IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: “COLONIAL DOWNS RACETRACK OPENS 2024 SEASON SEEKING ANOTHER RECORD-SETTING YEAR”
Posted on July 24th, 2024
~ “New Kent track thriving again after investment from Churchill Downs” ~
Colonial Downs Racetrack’s 2024 live racing season is well underway, with 27 days of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday racing each weekend, concluding with The New Kent County Virginia Derby on Saturday, September 7.
The Richmond-Times Dispatch visited the track for opening weekend and captured just some of the excitement and investment at the track under new owner and operator Churchill Downs Incorporated.
Colonial Downs Racetrack opens 2024 season seeking another record-setting year
New Kent track thriving again after investment from Churchill Downs
By Zach Joachim, Richmond Times-Dispatch | Friday July 12, 2024
The tumult of thundering hooves comingled with the rolling roar of the crowd as Bonne Fille, a 2-year-old filly making her second lifetime start, earned her first win after overtaking Beyond Question in deep stretch on Thursday afternoon during the seventh race of opening day at Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent.
For Chelsie Hardin, the director of marketing for Rosie’s Gaming Emporium and Colonial Downs, that symphony of horse racing is “the best sound in the world.”
“When the teams put in this much work to get us to opening day, it’s very rewarding to hear the crowd, the thundering of the hooves on the track,” Hardin said as she gazed around at roughly 1,500 fans in attendance.
In 2022, Churchill Downs agreed to pay $2.75 billion for the assets of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment LLC, the company that owns Colonial Downs and Rosie’s.
That acquisition has generated momentum around the track, as Colonial Downs imbibes the significant resources and racing world connections provided by its parent.
Last year, the first under its new ownership, Colonial Downs hosted a record 250 races over 27 days with 2,047 horses in competition.
Track personnel hope to exceed those numbers this season over 27 days of live thoroughbred racing on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from July 11 to September 7 on two surfaces, the Secretariat Turf Course, North America’s widest turf course at 180 feet, and a 1¼-mile dirt track.
“(Churchill Downs’) support has really helped us gain the resources that we need to bring Colonial Downs back into the spotlight, and really grow the horse racing industry in Virginia back to where it needs to be,” Hardin said.
