Colonial Downs opens record 45-day meet with 22 turf races

Colonial Downs is not easing into 2026. The New Kent oval will open its 45-day summer meet Thursday, June 25, with 22 turf races scheduled across the first three days on the Secretariat Turf Course, a setup that tells horseplayers exactly where the early value and the early form will be found.

That grass-heavy opening is no accident. More than 80 percent of Colonial’s summer Thoroughbred races are run on turf, and the 180-foot-wide Secretariat course remains the track’s signature weapon, giving trainers room to spread out and riders room to pick their spots. The stable area opens Wednesday, June 10, and training begins Thursday, June 11, so barns have had a clear runway to settle in before the first card of the year.

The meet matters because the stakes calendar is not just full, it is pointed at the Virginia program. The Virginia Thoroughbred Association says Colonial’s 2026 season will feature 35 stakes races and handicaps worth more than $6.5 million, and the opening weekend will put immediate pressure on the state-bred divisions. Saturday’s centerpieces are the $125,000 Brookmeade Stakes for older fillies and mares and the $125,000 Edward P. Evans Stakes for males 3 and up, both at 1 1/16 miles on turf and restricted to Virginia-bred, Virginia-sired and/or Virginia-restricted runners. Those are the kinds of races that can change a horse’s trajectory in one afternoon, especially for breeding operations trying to prove they belong in the upper tier.

The local stakes flow straight into the jumps program. Colonial and the National Steeplechase Association will stage the track’s first steeplechase-only card in 13 years on Monday, June 29, with a special 10:45 a.m. first post. The $100,000 Grade 2 Theodora A. Randolph Stakes, run at 2 1/4 miles over fences, launches the National Steeplechase Association’s Triple Tiara and gives the summer another high-end lane beyond the flat races.

The human roster is just as loaded. Paco Lopez, last year’s leading rider, returns alongside Mychel Sanchez, Jorge Ruiz, Sheldon Russell, Jevian Toledo, Daniel Centeno, Jareth Loveberry, Rajiv Maragh, Nik Juarez, Sonny Leon, Carlos Montalvo and Samuel Marin. The trainer bench is equally deep, with Mike Trombetta, Brittany Russell, Mark Casse, Kenny McPeek, Mike Stidham, Robert Bailes, Saffie Joseph Jr., Whit Beckman, Jose D’Angelo and Joe Orseno all expected to factor. Colonial’s betting menu should keep the serious money engaged too, with 12 percent takeout on both the early and late 50-cent Pick 5, a 15 percent Old Dominion 6, rolling doubles and Pick 3s, plus a new $3 late Pick 3 with 15 percent takeout.

That structure is what makes the meet bigger than opening-day theater. With the Festival of Racing set for Saturday, August 1, and the Old Dominion Derby on Labor Day, Monday, September 7, Colonial has built a summer where turf horses, jump horses and the barns that can place them correctly all get a real shot to shape the season.