Fresh on the heels of a record setting thoroughbred race meet in 2021, racing dates for an expanded Colonial Downs presented by Woodford Reserve summer race season in 2022 were approved today (December 15) at the Virginia Racing Commission meeting which was held at the New Kent track.
The upcoming 9-week campaign will run from July 11 – September 7, an increase in length by two weeks from this summer’s 7-week meet. The number of race days will increase from 21 to 27, and daily average purse monies will rise from $522,000 in 2021 to an expected $600,000 next year.
The race day schedule itself will mirror the ’21 slate, with racing every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 1:30 PM (EDT).
The highly successful 2021 meet featured 21 race days and an average daily betting handle of $2,240,000. A total of $10.4 million in purse monies were distributed and average field size was a healthy 8.36 starters per race.
Details on the 2022 stakes schedule, including the Grade 3 New Kent County Virginia Derby, will be announced in the coming days. Colonial Downs is home to the Secretariat Turf Course, widest grass racing surface in the country, and a 1 1/4 miles dirt oval, second longest only to Belmont’s 1 1/2 miles track.
For more information, visit colonialdowns.com.