Down the Line: Change of Control, Front Run the Fed race to key Colonial Downs victories
Change of Control and Front Run the Fed were the most notable winners in Colonial Downs’ second week of thoroughbred racing this summer.
Both won $150,000 stakes races over 5 1/2 furlongs (slightly more than two-thirds of a mile) Monday on grass.
Change of Control, a 6-year-old mare owned by Perry Harrison, gained her 10th lifetime victory by winning the Andy Guest Stakes, pushing her career earnings beyond $900,000. She finished in 63.72 seconds, beating Jeanie B by 1 1/4 lengths. The victor was trained by Michelle Lovell and ridden by Colby Hernandez.
Front Run the Fed, a 6-year-old, posted a time of 63.12 seconds to win by a head over Grateful Bred in the $150,000 Van Clief Stakes.
Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. rode the victor, who is owned by George Sharp and trained by Caio Caramori.
More races are set for 1:45 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tennis nationals: Several area players qualified for the USTA National Clay Court Championships in their age groups.
Jaden Davidson went 2-2 in the girls 18s in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The home-schooled daughter of Virginia Beach Tennis and Country Club pros Ryan and Julie (Shiflet) Davidson lost 6-0, 6-2 to Morgan Pyrz of Plano, Texas, but bounced back to defeat Juliane Lella of Larchmont, New York, 6-1, 6-3.
At that point, because of rain delays, the consolation matches were shortened. Davidson then beat DeCora Antoine of Round Rock, Texas, 4-1, 5-4 (8-6) and lost to Ava Bruno of Bronxville, New York, 4-0, 4-0.
In doubles, Davidson teamed with Northern Virginia’s Simone Bergeron to split a pair of pro-sets.
In boys 18s at Delray Beach, Florida, Class 5 state champion Harrison Lee of Princess Anne High lost 6-4, 6-1 to Easton Horricks of Spring, Texas, in the first round and 6-3, 6-2 to Anirudh Reddy of Plano, Texas, in the back draw.
In boys 12s, at the USTA National Campus near Orlando, Florida, Ved Vanga of Virginia Beach went 2-2, with both of his victories by 6-0, 6-0. He beat defeated Nathan Purica of Greer, South Carolina, and Kona Parseghian of La Jolla, California, though he lost 6-1, 6-3 to Daniil Berezin of Boca Raton, Florida, and 6-2, 6-3 to Jiarui Zhang of Houston.
Vanga went 1-1 in doubles with Vallab Kumar of Trumbull, Connecticut.
Meanwhile in 12s, Vedant Bhende of Chesapeake went 2-2. He lost 6-0, 6-2 to 14th-seeded Tabb Tuck of Mountain Brook, Alabama, but bounced back to win 6-1, 6-3 versus Raghuvir Sriram of Chicago and 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) and Walker Hendrick of Conway, South Carolina, before being ousted 6-2, 6-1 by Axton Boonswang of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
In doubles, Bhende and Legan Thomas of Bethesda, Maryland, went 2-1, including a victory by walkover.
What’s coming up
Tuesday: A Premier Collegiate League doubleheader is set for Lakewood Park in Norfolk, with the Virginia Beach Sea Dogs meeting the Norfolk Redbirds at 1 p.m. and the Suffolk Voyagers playing the Greenbrier Knights at 4.
Thursday: With their season in the late stages, the Peninsula Pilots play a 7 p.m. home game against the Holly Springs Salamanders at War Memorial Stadium.
Saturday: Even with the Hampton Heat 200 having come and gone, Langley Speedway has scheduled a big program. It will feature twin Modified and Limited Late Model races, as well as Mini-Cup, Enduro, Grand Stock, Pro Six, Legends and Enduro divisions.
