Ready for the races: Annual turf burning at Colonial Downs means it’s almost race season
Posted on April 2nd, 2024
By KIM O’BRIEN ROOT | [email protected] | Staff writer
PUBLISHED: March 25, 2024 at 4:29 p.m. | UPDATED: March 26, 2024 at 10:30 a.m.
NEW KENT — Colonial Downs set its turf course afire last week as part of an annual ritual to get the track ready for this year’s horse racing season in New Kent.
The annual controlled burn prepares — and actually helps — the racing surface for the nine-week season, which is scheduled to begin July 11 and run through Sept. 7.
“At Colonial Downs, the turf burn means spring has arrived and live racing is right around the corner,” Frank Hopf, senior director of racing operations at Colonial Downs, said in a news release. “We had a record-setting season in 2023 and we’re excited to build on that momentum as we welcome race fans back this summer.”
Burning the old brown turf, as opposed to trimming, removes the dead cover, which allows it to grow back more plush, green and safe for racing. The fire also drives nutrients back into the soil. Colonial Downs adds a fresh layer of dirt after a burn, leaving plenty of time for the grass to grow back for the season.
After the burn was delayed a week because of windy conditions, the Secretariat Turf Course was set ablaze in sections the afternoon of March 18. Track employees work with New Kent Fire-Rescue and the Virginia Department of Forestry nearby to make sure flames don’t get out of control.
This year’s burn was completed without incident, taking just over an hour.
At 180 feet wide, the Secretariat Turf Course is the widest grass racing course in North America, while its 1.25-mile dirt track — which circles the turf course — is the country’s second longest. The turf course is named for the famed thoroughbred who swept the Triple Crown Series in 1973. Secretariat, considered one of the greatest racehorses of all time, was born in 1970 in Doswell and trained in Virginia.
The 2023 race season was the most successful in the history of the racetrack, with a record number of races, race days, visitors, horses in competition, live bets and off-track bets, according to Colonial Downs spokesman Michael Kelly.
This year, the 27-day live racing season will be held three days per week, Thursday through Saturday, over nine weeks. The season will feature daily average purses at nearly $700,000.
The schedule will include special events such as the Festival of Racing, including the Grade 1 Arlington Million, on Aug. 10. Wiener dog racing will be a highlight on Aug. 24, while the Grade 3 Virginia Derby will close out the season on Sept. 7. (To register your purebred dachshund, visit rosiesgaming.com/wiener-dog-racing.)
“We’re excited to build upon the momentum and look forward to a tremendous 2024 season,” Hopf said.
More about the season can be found on Colonial Down’s website at rosiesgaming.com/racing.
Kim O’Brien Root, [email protected]
