Colonial Downs

By 2026, the gaming corporation that owns Colonial Downs is aiming to nearly double the amount of racing at the turf-centric Virginia track, potentially expanding the current boutique-styled summer race meet from 27 to 50 dates. That news was revealed Thursday morning by Bill Carstanjen, the chief executive officer of Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), who briefly mentioned the dates increase during a public quarterly earnings conference call with investment bankers. The reason has everything to do with CDI's gaming revenue and apparently very little do with the overall scope of...

By unanimous voice vote after zero public discussion among commissioners at a "special" meeting, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) on Tuesday quickly approved a license awarding a Quarter Horse racino license for a track to be constructed in the northeastern part of the state. The license is the ninth and final of its kind to be awarded in Kentucky. Although the focus of press releases announcing the deal accentuated the rebirth of Quarter Horse racing in a state better known as the nation's Thoroughbred epicenter, the real prize for...

Snap Decision (Hard Spun) may be the best jumper in the country, but his next assignment will be in a flat race, Wednesday's $150,000 Colonial Cup at Colonial Downs. As trainer Jack Fisher sees it, he's got nothing to lose. While he wants to win and doesn't think that is out of the question, Fisher said one of the reasons he went into the race is that it should set his horse up for the G1 Jonathan Sheppard S., an Aug. 17 steeplechase at Saratoga. "If nothing else, this will...

With temperatures set to reach the high nineties this weekend in the Mid-Atlantic region, a number of tracks have announced adjusted schedules, but Monmouth Park officials remain confident that the Saturday card featuring the GI Haskell S. will go off as planned. "First and foremost, we are concerned about the safety of the horses and jockeys and want to make sure we do the right thing," said Dennis Drazin, who heads the management team at the Jersey Shore track. "But we've been on top of it all week and right...

With the safety of equine and human athletes in mind, and with excessive temperatures and heat indexes predicted, live racing Monday, July 25 has been cancelled at Colonial Downs. Their scheduled, featured stakes--the $150,000 Colonial Cup at 1 1/2m on turf--will now be run Wednesday, July 27 as originally drawn. Live racing resumes Tuesday, July 26 at 1:45p.m.

Colonial Downs has lowered the takeout rate on its Pick 5 wager from 22% to 12% and the bet will offer a carryover provision for the first time. The wager will have a minimum 50-cent base. The Pick 5, which will be offered on the last five races each day, will pay out 100% of its net pool to those bettors correctly selecting all five winners in the sequence. On days when nobody picks all five winners, 25% of the net pool will be paid to those who correctly selected...

Colonial Downs will offer a record of more than $600,000 in daily average purses and an expanded stakes schedule for the upcoming 2022 meet, starting July 11. The meet has six extra race days this year. The stakes schedule is highlighted by the $300,000 GIII Virginia Derby and $200,000 Virginia Oaks Sept. 6. Maiden special weight races during the meeting will carry a $60,000 purse. As a bonus, once again, all owners will be guaranteed $1,000 per start or their share of the purse money, and all trainers will receive...

A two-day electronic dance music festival at Pimlico Race Course has forced a dates reshuffling of the first regularly scheduled summer race meet at the Baltimore track in 17 years. The Aug. 6 and 7 Moonrise, which is billed as one of the premier "rave" gatherings on the East Coast, drew about 30,000 people to the Pimlico infield each summer between 2014 and 2019 with no conflicts to the horse racing schedule. That's because the Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) at that time chose to race during the summer months at...

The Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships Series (MATCH) returns for a 9th season with a $2.2 million stakes schedule that spans April 16 through Oct. 3 and more than $400,000 in bonus money for owners, trainers and breeders. The Series, a competition among horses in four divisions, is designed to identify the best horses, and their owners and trainers, in the Mid-Atlantic region. It will be contested this year at Laurel Park, Hollywood at Penn Gaming, Colonial Downs and Parx, with Parx hosting this year's Championship Day. Horses competing in MATCH earn...

Colonial Downs Racing presented by Woodford Reserve, which kicks off its 27-day "More Racing, More Money and More Fun" Thoroughbred racing season July 11, has unveiled a $3.5-million stakes schedule highlighted by the 19th running of the GIII Virginia Derby. In all, 24 stakes will be contested over the nine-week campaign, 20 of which are scheduled for the Secretariat Turf Course, the widest grass racing surface in the country. Purses for the 2022 stakes program will increase by $850,000 over 2021 totaling over $3.5 million in stakes dollars up for...

Churchill Downs, Inc. is set to acquire Colonial Downs, as well as several historical horse racing facilities in the state, after the company announced it has entered into a purchasing agreement to acquire the assets of the Virginia racetrack's owner, Peninsula Pacific Entertainment LLC. A Tuesday morning release from CDI put the value of the deal at $2.485 billion. "This unique set of assets expands our geographic footprint and provides additional scale," said Bill Carstanjen, Chief Executive Officer of CDI. "P2E has done an exceptional job developing and managing this...

The 2022 Colonial Downs Race Meet presented by Woodford Reserve will feature 27 race days--up from 21--after the Virginia Racing Commission approved proposed race dates Wednesday. Average daily purse money is also expected to increase from $522,000 to $600,000. The nine-week meet will be held from July 11 to Sept. 7, with racing every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday starting at 1:30 p.m. A stakes schedule for the 2022 meet will be announced in the coming weeks.