angled to the center of the course in the upper stretch, he closed with a powerful late rally to win by a head. Victory Achieved, who battled with Governor Sam early before taking over in the stretch, was a game second, another neck ahead of Governor Sam.

“He broke well but before the turn he sucked back a little bit,” Velazquez said. “I had to nudge him to get him going but once I put him out in the center, he picked it up really fast.”

Returning $6.60, $3.80 and $2.80, My Boy Prince notched his second consecutive stakes victory, improving his career record to 27-10-6-2 and increasing his earnings to $1,588,750.

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Madaket Stables’ Roja turned back every challenge to wire a field of five older fillies and mares in the $150,000 Andy Guest.

Trained by Graham Motion and ridden by Manny Franco, Roja was sent straight to the front, fending off early pressure from She’s a Tempest before digging in through the stretch to repel late bids from Somnium, who finished second, and Lucy McGee, who was third. The 4-year-old completed 5½ furlongs over the turf in 1:01.74, winning by a half-length.

“The plan was to go to the lead. That’s what she does best,” Franco said. “She’s a nice sprinter who has natural gate speed.”

“We gave her plenty of time to get over her last race because that was a big effort,” Motion said. “She seemed to handle everything really well. I said to Manny she didn’t break as sharp as she usually does but he said she did––it was just the other fillies broke with her. She ended up doing it quite comfortably.”

Returning $2.80, $2.20 and $2.10, Roja earned her fourth consecutive victory, improving her record to 8-5-1-1 and increasing her bankroll to $416,027.