Colonial race track that keeps spinning its wheels
Jun 6, 2013 0:37:16 GMT -5
Post by Jon on Jun 6, 2013 0:37:16 GMT -5
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Colonial Downs, a race track that keeps spinning its wheels
Thursday, Jun. 6, 2013
Paul Woody
Richmond Times Dispatch
NEW KENT Colonial Downs in New Kent County is a lovely facility. It has the widest turf (grass) track in the country as well as a well-groomed dirt track.
Horses are beautiful animals. And if you are interested in watching fast, powerful athletes perform, there are worse ways to spend an evening than at Colonial Downs.
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But an average of only 2,008 attended races at Colonial Downs in 2012. That was an increase of 144 from 2011, but it hardly screams progress.
For years, the issues at Colonial Downs have been attendance, the size of the purse and the number of racing days.
Colonial Downs’ 2013 season begins Saturday, and nothing has changed in the big picture.
In the small picture, this Thoroughbred season will be shorter than last year, 25 days instead of 32. The Colonial Downs administration hopes attendance and off-track betting will increase with post times an hour earlier on weeknights, 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.
That still leaves Colonial Downs where it has been almost since it opened 16 years ago, spinning its wheels, with no one completely happy.
Ian Stewart, president of Colonial Downs, would like an even shorter racing season, which would give the track lower expenses, bigger purses, perhaps a chance to draw higher quality fields.
Frank Petramalo Jr., executive director of the Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, the group that provides the purses for the races and represents Virginia’s horse business, wants more racing dates.
Success for Colonial Downs is a complicated matter. It involves not just the crowd at the New Kent races. It also involves off-track betting and Internet wagers.
“Ninety-five percent of our business takes place at places other than this site in New Kent County,” Stewart said.
Success also involves competing with tracks in nearby states, tracks with other gambling revenue, either slot machines or casinos.
Given the opposition by Virginia’s House of Delegates to slot machines, a horse facing 1,000-to-1 odds at Colonial Downs has a better chance of winning than slot machines have a chance of being approved in Virginia.
That’s fine. Many delegates oppose gambling, as is their option.
That hasn’t stemmed the tide of more and more state-sanctioned lottery games.
Colonial Downs might not have slot machines, but it will have camel and ostrich racing on Father’s Day and two days of rodeo in August.
Colonial Downs keeps spinning its wheels, neither moving forward nor backward
“You could certainly look at it that way,” Stewart said. “I don’t know that that is necessarily my point of view. We’ve certainly managed to sustain ourselves for the last 16 years, which not a lot of people would have predicted.
“I think the business has stabilized. The track has suffered for years from the unrealistic expectations of when it was built. I think people thought that as soon as horse racing came to Virginia, all of a sudden it would be overwhelmingly popular. That flies in the face of national trends for pari-mutuel wagering and horse racing. They’re certainly on the downturn.”
Stewart remains optimistic about Colonial Downs, and betting against him is not a smart play. After all, he has managed to keep the track going for many years.
But Colonial Downs needs to do more than just keep going. It needs a longer Thoroughbred season, not camel and ostrich racing and a rodeo.
It’s a racetrack, not a state fair.
“I’m hoping this year works well and strengthens us for next year,” Petramalo said.
That’s a nice hope to have. Whether it’s realistic is another question.
Colonial Downs, a race track that keeps spinning its wheels
Thursday, Jun. 6, 2013
Paul Woody
Richmond Times Dispatch
NEW KENT Colonial Downs in New Kent County is a lovely facility. It has the widest turf (grass) track in the country as well as a well-groomed dirt track.
Horses are beautiful animals. And if you are interested in watching fast, powerful athletes perform, there are worse ways to spend an evening than at Colonial Downs.
Advertisement
But an average of only 2,008 attended races at Colonial Downs in 2012. That was an increase of 144 from 2011, but it hardly screams progress.
For years, the issues at Colonial Downs have been attendance, the size of the purse and the number of racing days.
Colonial Downs’ 2013 season begins Saturday, and nothing has changed in the big picture.
In the small picture, this Thoroughbred season will be shorter than last year, 25 days instead of 32. The Colonial Downs administration hopes attendance and off-track betting will increase with post times an hour earlier on weeknights, 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.
That still leaves Colonial Downs where it has been almost since it opened 16 years ago, spinning its wheels, with no one completely happy.
Ian Stewart, president of Colonial Downs, would like an even shorter racing season, which would give the track lower expenses, bigger purses, perhaps a chance to draw higher quality fields.
Frank Petramalo Jr., executive director of the Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, the group that provides the purses for the races and represents Virginia’s horse business, wants more racing dates.
Success for Colonial Downs is a complicated matter. It involves not just the crowd at the New Kent races. It also involves off-track betting and Internet wagers.
“Ninety-five percent of our business takes place at places other than this site in New Kent County,” Stewart said.
Success also involves competing with tracks in nearby states, tracks with other gambling revenue, either slot machines or casinos.
Given the opposition by Virginia’s House of Delegates to slot machines, a horse facing 1,000-to-1 odds at Colonial Downs has a better chance of winning than slot machines have a chance of being approved in Virginia.
That’s fine. Many delegates oppose gambling, as is their option.
That hasn’t stemmed the tide of more and more state-sanctioned lottery games.
Colonial Downs might not have slot machines, but it will have camel and ostrich racing on Father’s Day and two days of rodeo in August.
Colonial Downs keeps spinning its wheels, neither moving forward nor backward
“You could certainly look at it that way,” Stewart said. “I don’t know that that is necessarily my point of view. We’ve certainly managed to sustain ourselves for the last 16 years, which not a lot of people would have predicted.
“I think the business has stabilized. The track has suffered for years from the unrealistic expectations of when it was built. I think people thought that as soon as horse racing came to Virginia, all of a sudden it would be overwhelmingly popular. That flies in the face of national trends for pari-mutuel wagering and horse racing. They’re certainly on the downturn.”
Stewart remains optimistic about Colonial Downs, and betting against him is not a smart play. After all, he has managed to keep the track going for many years.
But Colonial Downs needs to do more than just keep going. It needs a longer Thoroughbred season, not camel and ostrich racing and a rodeo.
It’s a racetrack, not a state fair.
“I’m hoping this year works well and strengthens us for next year,” Petramalo said.
That’s a nice hope to have. Whether it’s realistic is another question.
