Colonial Downs Barn Area Opens June 10 Ahead of Record-Setting 2026 Racing Season
Posted on June 8th, 2026
NEW KENT, Va. (June 8, 2026) – Colonial Downs’ stable area will open Wednesday, June 10, welcoming returning horsemen and new arrivals in preparation for the 2026 summer thoroughbred meet. Training is scheduled to begin on Thursday, June 11.
Live racing returns to Colonial Downs in less than one month on Thursday, June 25, kicking off a record-setting season that will feature an expanded schedule. The 2026 summer meet will offer 45 days of live racing, conducted every Thursday through Sunday from June 25 through a special Labor Day program on Monday, September 7. The schedule represents the most live racing days in the nearly 30-year history of Colonial Downs Racetrack.
Colonial Downs will offer a robust stakes schedule featuring 35 stakes races and handicaps worth more than $6.5 million, highlighted by the Colonial Downs Festival of Racing on Saturday, August 1. Festival Day is anchored by the Grade 1 Arlington Million, the Grade 2 Beverly D. and the Grade 2 Secretariat Stakes, along with five additional stakes races. The meet concludes on Labor Day, September 7, with the Grade 3 Old Dominion Derby and Listed Old Dominion Oaks headlining a six-stakes closing day program.
Horsemen are reminded that nominations close Wednesday, June 10, for a pair of opening weekend Virginia-restricted stakes events. The $125,000 Edward P. Evans Stakes for Virginia-bred, Virginia-sired and/or Virginia-restricted older horses at 1-1/16 miles on the turf, along with its distaff counterpart, the $125,000 Brookmeade Stakes, will be contested on Saturday, June 27, the first Saturday of the meet.
In addition to the lucrative stakes schedule, Colonial Downs will offer strong overnight purses throughout the meet. Open maiden special weight races will carry purses of $70,000, while Virginia-restricted maiden special weights will compete for $87,500. Allowance purses will reach up to $80,000 for open company runners and $90,000 for Virginia-restricted competitors.
Condition books are available online at www.colonialdowns.com under the Horsemen tab as well as at Equibase.com.
