Schedule includes three-day Virginia Derby meet in March.

NEW KENT, Va. (December 3, 2024) – Racing dates for an expanded 2025 season at Colonial Downs were approved today by the Virginia Racing Commission. The 44-day schedule starts with a special three-day Virginia Derby meet from March 13 through March 15 followed by the traditional summer meet from July 9 through September 13.

The $500,000 Virginia Derby, a points race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, will transition to the dirt and be held on March 15, anchoring a new three-day spring meet which will also include the $250,000 Virginia Oaks, a Kentucky Oaks points race. The winning horse in each race will receive 50 points to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve or the Grade 1 Longines Kentucky Oaks, respectively. The second- through fifth-place finishers will earn 25-15-10-5 points on a sliding scale.

Post times for racing during the three-day March meet will be at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 13 and Friday, March 14. The Virginia Derby day card on Saturday, March 15 will kick off at Noon.

Additional reserved indoor and outdoor seating will be available for Virginia Derby Day on March 15. Ticket options for the Virginia Derby will be announced and go on sale to the public in the coming weeks, including a limited number of general admission tickets.

The summer schedule expands to 41 days for 2025 with racing four days per week, Wednesday through Saturday. Post time will be 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday with twilight racing offered every Friday with a 4 p.m. post time. Racing also will be offered on Labor Day, Monday, September 1.

The Colonial Downs Festival of Racing and its three graded stakes races is slated for Saturday, August 9 and will have a special Noon post time. Racing also will start at Noon on Saturday, September 6 for a stakes-laden card.

“We’re excited to bring Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks qualifying races to Virginia for the first time in 2025,” Senior Director of Operations Frank Hopf said. “We look forward to an outstanding 2025 season with participation from horsemen not only from Virginia but also from throughout the Mid-Atlantic as we expand our summer dates.”

The entire stakes schedule for the 2025 season will be made available in the coming weeks. The 2024 season offered approximately $650,000 in purses per day and are expected to be similar in 2025.

(NEW KENT, Va. 7/20/2023) A pair of $150,000 Open Turf Sprint Stakes with respective 12- and 10-horse fields will highlight Colonial Downs’ second week of racing on the Saturday July 22 card. The Andy Guest Stakes will feature fillies and mares 3-years-old and up while the Van Clief will showcase older males. Each will be contested at 5½furlongs and will be run consecutively as races five and six, kicking off the first two legs of the fifty-cent Late Pick-5 which has a low 12% takeout rate.

M and W Stables’ Train to Artemus is early 2-1 favorite in the Andy Guest Stakes for trainer Kelly Breen. The 5-year-old Tapizar mare is 7-for-10 on turf and has won three of the last five stakes she has competed in. She prevailed most recently in the Goodwood at Monmouth and Pimlico’s The Very One, and back on February 18, she captured the Lightning City Stakes at Tampa. Emisael Jaramillo will ride.

DARRS Inc.’s Rambert will look to take a step forward Saturday after two second-place stakes finishes at the New Kent racetrack, the 2022 Camptown and 2021 Keswick Stakes. The 4-year-old Declaration of War filly broke her maiden at Colonial last summer and is looking to extend a current two-race win streak from turf scores at Meadowlands and Delaware Park. Trained by Michael Stidham and ridden by Mychel Sanchez, the filly is owned by Colonial’s all-time leader in that category, David Ross. 

Larry Johnson’s Can’t Buy Love will get attention courtesy of three recent stakes placed outings. The 5-year-old Twirling Candy mare was runner-up to Train to Artemus in the Goodwood and had respectable thirds in the Floral Park at Aqueduct and Sensible Lady Turf Dash Stakes at Pimlico. With $292,311 in earnings, the Michael Trombetta trainee will be ridden by Horacio Karamanos.                              

One race later, Elizabeth Merryman’s consistent 4-year-old gelding Witty is the 5-2 morning line favorite in the Van Clief. The son of Great Notion has five wins and five runner-up finishes from 14 career starts, good for earnings of $357,460. The McLane Hendriks trainee was second July 1 in the Laurel Dash and in his other most recent stakes outing, took a respectable fifth in the Page McKenney Handicap at Parx. Carol Cedeno will ride Witty from post three.

