Racing dates for 2024 at Colonial Downs were approved today at the Virginia Racing Commission meeting. The 27-day live racing season will be held over nine weeks from Thursday, July 11 through Saturday, September 7. The New Kent racetrack will race three days per week, Thursday through Saturday.
“The success of the 2023 meet, which brought weekend racing back to Colonial Downs, was a credit to the tremendous support here in Virginia from the owners, trainers, horseplayers, hard-working staff, and partners,” said Senior Director of Racing Operations Frank Hopf. “We're excited to build upon the momentum and look forward to a tremendous 2024 season.”
The Festival of Racing including the Grade 1 Arlington Million is slated for Saturday, August 10. The Grade 3 Virginia Derby will anchor the closing day card on Saturday, September 7. The entire stakes schedule for the 2024 season will be made available in the coming weeks.
The 2023 season offered more than $650,000 per day in purses and boasted an average of 8.19 starters per race. Average daily handle was $2,658,028. Purse money for the 2024 season is expected to be nearly $700,000 per day.
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. 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, Emporia, 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 2024 live racing season, which consists of 27 days from July 11 through September 7, is highlighted by the Grade 1 Arlington Million, Grade 1 Beverly D. and Grade 2 Secretariat Stakes on August 10 and the Grade 3 New Kent County Virginia Derby on September 7.
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