Colonial Downs is in New Kent, Virginia. We handicap Thoroughbred racing only. This guide does not share statistics yet; we will add numbers from our race chart database once we have enough Colonial Downs charts for them to mean something.
The Track Itself
Colonial Downs runs a summer meet, and the meet is built around turf racing. The Secretariat Turf Course is one of the widest grass courses in North America, which leaves room for big fields and more lanes for horses to run in.
Turf First
Many of the best races on a Colonial card are on the grass, and the field sizes on turf tend to be larger than on dirt. Horses come in from the Mid-Atlantic, Kentucky and New York, so grass form from several circuits has to be compared side by side.
Weather Matters
Summer storms can take races off the turf. When that happens, the field and the race change, and earlier opinions about a turf race should be thrown out rather than carried over.
The Takeaway
At Colonial, start with the turf. Check where each horse's grass form came from, and watch the weather before you bet.