George Sharp’s Front Run the Fed, winner of the 2022 Van Clief, returns to defend his title and faces a deep field. The 7-year-old Fed Biz horse won by a head last year and since then, has competed in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile and in the Jaipur Stakes at Belmont. The Caio Caramori trainee, with a bankroll of $639,182, also took a respectable fourth last fall in the Grade 2 Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs. David Cabrera will ride Saturday.

A trio of competitors, each with bankrolls of over $650,000, will try to stop the defending champ. Calumet Farm’s Gear Jockey, second early pick at 4-1, is just $3,029 shy of breaking the $1 million mark in earnings. The 6-year-old Twirling Candy horse has Grade 1 experience with a sixth in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and a tenth in last year’s Jaipur. The Rusty Arnold trainee, who has not competed since November, will have Feargal Lynch in the irons.

Golden Kernel Racing Stable’s Yes I Am Free has 12 career victories including back-to-back winning efforts in the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint. Trainer Laura Cazares’s 7-year-old Uncaptured gelding has been rolling nicely in 2023, finishing either first or second in all five outings. Two of those were close seconds — by a neck in the Mighty Beau Stakes at Ellis Park and by a half-length in the Silks Run Stakes at Gulfstream. Emisael Jaramillo has the mount.

William Branch’s 7-year-old Artie Schiller gelding Carotari brings a wealth of turf experience and success into the Van Clief. Trainer Brian Lynch’s charge has 16 in-the-money scores from 22 grass starts and earnings of $524,303. Carotari has faced Yes I Am Free twice recently, in the Silks Run and the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint, and finished one spot behind Cazares’s gelding each time. Colby Hernandez will ride from post 9.

About Colonial Downs

Colonial Downs Racetrack, in New Kent, Virginia, hosts live thoroughbred racing on two nationally renowned surfaces – the Secretariat Turf Course, the widest turf course in North America at 180 feet wide and on a 1 1/4-mile dirt track, second in length to only the world-famous Belmont Park.

The Colonial Downs Group, which is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN), also operates Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums^® in Richmond, Hampton, New Kent, Vinton, and Dumfries which offer innovative historic horseracing (HHR) gaming technology and full card simulcasting as well as Rosie’s Game Room in Collinsville, which features a limited selection of some of their best HHR titles plus full card simulcasting. The 2023 live racing season, which consists of 27 days from July 13 through September 9, is highlighted by the Grade 1 Arlington Million, Grade 1 Beverly D. and Grade 2 Secretariat Stakes on August 12 and the Grade 3 New Kent County Virginia Derby on September 9.  The Beverly D. is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win & You’re In” race.

(NEW KENT, Va — 7/15/2023) D. Hatman Thoroughbreds and Kingdom Bloodstock ‘s Determined Kingdom authored a convincing gate-to-wire victory under Mychel Sanchez in the 5½-furlong, $125,000 Punch Line Stakes Saturday at Colonial Downs — one of four turf stakes on the card for Commonwealth-bred and -sired horses with purses that totaled $500,000.

The 4-year-old Animal Kingdom gelding won his fifth career race and pushed his bankroll to $325,189 with the win. The Phil Schoenthal trainee won the 2022 Punch Line by 5½ lengths in a rallying effort and captured Saturday’s edition by 5¼ lengths on the front end.

“He’s always been the kind of horse that relaxed off the pace and came on with a rush,” said Schoenthal, “But in the last two starts, he was very keen and showed a lot of speed and didn’t have his relaxing kind of run. We cut blinkers way back today and felt like that might slow him and relax him but I told Mychel in the paddock that if he wants to go, don’t fight him. He came out of there running. Mychel had a ton of horse, put him in place and put the field away.” 

Schoenthal targeted this race early in the year. Coming off an eight-month layoff, Determined Kingdom had two late spring starts in Maryland that resulted in sixth and seventh place finishes. 

