For the first time, Shenandoah Downs will host a round of Virginia Sire Stake races for two-year-olds this Saturday (Sept. 20) and Sunday (Sept. 21).

Trotters will battle in a pair of $6,000 USD prep divisions Saturday then return the following weekend to vie for $60,000 USD purses in the respective finals. Pacers will follow the same path on Sunday. 

To be eligible for the Series, all horses must have been sired by a stallion that was registered with the Virginia Harness Horse Association and stood in the Commonwealth of Virginia during the breeding year. The program began in the 2022 breeding season, resulting in the first foal crop of 2023.

Robert McKim's Kalispel is the early 9-5 favourite in the two-year-old colt trot division. The Gregory Pecs gelding is the only horse in the lightly-raced field to have reached the winners circle — which he did during the recent Shenandoah County Fair meet. Second choice is Stacey McLenaghan's Seminole Breeze, who is by Shibboleth Hanover, while third early pick is Tracy Bradshaw's Kades Nay, by Winning Fireworks, who took second in a pari-mutuel race last weekend at the Woodstock track's fall opener. A full field of eight will go postward in Saturday's fifth race.      

Michael Whitaker's Talehia is early choice in the filly division, carded as race six with a field of seven. The Love Hunter filly collected a pair of runner-up finishes at the local County Fair meet and finished second in a conditioned race at Shenandoah last Saturday. Eric Davis will drive Talehia from the rail. The only other horse with a win in the field is Tracy Bradshaw's Bottaboom, who scored a Fair win in Woodstock 12 lengths the best. The Winning Fireworks filly will be driven by Christian Myers from outside post seven.

Sunday's Sire Stake pacing preps feature smaller fields and will be carded as the first two races of a 13-race program.

Saturday's card also features an amateur driving series competition between two different clubs — the United States Harness Drivers Club and the Southern Tier Amateur Club based out of Tioga Downs. Four drivers from each club will drive in two races — the fourth and seventh — and accumulate points for their club based on order of finish. Winning horses will receive a cooler, and connections to the horses will receive a baseball cap, while several non-profit organizations will receive donation cheques from the amateur driving clubs.  

The Shenandoah Downs fall season continues through Oct. 26 with racing scheduled every Saturday and Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

(with files from Shenandoah Downs)