The Virginia Harness Horse Association (VHHA) announced that a record $500,000 USD in bonus monies will be available annually to Standardbred foals that participate in its lucrative Certified Residency Program beginning with the 2026 foal crop and beyond.
The current $400,000 USD bonus level still applies to the 2025 foal crop, whose owners have less than a month to get their horses registered in the program.
The incentive program began in 2019. Horses become eligible to compete for a bonus pool in their two and three-year-old racing campaigns if they are raised in Virginia for at least six consecutive months before they turn two years of age. Registration must be done before horses arrive. The deadline for 2025 foals to enroll is July 1.
Individual horse awards -- from their freshman and sophomore seasons -- are based on points accumulated throughout the year in overnight races anywhere in the country. A point equates to one dollar earned with a cap of 5,000 USD per race. Points are doubled from races held in Virginia, during the Shenandoah Downs spring and fall meets and at the four-day Shenandoah County Fair summer stand. The per-race cap increases to 10,000 points from those races.
At the end of the year, total points from all participating horses in each age division are accumulated and divided into the available bonus pool -- which has been $400,000 USD -- to determine a per-point dollar figure reward to each horse.
The VHHA has a list of registered farms and training centers that accept Certified horses for those minimum six-month stays on their website (vhha.net) though horses can reside anywhere as long as it is in the Commonwealth.
Those locations are as far north as the Elmington Farm in Berryville, as far south as the Mike Anderson Farm in Abingdon, as far east as the Tidewater Equestrian Center in Gloucester and the Powhatan Plantation in King George, and as far west as Bees Sporthorses in Edinburg and Betsy Brown's Farm in Woodstock. The central part of the state offers the Finish Line Farm just outside of Williamsburg, the Rockin G Stable in Chase City and the William Byler Farm in Nathalie -- among many others in all directions.
The VHHA's other two incentive programs also took a major step forward earlier this year. As previously reported, final leg purses for Virginia Breeder's Stakes increased to $100,000 USD from $80,000 USD and final leg purses for Virginia Sire Stakes races increased to $100,000 USD from $60,000 USD.
Virginia's 2026 pari-mutuel harness racing schedule resumes on Sept. 19 and continues through Nov. 1 with racing every Saturday and Sunday at 1:05 p.m. A four-day non-wagering meet will also be contested during the Shenandoah County Fair from Sept. 2-5.
Details on the meets will be updated at shenandoahdowns.com.
(VHHA)