GRADE 3 GOTHAM WINNER FLOOD ZONE HEADLINES EARLY FESTIVAL OF RACING STAKES ACTION

NEW KENT, Va. (Aug. 4, 2025) – Tabbed as the 7-2 morning line favorite in the field of nine for the $100,000 Petramalo Mile, Wathnan Racing’s Gotham (G3) winner Flood Zone headlines the early stakes action on Festival of Racing Day at Colonial Downs.

The first of seven stakes carded with purse money totaling $2.5 million, the Petramalo Mile is a one-mile dirt race for 3-year-olds. It will be followed by its sister race, the $100,000 Tyson Gilpin at seven furlongs, which attracted a field of 11 fillies, led by WinStar Farm’s homebred Impulse Buy.

Slated as race 5, the Petramalo Mile is the first leg of an all-stakes Middle Pick 4. First post on Saturday is 12 p.m. ET.

Trained by Brad Cox, Flood Zone followed up his dominant maiden score with an equally impressive win going one mile in the Gotham at Aqueduct. He then shipped to Meydan for the UAE Derby (G2) where he finished seventh. Though he earned enough qualifying points for a spot in the starting gate for Kentucky Derby 151, connections made the decision to pass, choosing to freshen up the Frosted colt for the second half of the year. He returned to the races at the end of June in the Maxfield at Churchill Downs where he lost to stablemate Verifire. Flood Zone’s Gotham pilot Reylu Gutierrez has the call from post 4.

Logical contenders include St. George Stable’s Rolando, who impressed when winning the Hutcheson at Gulfstream Park for trainer Fausto Gutierrez and AJ Will Win Stables’ Jersey Derby winner Barbadian Runner who last time out ran a game second in the local Star De Naskra for trainer Henry Walters.

Here is the complete field for the $100,000 Petramalo Mile from the rail out with jockey, trainer and morning line odds: Start Mo Up (Ben Curtis, Joe Lejzerowicz, 30-1); La Houligan (Junior Alvarado, Greg Compton, 10-1); Optical (Axel Concepcion, Keith Desormeaux, 8-1); Flood Zone (Gutierrez, Cox, 7-2); Lured Away (Brian Hernandez Jr., Kenny McPeek, 5-1); Roar of the Beast (Tyler Gaffalione, Saffie Joseph Jr., 4-1); Light Forever (Andy Hernandez, Guadalupe Preciado, 8-1); Barbadian Runner (Forest Boyce, Walters, 9-2); and Rolando (John Velazquez, Gutierrez, 6-1).

Facing a field of 11 evenly matched 3-year-old fillies, Impulse Buy will look to add the Tyson Gilpin to her stakes resume.

Run as race 6 at seven furlongs, the Tyson Gilpin lifts the lid on the all-stakes 50-cents Old Dominion 6, which concludes with the Grade 1 Arlington Million.

The lukewarm 4-1 morning line favorite, Impulse Buy won the Fern Creek at Churchill Downs by 2½ lengths over Echo Sound to conclude her freshman year. Kicking off her sophomore campaign in the Eight Belles (G2) on the Kentucky Oaks undercard, the Speightstown filly trained by Rudy Brisset set scorching fractions but faded to finish eighth. Tyler Gaffalione has the call from post 2.

Chief among her competition is Mag Racing’s G W’s Girl. The Greg Compton-trained Munnings filly began the year with back-to-back stakes scores at Oaklawn Park in the Mockingbird and Dixie Bell. Since then she finished fourth in both the Beaumont (G2) at Keeneland and the Ms. Preakness (G3) at Pimlico.

Logical contenders with added-money titles on their resume include Joel Politi’s two-time stakes winner Kimchi Cat; Golden Lion Racing’s Weber City Music victress Complexity Jane; and Mellon Patch’s Dancing Magic, who took the Gasparilla in January.

A talented field also includes Sumaya US Stable’s Zaghruta, who has won three of her last four for Brad Cox; JR Ranch and MyRacehorse’s Reputation, an impressive allowance winner last out at Ellis Park; and Magdalena Racing’s perfect two-for-two Girvin filly Decadent.

Here is the complete field for the $100,000 Tyson Gilpin from the rail out with jockey, trainer and morning line odds: G W’s Girl (Jaime Rodriguez, Compton, 9-2); Impulse Buy (Gaffalione, Brisset, 4-1); Reputation (Javier Castellano, Gustavo Delgado, 6-1); Zaghruta (Reylu Gutierrez, Cox, 12-1); Nerazurri (Jorge Ruiz, Angel Quiroz, 20-1); Complexity Jane (Jevian Toledo, Brittany Russell, 10-1); Coco Abarrio (Edgar Perez, Carlos Perez, 15-1); Dancing Magic (Mychel Sanchez, Michael Campbell, 6-1); Decadent (Brian Hernandez Jr., Kenny McPeek, 5-1); Fede (John Velazquez, Armando De La Cerda, 10-1); and Kimchi Cat (Ben Curtis, Tom Amoss,15-1).

Tickets for the Colonial Downs Festival of Racing can be purchased at www.colonialdowns.com.