Many longtime horsemen hold that turf racing, as featured at Colonial Downs, is safer for racehorses than dirt tracks.

The Jockey Club announced Tuesday that it will launch a national system for tracking injuries in thoroughbreds.

"We'll be able to compare apples to apples and see if one track or one state jurisdiction is better or worse with their numbers than another," said the Virginia Racing Commission veterinarian, Dr. Rich Harden.

The Equine Injury Database is intended to be a valid source of statistical information and potentially help identify horses at risk. Fatal accidents in thoroughbred racing have been under particular scrutiny since Eight Belles was put down on national television after the Kentucky Derby.

Harden estimated there had been six catastrophic breakdowns at Colonial Downs this season. So far, the track has run 298 races.

The Jockey Club ran a yearlong pilot program, recording more than 3,000 injuries. Information from Colonial Downs' 2007 season was included.

The New Kent track provides a unique source of data because it is one of the only U.S. tracks with regular turf racing for non-elite level horses.

Trainer aims at own mark

Ferris Allen, the all-time leading trainer at Colonial Downs, is on track to break his own record. On Tuesday night, Allen had already brought back 22 winners with 11 days of racing left.

In 1997, the first season of racing in New Kent, Allen saddled 25 winners. The Varina native, now based in Maryland, is also the career wins leader at Colonial Downs and on pace to become the first trainer to 200 winners by the time the meet closes Aug. 6.

Karamanos top jockey

Horacio Karamanos remained the most successful jockey the meet, riding seven winners in 33 starts last week. He holds the single-season record for wins at 66, set in 2005, and is on track to tie that this year.

Karamanos and Malcolm Franklin each won 21 percent of the time, the week's best.

Derby had top handle

Colonial Downs had its best-attended Virginia Derby to date Saturday. The track also had its best day ever in terms of money wagered, reporting a total handle of $4,546,755.66.

That figure is $9,247.86 better than the 2007 Virginia Derby.

Handicapping challenge

Saturday is the Colonial Downs Handicapping Classic.

Contestants make fantasy wagers on six races live at Colonial Downs and six races from other tracks. The top three finishers win a trip to Las Vegas to compete in the $1 million Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship at the Red Rocks Casino. The $150 entry fee includes access to the turf club and sky suites is included.

Precautionary quarantine

Tests for a possible case of Equine Herpes Virus 1 came back negative yesterday.

A barn was quarantined for 40 hours while a sample from a single horse exhibiting neurological symptoms was sent to Kentucky for testing. Four horses scheduled to race during that period were scratched and all unnecessary human traffic through the barn was limited.

The last serious national outbreak of the contagious equine respiratory ailment was in the winter of 2007. Colonial Downs has never been affected. -- Andee Sears