SABINO CANYON, MASHALLAH, VERIFIRE HEADLINE FESTIVAL OF RACING UNDERCARD DIRT STAKES

Maxfield Stakes winner Verifire enters the Aug. 1 $100,000 Reigh Count at Colonial Downs off an allowance win at Churchill Downs. Photo credit: Coady Media.

Mashallah looks to be the horse to beat in Saturday’s $100,000 Tyson Gilpin at Colonial Downs. Photo credit: Coady Media.

Illuminaire, winner of the Boston Handicap at Colonial Downs on March 13, returns the Virginia oval for the Aug. 1 $100,000 Reigh Count. Photo credit: Coady Media.

NEW KENT, Va. (July 26, 2026) — Los Alamitos Derby winner Sabino Canyon, blue-chip filly Mashallah and accomplished older sprinter Verifire headline a trio of $100,000 dirt stakes that anchor the middle of Saturday’s 12-race Festival of Racing program at Colonial Downs. The Petramalo Mile, Tyson Gilpin and Hallway Feeds Reigh Count will be run in three consecutive races before the program shifts to a turf stakes lineup headlined by the Grade 1 Arlington Million.

The dirt stakes action begins in Race 5 with the Petramalo Mile for 3-year-olds. Pegram, Watson and Weitman’s Los Alamitos Derby winner Sabino Canyon enters the Petramalo as the horse to beat for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. Drawn on the outside in the field of eight, the lightly raced son of Maxfield broke his maiden in the Los Alamitos Derby at 1 1/8 miles and cuts back in distance Saturday. Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez has the mount.

A pair of Kentucky Derby qualifiers lead the challengers, headed by Six Speed. After a successful winter campaign at Meydan that included a victory in the Group 3 UAE 2000 Guineas and a runner-up finish in the Group 2 UAE Derby, Six Speed set the pace through the opening half mile of the Kentucky Derby before finishing 13th. In his first start for trainer George Weaver, he stumbled badly at the break and was eased in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens.

Bravaro also earned enough qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, though his connections ultimately opted not to run. Trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr., Bravaro finished second in the Grade 3 Holy Bull, fourth in both the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and the Grade 2 Wood Memorial before returning with a fourth-place finish as the favorite in the Mike Lee Stakes on June 3 at Saratoga.

The Tyson Gilpin for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs follows in Race 6. JR Ranch’s $1.25 million purchase Mashallah makes her stakes debut in the Tyson Gilpin for trainer Brendan Walsh.

The daughter of Maxfield has won two of three starts while posting Beyer Speed Figures that compare favorably with the division’s elite. She debuted with a dazzling 106 Beyer while breaking her maiden at Keeneland this spring — a figure surpassed only by Englishman’s 115 in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens among sophomore sprinters this season — before earning a 96 Beyer in a seven-length allowance victory on July 4 at Saratoga. Tyler Gaffalione gets the call.

The Tyson Gilpin attracted a competitive field of nine, including Shilling, a stakes winner at age 2 for trainer Kenny McPeek; Wrong Shoes, third in the Grade 2 Beaumont at Keeneland this spring; and Celebrity Quest, who makes both her sophomore debut and first start for trainer Brad Cox.

Older sprinters take center stage in the Reigh Count, also contested at seven furlongs, where a deep field of 10 older horses has assembled for one of the most competitive races on the Festival of Racing program.

The field is headed by Verifire, winner of the 2025 Maxfield Stakes for trainer Brad Cox. The 4-year-old opened his current campaign with a pair of allowance starts at Churchill Downs, including a strong third behind Harrodsburg, who returned to capture the Grade 3 Bango, before earning his fourth career victory against another tough allowance field. Verifire broke his maiden at Colonial Downs during his 3-year-old season. Manny Franco will ride.

Among the chief challengers is the classy Crazy Mason, trained by Gregory Sacco, whose powerful closing kick has carried him to top-three finishes in six graded stakes races since winning the last year’s Grade 2 Carter at Aqueduct.

Bracket Buster makes his 4-year-old debut for trainer Vicki Oliver. His accomplished sophomore campaign featured victories in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby and the Pegasus at Monmouth Park, along with a runner-up finish behind Sovereignty in the Grade 1 Travers.

Trainer Todd Pletcher sends out Illuminaire, who followed his victory in the local Boston Handicap with an allowance score at Keeneland before finishing fifth against division standouts Book’em Danno and Bentornato in the Grade 3 True North at Saratoga.

Three graded turf stakes headline the Festival of Racing: the Grade 1 Arlington Million, the Grade 2 $500,000 Beverly D., and the Grade 2 $500,000 Secretariat Stakes. Rounding out the eight-stakes program, worth $2.6 million in purses, are the $150,000 Van Clief and the $150,000 Andy Guest, companion turf sprints for older horses.

Complete fields for the Petramalo Mile, Tyson Gilpin and Hallway Feeds Reigh Count are available on Equibase: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/RaceCardIndexCNL080126USA-EQB.html.

First post for Saturday’s 12-race card is noon ET and tickets for the Colonial Downs Festival of Racing are available at ColonialDowns.com.