by Darrell Wood, publicity director, Colonial Downs

New Kent, VA — Most racing fans normally don’t get to experience the thrill of owning their own horse, but harness fans this fall at Colonial Downs will get that thrill courtesy of a new promotion being conducted by the Virginia Harness Horsemen’s Association.

Each Wednesday, the names of ten fans in attendance will randomly be drawn after the seventh race. Those ten fans will each get a chance to “own” a separate horse competing in a designated race that Sunday. That race, which features a ten horse field, will carry a purse of between $2,000 and $3,000.

The ten will gather in the Colonial backstretch Sunday at 10:30 a.m. for their own “draw” to see who gets which horse. The new “owners” will then visit their horse, driver and trainer in the barn area to get a behind the scenes look at life in the backstretch.

The new owners, accompanied by a guest each, will get to spend the races in the VHHA fourth floor Sky Suite at Colonial Downs that afternoon, then gather by the winner’s circle for their race.

To top it off, the new owners will receive a check in the amount their horse wins that day. The top five finishers in a harness race share the purse in declining percentages. Assuming a race goes for $3,000, the winning owner will get 50 percent of that figure, or $1,500. The second through fifth place finishers respectively get 25 percent, 12 percent, 8 percent and 5 percent of the purse.

This promotion will be offered every Wednesday from September 21 through October 26. Doors open at 12 Noon and post time is 1 p.m. For more information, visit www.colonialdowns.com or call 804.966.7223.