Winning Ponies

Since the New Kent County track opened in 1997, the Virginia native, now 58, has been the top trainer seven of the 12 seasons. Last summer, he saddled a single-season record 30 winners, according to official records. In all, he has saddled 201 winners at Colonial Downs. “These years at Colonial Downs have been awesome for me,” said Allen, whose main training operation is in Maryland. “I shake my head and wonder why I have done so well.” Ferris Allen’s passion for horses goes back to his childhood years at Warwick Stable, his father’s horse farm in eastern Henrico County’s Varina area. “I was galloping horses at 11 and riding in races at 13,” Allen recalled. “As I have said many times, if I wanted to be around my dad when I was a kid, I had to be around horses. We had a good father-son relationship. But that doesn’t mean he was easy on me.” His father is Albert Ferris Allen Jr., whom everybody calls Bert. A fixture at the same table in Colonial Downs’ Turf Club when the horses are running, Bert Allen has miss