“He needed a couple starts off the layoff,” Schoenthal said. “I didn’t have him totally cranked up at Pimlico and thought he would run better at Laurel but didn’t feel too bad because the winner in that race set a new track record. It was improvement and I felt that in his third start off the bench, he would improve again. I’m real proud of him. We got him as a yearling and he’s been a lot of fun. It’s really rewarding when he shows up on a big day.”

Larry Johnson’s Embolden was second and David Lengel’s Uncle Andrew finished third.

Sam English’s Chambeau defended her 2022 Tyson Gilpin/Glenn Petty Stakes title by defeating seven other fillies and mares Saturday in this year’s edition. The 6-year-old Karakontie mare was ridden by Colonial’s all-time leading jockey Horacio Karamanos — who had two stakes victories on the card — and left the winners circle with a career bankroll of $200,300.

Chambeau was positioned second through the half, took the lead at the top of the stretch and crossed 3¾ lengths the best. The Anthony Aguirre trainee — who did not start competing until the age of five — is now 3-for-6.

Robert D. Bone and Edward Brown’s Carolina Sun finished second and Stonestreet Stables’ Aisha R N was third.

Country Life Farm’s Galilei angled three-wide from third at the top of the stretch, passed two front runners and hit the wire first, three-quarter lengths the best, in the $125,000 Brookmeade for fillies and mares at 1-1/16 miles. The 4-year-old daughter of Lemon Drop Kid had her best outing since a maiden-breaking turf win at Colonial last summer. Karamanos was in the irons for trainer Michael Trombetta.

Susan Moulton’s Tufani was runner-up and Larry Johnson’s Continentalcongress finished third.

Six-year-old Flatter gelding Alex Joon, who finished second in last year’s Edward P. Evans Stakes, took a step forward in Saturday’s Evans with a three-length victory over Reiley McDonald’s Passion Play. A field of nine battled one mile in the stake’s fifth running and after an inside move from deep in the field early on, trainer Lindsay Schultz’s Virginia-bred crossed first with Forest Boyce up top. The victor is owned by Ten Strike Racing. Iapetus Racing and Diamond T racing’s Gigante was third.

About Colonial Downs

Colonial Downs Racetrack, in New Kent, Virginia, hosts live thoroughbred racing on two nationally renowned surfaces – the Secretariat Turf Course, the widest turf course in North America at 180 feet wide and on a 1 1/4-mile dirt track, second in length to only the world-famous Belmont Park.

The Colonial Downs Group, which is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN), also operates Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums^® in Richmond, Hampton, New Kent, Vinton, and Dumfries which offer innovative historic horseracing (HHR) gaming technology and full card simulcasting as well as Rosie’s Game Room in Collinsville, which features a limited selection of some of their best HHR titles plus full card simulcasting. The 2023 live racing season, which consists of 27 days from July 13 through September 9, is highlighted by the Grade 1 Arlington Million, Grade 1 Beverly D. and Grade 2 Secretariat Stakes on August 12 and the Grade 3 New Kent County Virginia Derby on September 9.  The Beverly D. is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win & You’re In” race.

Ther following appeared at americasbestracing.net on July 8^th and was written by Noel Michaels.

Horses race on the turf course at Colonial Downs during the 2022 racing season. The 2023 season begins July 13. (Coady Photography)

Live Thoroughbred racing is enjoying a resurgence in Virginia and Colonial Downs is leading the way. The track is set to host what will be its biggest and best season of live racing in its history when its gates open on July 13, 2023 for a nine-week meet that will last until Sept. 9.

Colonial Downs is located in New Kent County, Va., along I-64 in between Richmond and Williamsburg. Almost all the visitors to the area arrive via Richmond, which is home to the area’s major airport and is only half an hour away. The track opened in 1997 and raced Thoroughbred dates until 2013. After a six-year hiatus, the track reopened in 2019 after historical horse racing (HHR) machines were legalized in Virginia. The track was bought by Churchill Downs Inc. in 2022 and now is ready to host its most anticipated live race meet in years this summer.

