Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has said he wants Virginia to be “first in class” in everything that contributes to the Commonwealth’s overall reputation and success – including Virginia horse racing.

Employing a one-two punch of expanding racing by reinvesting millions from pari-mutuel and HHR machines, Virginia’s industry is visibly growing and thriving.

By Betsy Burke Parker

Benefiting everything from a $25,000 Virginia-certified harness pace this Saturday at the Shenandoah Downs spring standardbred meet in Woodstock to a $40,000 maiden hurdle May 6 at the Virginia Gold Cup races in The Plains, the Virginia Equine Alliance continues to shine as racing’s champion in the Commonwealth.

VEA Executive Director since its inception in 2015, lifelong steeplechase horseman Jeb Hannum heads a unique industry conglomerate comprised of four member affiliates: the Virginia Thoroughbred Association, Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, the Virginia Harness Horse Association and the Virginia Gold Cup Association. The VGCA, Hannum explains, speaks for all the Virginia jump meets, including the two one-day pari-mutuel meets at Great Meadow in The Plains.

During his time there, Hannum has overseen distribution of more than $4 million to steeplechase horsemen through VEA’s percentage takeout from the pari-mutuel handle of all bets made in Virginia and a take from the slot-like Historic Horse Racing terminals.

HHR games were approved for Virginia in 2018 – another VEA initiative, installed at the Commonwealth’s only pari-mutuel track, Colonial Downs in New Kent County east of Richmond, and its off-track betting parlor network. Hannum says getting the games approved in Virginia, where slots are not legal, was the result of a lot of hard work by state legislators including Jill Vogel, Michael Webert and more.

The payoff has been huge.

VEA’s projected take from HHR this year alone is $23 million. From this, Hannum explains, “we pay for the Virginia certified program, run the Shenandoah Downs harness meets and pay most of the purses at Colonial,” he explains. “Each NSA meet in Virginia gets $150,000 from VEA,” plus point-to-point starter awards and more.

"We've doubled the size of the (Virginia) Breeders Fund," Hannum adds. "Additional money will come from the HHR machines." 

VEA is a major sponsor of Saturday’s race card at the Virginia Gold Cup meet, the second-richest on the NSA spring circuit.

Virginia Equine Alliance – what is it?

The Virginia Equine Alliance is a non-profit, 501(c)6 organization comprised of the Virginia Harness Horse Association, the Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, the Virginia Gold Cup Association and the Virginia Thoroughbred Association.

VEA was established in 2015 to sustain, promote and expand the horse breeding and horse racing industries in Virginia. The VEA played a pivotal role in getting Colonial Downs re-opened in 2019 after it was shuttered five years from contract issues between the horsemen’s groups and track management.

Working in support of Virginia’s thoroughbred breeding industry, thoroughbred racing, harness racing and steeplechase, the Alliance seeks to establish and support new and multiple venues for horse racing in the Commonwealth and to advocate and support legislation, regulations and rules beneficial to Virginia horsemen. The Alliance also works to increase public awareness of the economic and environmental importance of the horse breeding and horse racing industries.

"We are looking to build another harness track, but long-term plans are to race at Shenandoah (Downs) as well," says Hannum. "Ideally, we'd have another track in an area of the state with a higher population base to draw from."

More information is at virginiahorseracing.com.

In a sport where the family ties run deep and the first names are often the only ones that change, John B. “Jeb” Hannum III, is creating a new legacy in his adopted state of Virginia.

Hannum was appointed joint-master of the Orange County Hounds two years ago (Douglas Lees photo), as it turns out, following family tradition: Great-grandfather Richard Penn Smith was OCH master 1927-1929, with wife Carol Penn Smith taking over when he died, joint-master from 1929-1930 and still the only woman to serve as OCH master.

Richard and Carol Penn Smith lived at Whitewood near The Plains, later home to another of steeplechasing’s first families, the Ohrstroms.

Carol moved to Unionville, Pennsylvania when she remarried Plunkett Stewart, who had established the Cheshire Foxhounds in Chester County in 1912. (Read more about the Hannum family in TGSF's 2021 article about Buzz Hannum, HERE.)

Jeb Hannum grew up in Unionville, foxhunting, riding in pony races then point-to-points and NSA races over timber.

Hannum earned a B.A. in European history at Hobart. He earned a masters in public administration at the University of Pennsylvania.

He met future wife, Emily Debenham, at the 1991 Pennsylvania Hunt Cup races. She had come to the U.S. from her native England to work for Jonathan Sheppard. They were married in Yorkshire, England in 1995.

Jeb was appointed to the Pennsylvania Racing Commission in 2008, then ran the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association 2011 to 2015.

The Hannums moved to Middleburg in 2014. They have three children, Chloe, 20, Jack, 18, and Flora, 16.

Emily, who earned an MBA from Henley in England, works as vice president and strategic relationship manager for Loomis, Sayles and Company.

The Hannums - Chloe, Emily, Flora and Jeb - at Warrenton in 2021 after Chloe won the Amateur / Novice Rider hurdle on Paddy's Crown. ©Douglas Lees

Earlier this year, the Virginia Equine Alliance hired Jill Byrne as its new vice president of strategic planning, and with the move added the experience and institutional knowledge of a lifelong racing professional.

Jill “is a wonderful fit for the role, especially with her decades of experience in the horse racing and breeding industries,” VEA executive director Jeb Hannum said in a release. “From being in the heart of it by exercising horses, to working in strategic communications roles, she has a thorough understanding of the industries.”

Byrne’s other roles in the industry have included serving as an on-air personality for TVG, the director of broadcast and programming for Churchill Downs, director of industry relations for the Breeders Cup and, most recently, Colonial’s vice president of racing operations.

“I like to say that my career in the industry truly began when I was much younger, growing up on the farm and working with horses, from exercising them to caring for them,” Byrne said in the release. “I am grateful to have had both hands-on experience as well as experience in strategically promoting the industries.”

Raised in Barboursville, Virginia, Byrne grew up on a horse farm with two parents who were both accomplished equestrians; her father, Peter Howe, trained for Marion duPont Scott at Montpelier. She attended a boarding school near Belmont Park in New York City, and while most students her age may have chosen to spend their weekends differently, Byrne remembers fondly spending weekends with her father at the track. (read TGSF's 2020 story about Peter Howe and Jill Byrne HERE)

“My love for the industry began at such a young age, and it has been a part of my life ever since,” Byrne said. “Growing up in Virginia, I have a close connection and passion for the horse breeding and racing industries here.”

Byrne attended the University of Virginia, where she studied history and political science, but her passions led her back to the racetrack. She has worked with many top horses, including Favorite Trick, who eventually became the only other 2-year-old named Horse of the Year, aside from Virginia-bred Secretariat.

Byrne also works with the Virginia Thoroughbred Project, a racehorse aftercare program based in Montpelier, Virginia.

The Virginia Equine Alliance sponsors the VEA Maiden Hurdle at the Virginia Gold Cup Races on Saturday "for the promotion and growth of steeplechase racing in Virginia."

©Tod Marks