Virginia Derby® Day to Feature $1 Million in Purses and a $25,000 “Cash Dash” for Fans                 

                                             

Day of Family Fun & Cash Dash Drawings Highlight Event on September 6

NEW KENT, Va. (September 1, 2022) – Featuring horses from nationally prominent trainers, Colonial Downs Group is pleased to announce large crowds are expected for the New Kent County Virginia Derby on Tuesday, September 6. The nation’s top turf horses will compete on the widest turf course in North America. Post time is 1:45 p.m.  The day will be highlighted by the grade 3, $300,000 New Kent County Virginia Derby® for 3-year-olds, along with the $200,000 Virginia Oaks® for 3-year-old fillies, both of which will be raced over the renowned Secretariat Turf Course named for the famous Triple Crown champion who was born in Doswell, Virginia. A total of $1 million dollars in prize money will be up for grabs on Virginia Derby Day.

Be there for your FREE chance to win a share of $25,000 cash in the New Kent County Virginia Derby Cash Dash where 50 lucky winners will win $500.  Numbers will be drawn after each race between 2 pm and 6 pm. Plenty of family friendly entertainment will be available on the grounds, including a Dixieland strolling band, magician, juggler, and face painter. Plus, Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year, T-Fox will be performing the National Anthem, God Bless America, and a free show at Rosie’s immediately after the last race. Additionally, a variety of food trucks will be on-site.

Wootton Asset won the New Kent County Virginia Derby in 2021 (Coady Photography).

FREE general admission includes access to an air-conditioned Homestretch Hospitality tented space, apron access with track and paddock-side viewing where you can get up close to the horses, covered bench seating and access to the Paddock Bar. Drink specials to highlight the occasion will be offered. Additionally, Colonial Downs will offer other options including clubhouse dining, clubhouse boxes, turf club dining and turf club suites. Parking and general admission are both free for the biggest horse race in Virginia!

2019 Virginia Derby winner English Bee (#8, inside) won a thriller at Colonial Downs over Jais’s Solitude. Photo by Coady Photography.

The event culminates the fourth successful season of Thoroughbred horse racing at Colonial Downs since the track was revitalized and re-opened in 2019. “Peninsula Pacific Entertainment has not only lived up to the promise of bringing high caliber Thoroughbred horse racing back to Virginia but is honored to present this year’s Virginia Derby card.  It is great to see so many families and fans enjoying live racing that adds so much value to business and tourism in the Commonwealth,” said John Marshall, executive vice president of operations for Colonial Downs Group.

Trainer Graham Motion will be going for his fourth straight Derby win on September 6.

For fans who can’t make it out to the track on September 6, all the excitement can be viewed live, and wagers can be made through www.TVG.com.  For more information on 2022 Colonial Downs Racing presented by Woodford Reserve visit www.colonialdowns.com.

About Colonial Downs Group: Colonial Downs Group is a proud business operator in Virginia employing more than 1,000 team members in the Commonwealth, paying over $30 million in annual salaries, wages, and benefits. Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums® in Richmond, Hampton, New Kent, Vinton, and Dumfries offer innovative historic horse racing (HHR) gaming technology and full card simulcasting. Colonial Downs Group also operates a Rosie’s Game RoomTM in Collinsville, which features a limited selection of some of their best HHR titles. Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent County hosts live thoroughbred racing on two nationally renowned surfaces – Secretariat Turf Course, the widest turf course in North America at 180 feet wide and on a 11/4-mile dirt track, second in length to only the world-famous Belmont Park.

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