Getting to Know Colonial Downs

Racing on the main track at Colonial Downs. (Coady Photography)

Live racing at Colonial Downs will be contested every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday throughout the season, and all races at the 2023 meet will be telecast on FanDuel TV or FanDuel Racing. Colonial Downs is home to North America’s only 1 ¼-mile circumference main dirt track, making it the second largest configuration in the country. But let’s face it, Colonial Downs is synonymous with turf racing, which is contested on a 7 ½-furlong inner track and the outer 1 1/8-mile Secretariat turf course. Over 80% of the races at the 27-day 2023 Colonial Downs meet are expected to be contested on the grass.

Major Race Dates

The Colonial Downs season will host 25 stakes races including four graded stakes offering a total of $5.375 million in purses. Twenty-two of the 25 stakes will be run on the grass. The track’s signature race is the Grade 3 New Kent County Virginia Derby, which will headline a six-stakes closing day on Sept. 9. The purse of the Virginial Derby has been raised this year to $500,000. The corresponding race for 3-year-old fillies, the Virginia Oaks has had its purse raised from $50,000 to $250,000 for 2023.

The big news on the Colonial Downs stakes schedule, however, will be a trio of high-profile graded stakes that will be run at Colonial Downs for the first time in 2023. The Arlington Million, the Beverly D. Stakes, and the Secretariat Stakes – formerly run at Arlington International – will all be run at Colonial Downs this year and are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 12. The $500,000, Grade 1 Beverly D. will be a part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series and will be a “Win and You’re In” race for the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Track Trends

Turf racing at Colonial Downs. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Colonial Downs is known for its turf racing and the majority of the races at the meet are run on the grass, with generally only about 1-2 dirt races carded on any given day. Turf sprints are run at 5 ½ furlongs on the outer turf course, while the vast majority of the grass route races are run on the inner turf. The Colonial Downs grass courses are wide and fair and there is very little preference in terms of post positions on either turf course going either long or short.

Handicappers should be aware of the track trends in terms of preferred running styles, based on the results from the corresponding meet run at Colonial Downs in 2022. In Colonial Downs turf sprints, 61 of 72 races run at 5 ½ furlongs were won by horses that raced within four lengths of the early lead. Speed horses had the advantage with horses racing on or close to the pace winning 33 of the 72 turf sprints for 46%. Stalkers racing between 1 ½ and four lengths off the early pace won 28 of 72 for 39% wins. That means closers won only 15% of the turf sprints in 2022.

Turf routes on the other hand tend to play completely the opposite at Colonial Downs with closers holding the advantage. Almost all of Colonial’s 108 inner turf routes were run at either one mile or 1 1/16 miles and closers excelled at both distances. Closers racing at least four lengths off the early pace won 46 of the 108 inner turf routes for a win percentage of 43%, including 45% at one mile. Only 10 turf routes were run on the outer turf and those races appeared to be fair to all.

On the Colonial Downs main track, there were only 11 dirt route races run in 2022. Sprints are much more prevalent on the main track, but Colonial ran only 42 dirt sprints in 2022. Early speed horses enjoyed a huge edge in dirt sprints, with 64% of the winners racing on or close to the pace. Stalkers won most of the other races and closers racing more than four lengths off the early pace won just five of the 42 races for 12%.

Jockeys and Trainers to Watch

Purses are good, so Colonial Downs attracts a lot of good horsemen to compete at its nine-week summer meet.

2022 leading jockey Jevian Toledo (Coady Photography)

The defending leading rider at Colonial Downs from the 2022 meet is Jevian Toledo, who led all jockeys with 25 wins from his 137 mounts for an 18% win rate. Colonial’s 2021 leading rider Horacio Karamanos tied for second in the standings with 18 wins (16%) along with Leonel Reyes (15%). Other jockeys expected to vie for spots in the top in the standings include Joe Rocco Jr., (13 wins in 2022 to go along with 20 wins in 2021), Samy Camacho (14 wins in 2022), Yan Aviles (17 wins in 2022), Victor Carrasco (13 wins in 2022), and Feargal Lynch (11 wins in 2022). Jareth Loveberry will also figure prominently into the mix when he is able to return from his recent injury. Notably, Irad Ortiz Jr. rode 18 mostly high-profile races at Colonial Downs in 2022 and won 10 of them for a 56% win percentage, so respect his mounts when he visits the Virginia track.

