Colonial Downs today
The track has one of the largest racing surfaces in the country: a ten-furlong dirt oval with a seven-and-a-half-furlong inner turf course and a nine-furlong outer turf course. When it opened on September 1, 1997, more than 13,000 people came on the first day. The original design paired that oversized oval with a relatively small clubhouse.
Racing and gaming share one building. Rosie’s Gaming Emporium New Kent occupies the first level with about 600 machines, and the upper floors hold the Jockey Club dining room and the 1609 Turf Club. The Virginia Racing Commission, which licenses the track and its satellites, has its own office on the grounds at Horsemens Road.
Colonial Downs racing schedule
The Commission granted a record 48 race days for 2026. It opened with a three-day dirt meet from March 12 to 14, anchored by the $500,000 Virginia Derby on March 14. Racing resumed on June 25 and ran Thursday through Sunday until a special Labor Day card on Monday, September 7, with a standard 12:30 p.m. post.
The move from a Wednesday-to-Saturday slate in 2025 to Thursday-to-Sunday in 2026 was made to give families a weekend day. A typical card has eight or nine races and lasts about four hours, with steeplechase days running differently. For tracks racing outside the Virginia season, the national horse racing schedule lists current meets.
The Virginia Derby and the Festival of Racing
The Virginia Derby is Virginia’s only Kentucky Derby qualifier. The 2025 edition, the first run on dirt, drew more than 8,000 fans, a record $6.5 million handle, and its top two finishers went on to the Run for the Roses. The summer Festival of Racing adds the Arlington Million, the Beverly D, the Secretariat Stakes and the Old Dominion Derby.
Results, replays and how to watch
Entries are posted on the track’s wagering page and on Equibase around four days ahead of each card, and results appear in the same places once a race is official. Every race at Colonial Downs is televised on FanDuel TV or the FanDuel network, and the track’s replay archive covers past cards, so results can be checked without attending.
Betting at the track runs in cash, either at a staffed window or at a self-service terminal, while food, drink and merchandise are cashless. A winning ticket can be cashed for up to 180 days at any Rosie’s location or VA-Horseplay off-track betting center. Wagers on these races are pari-mutuel, with payouts set by the pool.
Seating and race-day rules
Seating ranges from general admission on the apron to reserved grandstand seats and covered grandstand boxes. Indoors, the Jockey Club includes in-seat food service on Thursdays and Fridays and a Saturday buffet, and the 1609 Turf Club offers à la carte dining and a balcony. Suites and skyboxes are sold for groups, and all tickets go through Ticketmaster only.
Gates open an hour before the first race on most days and at 10 a.m. on Virginia Derby day. One bag per guest is allowed, up to 17 by 12 by 9 inches; coolers, backpacks, chairs and umbrellas on the apron are banned. The indoor clubs follow a casual dress code that excludes torn jeans, sleeveless shirts and flip-flops.
Rosie’s at Colonial Downs
The first Rosie’s opened here on April 23, 2019, with 600 historical horse racing machines, and the count remains about the same. Rosie’s Kitchen serves the R’ Burger and fries, and the floor hosts live entertainment such as dueling pianos. The track has since removed some higher-limit machines to enlarge the Jockey Club from 324 to 524 seats.
The machines carry purses as well as profits. Rosie’s revenue is the reason race days rose from fifteen in 2019 to more than forty, and the 2025 meet handled a record $110 million over 44 days. Anyone visiting for the gaming floor should set a spending limit first; Virginia’s problem gambling help line is 1-888-532-3500.
Colonial Downs history and getting there
Colonial Downs built its name on summer turf racing after 1997. In 2008 the trotter Enough Talk set a world record of 1:49.3 here, the first trot under 1:50. Disputes ended racing in 2014, and the 2018 HHR law brought Revolutionary Racing and Peninsula Pacific in before Churchill Downs bought the business in 2022.
The track sits just off Interstate 64 in New Kent County, about 25 miles east of Richmond, so most visitors drive. Overnight guests usually stay in Richmond or Williamsburg. The Rosie’s Gaming Emporium page lists the satellite locations in Richmond, Hampton, Vinton and beyond, and the Virginia overview explains the state’s HHR system.