Known for its summer turf racing, Colonial Downs will shift its racing focus to dirt over three days from March 13-15 as part of its expanded, 44-day 2025 racing schedule.
Four dirt stakes, topped by the $500,000 Virginia Derby and $250,000 Virginia Oaks, are part of the three days of racing at the New Kent, Va., track, with the latter two races for 3-year-olds essentially providing their winners with sufficient qualifying points to respectively compete in the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1) and May 2 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs. Churchill Downs and Colonial Downs are among the tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc.
Cognizant of its racing in March gaining notice, CDI officials have begun recruiting horses and promoting the dates to potential racegoers.
"It's good timing on the calendar because I think March Madness starts the following weekend, so there's kind of not a whole lot going on that particular weekend. We're hoping that gives us a chance there to drum up not only local interest but national simulcast interest as well," said CDI vice president of racing Gary Palmisano.
All the Colonial Downs races scheduled in March will be on dirt, whether stakes or overnight, due to the three days of racing being in mid-March. Most tracks, except those in warm southern or western states, cannot begin racing on turf until late March or early April following initial spring grass growth. Palmisano said CDI would evaluate the feasibility of March turf racing after this year's experience.
During the summer, Colonial runs a combination of dirt and turf races, utilizing its expansive turf course for a high volume of grass contests.
With Maryland taking a break from racing during the period Colonial runs in March, Palmisano anticipates a sizable portion of Maryland horses being shipped to run in Virginia. He is hopeful that trainers that stabled horses in the south during the winter will send horses to Colonial as a stopping point on their way back to their planned spring stabling bases. He believes some horsemen stabled in Kentucky or Indiana may also opt to ship horses if they have runners more effective on dirt than Turfway Park's synthetic Tapeta surface.
Palmisano said Colonial will open for training at least a week before the meet, and entries seven days before race day should allow trainers to plan groups of horses to ship in.
"We appreciate the folks in Maryland who have built a partnership with us, not only during the summer, but during this three-day period to cease racing in Maryland, which will allow us to operate in Virginia," he added.
Colonial's new racing secretary is Dan Bork, assistant racing secretary at Churchill Downs and previously racing secretary at CDI's Ellis Park. He replaces Stanley Shina. Bork also has ties to Florida, having previously served as racing secretary at Gulfstream Park from 2010-13. A replacement for Bork at Ellis Park has not been announced.
Colonial Downs' recently released condition book features open maidens competing for $75,000, with higher purses available to those that are Virginia-bred, -sired, and/or -certified. A comparable open maiden race at Laurel Park in Maryland is worth $47,000. No race in the Colonial condition book carries a purse less than $32,000.
"We jacked up purses a little bit for that week of racing," Palmisano said.
Purses in Virginia are bolstered by slot-like historical horse racing gaming, and with CDI's plans to expand its gaming footprint at Colonial and at its gaming parlors, purses are expected to rise further in the coming years.
Colonial expanded its 2025 season by 17 days to 44 days following legislative requirements tied to the number of HHR terminals in use. The 44 days will be a record number of race days since the track reopened in 2019.
"The legislative folks, including the governor (Glenn Youngkin) and multiple officials in Virginia, have been immensely helpful to the horse racing industry and are excited about the energy and quick growth of the horse racing industry, and we felt like doing something like a spring meet inclusive of a Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks race would only further place Virginia in the national eye of racing stakeholders," Palmisano said.
Owing to the 1 1/4-mile main-track configuration at Colonial Downs, the 1 1/16-mile Virginia Oaks and 1 1/8-mile Virginia Derby will be contested out of the track's long backstretch chute. These races both offer qualifying points on a 50-25-15-10-5 basis to their top five finishers.
The two stakes are newly created races, and the stakes that previously carried these names will be contested under different names in turf races during the 41 days the track runs during the summer from July 9-Sept. 13.
With the March dates coming approximately seven weeks before the Kentucky Derby, Palmisano said he "likes the opportunity" these races provide horsemen leading toward the Oaks and Derby. Based on historical trends for required point totals, a winning horse at Colonial (with 50 or more points) could enter the Oaks and Derby without starting in between. Those still in need of qualifying points, which Churchill Downs uses as a preference system when its major races overfill, have enough of a window to return in the major preps in early April or for a Derby horse, in the final points race, the April 12 Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland.