In the trainer ranks, the leading trainer at the 2022 Colonial Downs meet was Michael Stidham who won 13 races from 61 starters for 21%. He edged Michael Trombetta who won 11 races from 51 starters for 22%. A couple of former Arlington stalwarts, Larry Rivelli and Chris Block, are expected to call Colonial Downs home for nine weeks. Rivelli won nine races at the 2022 meet and Block won seven. A wide assortment of nationally prominent trainers are expected to have several starters at Colonial Downs this season led by Steve Asmussen, who won eight races at the 2022 meet. Others to watch include Todd Pletcher, Graham Motion, and Shug McGaughey, who each won three races at Colonial Downs in 2022.

Some other trainers that horseplayers should be keenly aware of based on their 2022 results at Colonial Downs include Mike Maker, who won 5 of his 9 starts in 2022, Robert Falcone who won five races from six starters, and Mary Lightner, who won with four of her six starters at last year’s meet.

NEW KENT, Va. (June 6, 2023) — Colonial Downs is bringing the Pick 6 back to Virginia when the 2023 season gets underway on July 13. The Old Dominion 6 will be offered as a classic $1 Pick 6 with a 15% takeout on the final six races daily. If there is no wager correctly selecting all six winners, 25% of the net pool will be paid out to those selecting the most winners while 75% will be carried over to the following program.

After a successful debut in 2022, the 50-cent Pick 5 will feature an Early and Late Pick 5 daily. Offered with a 12% takeout rate, the Early Pick 5 will cover the first five flat races while the Late Pick 5 will cover the final five races.

Each Pick 5 will pay out 100% of the net pool to those bettors who correctly select all five winners in the sequence. If there are no winning Pick 5 wagers in either Pick 5, 25% of the net pool will be paid to those who correctly selected the most winners while the remaining 75% will be carried over to the following day’s like Pick 5. Early Pick 5 will carry to the next Early Pick 5 while the Late Pick 5 will carry to the next Late Pick 5 offered.

The Pick 5 and Old Dominion 6 highlight a wagering menu that includes two Pick 4’s. The Early Pick 4 will cover races 2-5 (races 4-7 on Fridays when Steeplechase racing is presented) while the Late Pick 4 will encompass the final four races each day. Colonial Downs will also offer rolling Daily Doubles and rolling Pick 3 wagers starting with the 1:30 p.m. first race each Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The minimum wager for Win, Place, and Show wagers is $2; the Exacta, Daily Double, Pick 3 and Old Dominion 6 will carry a $1 base; Trifecta, Pick 4, and Pick 5 wagers can be played for as little as 50-cents; and the Superfecta will have a 10-cent minimum.

Colonial Downs kicks off its 2023 season on Thursday, July 13 and will continue through Saturday, September 9. The 27-day meet is highlighted by a record of more than $5.2 million in stakes purses.

The total is buoyed by the relocation of the Grade 1 Arlington Million, Grade 1 $500,000 Beverly D. and Grade 2 $500,000 Secretariat Stakes from their long-time home at Arlington International Racecourse. (The Million and Beverly D. were raced at Churchill Downs in 2022.) In addition, the Grade 3 New Kent County Virginia Derby will carry a $500,000 purse, $200,000 more than last year, and its sister race the (Listed) Virginia Oaks, has been kicked up by $50,000 to $250,000.

The Million, Beverly D., and Secretariat will be raced on Saturday, August 12, the traditional weekend for the internationally renowned trio. The Million will be run at 1¼ miles and the Beverly D. will be contested at 1-3/16 miles while the one-mile Secretariat leads perfectly into the nine-furlong Virginia Derby four weeks later on closing day Saturday, September 9. The Beverly D. is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” race in the Filly & Mare Turf division.

