Colonial Downs will host four MATCH Series stakes worth a combined $600,000 on Tuesday August 16. The Chesapeake and Seeking the Pearl — both on dirt — and the Buckland and Old Nelson Stakes — on turf — will each have a $150,000 purse.
The highly popular Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships Series (MATCH), the only one of its kind in racing, returns for 2022 with additional partner racetracks, a $2.2 million stakes schedule that spans April 16 through Oct. 3 and more than $400,000 in bonus money for owners, trainers and breeders.
After a successful 2021 Series concentrated in Maryland and Virginia and designed to serve as a bridge to the future given the cancellation of MATCH in 2020 due to widespread COVID-19 restrictions and the suspension of live racing for several months, Parx Racing and Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course return to the lineup. They will join Laurel Park in Maryland and Colonial Downs in Virginia for 2022.
Turf racing also returns to the schedule this year. The four divisions are 3-Year-Olds and Up Sprint—Dirt; Filly and Mare Sprint—Dirt; 3-Year-Olds and Up Long—Turf; and Filly and Mare Long—Turf. There will be five stakes in each division for a total of 20.
The 2022 schedule, which includes multiple events on weekdays, is as follows: Saturday, April 16, and Saturday, April 23, at Laurel; Tuesday, June 14, at Parx; Friday, June 17, at Penn National; Saturday, July 16, at Laurel; Tuesday, Aug. 16, at Colonial; and the championship day, Monday, Oct. 3, at Parx.
The bonus money distribution for 2022 offers up to $92,500 per division and $30,000 for the overall champion by points. For each division, first place pays $30,000 to the owner and $15,000 to the trainer; for second, $20,000/$10,000; and for third, $10,000/$7,500. For the overall champion, the owner receives an additional $20,000 and the trainer $10,000.
The Maryland Horse Breeders Association, Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association and Virginia Thoroughbred Association have each agreed to offer $5,000 bonuses to the breeders of the top male and female Maryland-bred, Pennsylvania-bred and Virginia-bred points-earners in the overall standings for a potential total of $30,000.
The 2022 participating organizations are the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Pennsylvania THA, Pennsylvania Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, Parx Racing, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, 1/ST Racing, Maryland THA, Laurel Park, Maryland Horse Breeders Association, Colonial Downs, Virginia HBPA and Virginia Thoroughbred Association.
