When Colonial Downs ushered in thoroughbred racing in 1997, every race during that first meet was held on dirt since the track’s signature Secretariat Turf Course was not yet ready for use.
A year later, Penny Chenery cut a ceremonial ribbon to inaugurate the 180-foot wide grass surface and since then, Colonial Downs has been synonymous with turf racing. The track generally hosts 80% of its races over the massive oval which is 1 1/8 miles around at its outermost rail setting.
Last Wednesday, Colonial completed week five of a seven-week summer race season and at last, the number of dirt races carded has slowly begun to rise. Actually — due to heavy rains early in the week — all the races on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday’s program were taken off the grass and contested over the 1 1/4 miles dirt track. Eight of those twenty-seven were originally scheduled to be run on dirt.
Carding more races over the somewhat forgotten surface has been a project of Jill Byrne, Colonial’s Vice-President of Racing Operations, and Allison DeLuca, Colonial’s Racing Secretary.
“American racing is a lot of dirt racing and here it always seemed like people forgot that we had a dirt course,” said DeLuca. “We made some good dirt races this year and I’m really happy about it. We have a fabulous dirt course. It was almost criminal that people weren’t using it. This year I feel like we’ve made a dent in it. Trainers and riders have said the dirt track was fantastic and it is. This is my third year at Colonial and over that time, people have said horses come here and they get better going over it.”
Co-leading trainer Michelle Lovell, based at Colonial for the first time ever, has been impressed with both the turf and dirt ovals. “The dirt track is a really nice surface and it’s been very fair,” she said. “You can win from anywhere — in front, in the middle and from behind. We’ve won a couple races on it and I’ve been pleased with it. It’s been very kind to the horses during training too.”
Trainer Hamilton Smith had two wins entering action last week. All four horses he entered on Tuesday and Wednesday’s card reached the winners circle and he is now tied with Lovell and Ferris Allen atop the trainer standings. The four — Big Rinne, Witty Banter, Peculiarity and McCain — were all slated to run on grass.
“I didn’t think about scratching,” Smith said. ” I knew they could run well enough on dirt though I was a little concerned about Peculiarity. I wanted to try her on turf, but that can come later. I think it’s a great surface. It’s one of the best dirt courses around. Horses get on it real well. I haven’t had horses running down, hitting or cutting themselves over it. It’s a well-maintained course. I’d like to see even more dirt races,” he added. “I have some fillies that like dirt and can’t find races for them anywhere. Everything has gone turf for some reason.”
When Colonial Downs reopened in 2019 under the ownership of the Colonial Downs Group — after a six-year thoroughbred racing hiatus — jockey Mychel Sanchez brought home the first race winner in that “Racing Revival” season. His Charmn Charlie Ray prevailed by a head on the inner turf course. Last Wednesday, he piloted Black V. K. to victory at seven furlongs on dirt.
“I think it’s awesome,” said Sanchez of the dirt course. “We’ve had all the chances to prove it this week. We’ve had rain all week long, and hard rains too. You can race anywhere on this track right now. It’s in good shape.”
“The safety of both of our track surfaces is paramount and it is important to get such positive feedback from all horsemen about the two tracks, especially under some trying weather conditions,” said Byrne. “Credit the entire track crew, led by Ken Brown, who have done a fantastic job last week.”