The Virginia Derby will headline closing day with $1.3 million in stakes purses. In addition to the Virginia Derby and Oaks, the closing day program will include the $150,000 Colonial Cup for older runners at the marathon distance of 1½ miles, the $150,000 Da Hoss Stakes for older horses at 5½ furlongs on turf, $125,000 Rosie’s Stakes for 2-year-olds sprinting 5 ½ furlongs on turf, and $125,000 Kitten’s Joy Stakes for 2-year-olds over a two-turn 1-1/16 miles on turf.

All of Colonial Downs races will be televised on FanDuel TV or FanDuel Racing

WHAT: Join us at the Woodford Reserve Whiskey Bar at Colonial Downs Racetrack for the fastest two minutes in sports! Festivities to include:

• Hat contest
• Best dressed contest
• Pick the Kentucky Derby winner classic
• Free entertainment

WHEN: Saturday, May 6, starting at 5:00 pm

WHERE: Colonial Downs Racetrack, 10515 Colonial Downs Pkwy, New Kent, VA 23124.

WHY: A Virginia horse, Forte, is considered an early favorite for the Kentucky Derby this year. Join other racing enthusiasts for this iconic sports event. It won’t be long before Colonial Downs kicks off its 2023 racing season. Opening Day is right around the corner on July 13. Racing will be held every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at Colonial Downs for nine weeks.

HOW: Just show up and let the fun begin!

About Colonial Downs Group: Colonial Downs Group is a proud business operator in Virginia employing more than 1,000 team members in the Commonwealth, paying over $30 million in annual salaries, wages, and benefits. Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums^® in Richmond, Hampton, New Kent, Vinton, and Dumfries offer innovative historic horse-racing (HHR) gaming technology and full card simulcasting. Colonial Downs Group also operates a Rosie’s Game Room^TM in Collinsville, which features a limited selection of some of their best HHR titles. Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent County hosts live thoroughbred racing on two nationally renowned surfaces – Secretariat Turf Course, the widest turf course in North America at 180 feet wide and on a 11/4-mile dirt track, second in length to only the world-famous Belmont Park.

NEW KENT, Va. (WRIC) — On Tuesday, March 28, the team at New Kent’s Colonial Downs race track set fire to the famous Secretariat Turf Course in preparation for the 2023 horse racing season, which is currently set to begin July 13.

Forget trailblazers — the day was all about “track-blazing.”

Because of Virginia’s burn law, which forbids any open flames before 4 p.m., the Colonial Downs team — in partnership with the New Kent Fire Department — waited until just about 4:01 p.m. to get the blaze going. But within two hours, the flames had charred the old layer of grass. It’s a crucial part of preparing the course’s foundation for the new season.

Spokesperson Dave Zenner explained how the smoky sight and smell signal a fresh season ahead.

“It’s really like the kick start of the year,” Zenner said.

Setting fire to the track happens in lieu of traditional methods like mowing or trimming. This modernized method makes the preparation process quicker and more efficient.

“It allows us to get the top layer, the dead layer of grass off and get it off quickly,” Zenner said. “And it puts nutrients into the soil.”

Hold your horses, the New Kent Fire Department was on standby, ensuring the fire remained on-track. This all as the crew celebrated this new season, marking the 50th anniversary of the course’s namesake — famous Virginia-bred racehorse Secretariat’s — Triple Crown win.

Zenner told 8News that Virginia has always been home to powerhouse racers and this year is no different.

“One of the biggest horses for the Kentucky Derby, by the name of Forté,” Zenner started. “He’s definitely the favorite right now, [he] was Virginia bred.”

The Secretariat turf course also happens to be the widest course in the entire country and it’s right here in central Virginia. Once burned through, crew members will add a fresh layer of dirt. Then shortly after, it’s off to the races.

“When you start seeing those things happen, you really know things are getting close,” Zenner said.