*Originally posted on 2/6/2025 on thoroughbreddailynews.com, written by Stefanie Grimm*
If the countdown on their website is any indication, Colonial Downs can’t wait to put on a show come Virginia Derby weekend during an inaugural three-day Spring meet held March 13-15.
The New Kent, VA-based track, though known primarily for it’s famous Secretariat Turf Course, stands ready to host a new dirt feature on the ‘Road to the Kentucky Derby’ in the Virginia Derby which will see a field of Triple Crown hopefuls travel 1 1/8 miles with Derby points being awarded to the top five finishers on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale.
Previously held on the turf during Colonial’s normal summer meet, the Virginia Derby has been won by such names as Champion Grass Horses Kitten’s Joy (El Prado {Ire}) and English Channel (Smart Strike) along with three-time Eclipse champion Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat). The 2024 rendition, notably the last Virginia Derby to be held during the summer and on the turf, was won by ‘TDN Rising Star‘ Deterministic (Liam’s Map).
And while March in Virginia presents its own set of fresh challenges, the team at Colonial Downs is very much business as usual ahead of their new feature weekend.
“We’re getting our backside ready and getting the race track surface together,” said Churchill Downs’s Executive Director of Racing Gary Palmisano. “Typically, we wouldn’t start that process until closer to May or June in advance of the July meet. We’re going through our traditional pre-meet checklist, just a little bit earlier in the year.”
Weeks of temperature swings and bouts of freezing precipitation have no doubt tested the resolve of the Colonial team but Palmisano notes that the outlook for the weekend could not be sunnier.
“We’re hoping for a nice weekend,” he said. “A lot of it will be weather dependent. A nice weekend would allow the general admission audience to really pour into the apron area. The facility has indoor seating on sale but I think that might actually be completely sold out already. The response within the local community has been very positive.”
Of what to expect for fans, Palmisano added: “The team there is working very hard on trying to elevate the experience the best that we can [for the audience]. At the last [GI Arlington] Million, we had skydivers and the national anthem and people greeting you with all the bells and whistles that we can possibly come up with. It’s a big day for the state of Virginia and for Churchill Downs and we intend to put our best foot forward.”
With an entertained crowd secured, Palmisano’s next main task at hand was making sure horsemen around the country marked March 13-15 on their calendars.
“We’re doing a lot of hand-to-hand combat with the horsemen and recruiting, just ensuring that everyone around the country is aware of this new meet which is not in their usual rotation,” he added. “It’s a lot of activity and a lot of excitement on our end.”
And while the weekend will feature only dirt races in a stark contrast to the traditional summer turf dominance, Palmisano hopes that future Spring meets could see the Secretariat course in action.
“We wanted to crawl before we walk,” he said. “That’s something we could look at in the future. It would require some additional legwork but this [first weekend] allows us to get our feet under us for a year and learn about the climate. To look at see if there’s any way down the road to possibly bring in the turf.”
Of note, Colonial’s annual summer meet was extended this year from 27 days to 44 with the track picking up an additional day of racing on Wednesdays. Palmisano noted that this was due in large part to the Commonwealth’s partnership with a new racing entity in neighboring Maryland.
“They’re [the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority] going to pause racing in Maryland during Colonial’s meet,” Palmisano continued. “We’ve been hyper focused on working with them to create a Mid-Atlantic circuit that works for all of the horsemen in that region.”
Palmisano said he’d seen a positive response from the horsemen in Maryland for the move.
“Everyone’s working together and we’re talking about things like stakes races and the potential for, down the road, Maryland and Virginia-bred stakes opportunities while either track is racing. There’s a good spirit of collaboration and we’re working closely with all the different entities and stakeholders to try and ensure that they’ve got racing going year-round.”
And while the future of racing is murky in states like Florida and California, Palmisano was quick to express confidence for Virginia.
“We’re very excited about Virginia–the growth we’ve had, even just from last year,” he said. “We intend to get up to 50 days of racing in 2026 and continuing to move the ball forward there with the folks on the ground in the Commonwealth, both within our team and in the legislative community. They have the Virginia-certified program, which I gave a lot of credit to the [Virginia Equine Alliance] for organizing. And I think that program has gone even better than they would have ever dreamed even just in the last couple of years. We look forward to continuing to lean into that program which helps all the horsemen in Virginia. [The Commonwealth] is an exciting opportunity for us as an industry and we wouldn’t be more excited about the growth of racing in Virginia.”
