Final Numbers @ CNL?

Not looking good for Colonial.

From the Vifginian Pilot

Va. Derby pagentry masks Colonial Downs' struggles



By Joanne Kimberlin
The Virginian-Pilot
© July 14, 2013
Twenty-five years after an emotional campaign legalized betting on horse racing in Virginia, the state's one and only track seems to have fallen off the radar.

Colonial Downs operates quietly in the New Kent countryside east of Richmond - running as few races as possible, delivering on none of the once-rampant forecasts of widespread windfall or moral doom.

Much of South Hampton Roads - where cities once vied to have the track - seems to have forgotten it was ever built.

"We've pretty much given up on your area," said Darrell Wood, director of marketing at Colonial Downs. "People just don't want to make that drive. We're a hostage to the bridge-tunnel."

Our absence contributes to a cycle that helps keeps the track flatlined. Ticket sales are stagnant, but more important, wagering - known as the "handle" - has dipped. Betting raises the money for purses that draw the kind of horses that spur more betting.

Efforts to open satellite betting parlors in South Hampton Roads have been largely rejected. One parlor operates in Chesapeake, collecting half the cash it once did.

As Saturday dawned at Colonial Downs, the track prepared for the Virginia Derby, fingers crossed against the rain that dampened last year's attendance. The derby is Colonial Downs' showcase event, the closing race of its summer season. Hoofs will thunder around this oval on just 49 days this year - a third of the 150 days originally pitched by those eager to build the "The Saratoga of the South."

On top of that, half of this year's days belong to harness racing - the cart-and-trotter meets that have never been as popular as the thoroughbreds, at least not in the state that produced Secretariat.

The derby is Colonial Downs' best shot at making new fans - where the romance of the track can turn a spectator into a follower. Racing is in trouble across the country, a sport with an aging clientele, splintered leadership and an ever-shrinking pool of quality horses. The general public tunes in only for the Triple Crown.

Fading interest affects more than just the industry. Private money built and sustains Colonial Downs, but every dollar wagered is diced and doled to a dizzying number of funds and stakeholders, including the state.

Full Article:
hamptonroads.com/2013/07/virginia-derby-pagentry-masks-colonial-downs-struggles