Interesting opinion piece in Charlottesville’s Daily Progress.
The joke about Colonial Downs is that when the camera pans out to the grandstands on a weekday, you see maybe 8 people… And 7 of them are holding halters. The place has always been a ghost town.
I’ve never been able to understand why Colonial Downs hasn’t been able to draw respect and interest from the general public. While Colonial Downs isn’t exactly in the “horsey” area, Virginia on the whole is such a horse friendly state.
It’s the same story everywhere, but Colonial Downs is different because it has never been taken seriously by the public. It’s a nice facility, it would be great if someone could turn a profit off it.
However, the VA thoroughbred industry is in no way solely dependent on the existence of Colonial Downs… Their industry is built on old money and tradition. Even their Breeders’ rewards program barely acknowledges Colonial Downs- while there are incentives for races at CD, they are one of the few (only?) state programs that pay out for races anywhere.
Colonial Downs was by far my least favorite place to race. I only went there when I couldn’t get in anywhere else. Aside from a nice turf course there isn’t a single thing I like about it from the time I leave my barn until the time I pull back in to my parking lot.
Traffic on that road in the summer is horrendous on weekends due to the beach goers.
I’m one of those horsey people in Virginia who’s never been there. Sure, it’s ~30 miles from Richmond, & 60 or so from Hampton Roads, but it’s in the middle of no where. The drive from Hampton Roads stinks; it just takes forever, especially if you’re coming from the farthest reaches of VA Beach.
And as was also said, beach traffic is awful. If you go on Saturday, the ride home is hours; if you go on Sunday, the ride there is hours. For 60 or 70 miles.
As a potenial spectator, I never new when they were running. Nothing to remind me it’s there, aside from the billboard on I-64, which I’d only see if I happened to drive to Richmond or DC.
[QUOTE=red mares;7794651]
I’m one of those horsey people in Virginia who’s never been there. Sure, it’s ~30 miles from Richmond, & 60 or so from Hampton Roads, but it’s in the middle of no where. The drive from Hampton Roads stinks; it just takes forever, especially if you’re coming from the farthest reaches of VA Beach.
And as was also said, beach traffic is awful. If you go on Saturday, the ride home is hours; if you go on Sunday, the ride there is hours. For 60 or 70 miles.
As a potenial spectator, I never new when they were running. Nothing to remind me it’s there, aside from the billboard on I-64, which I’d only see if I happened to drive to Richmond or DC.[/QUOTE]
Try doing that with a horse in the trailer in 100 degree heat. The only place to eat is the track kitchen or Dairy Queen. I could go on.
I always thought it was bizarre that they tried to piggy back off the MD circuit, because it certainly isn’t a convenient place to ship in to.
I live 10 minutes from the track and have gone there a couple of times mainly for county events. It’s true there is very little around there of interest though the facility is very attractive. A couple of years ago, I stayed there with 15 horses from my barn during a hurricane ( we were living in Va. Beach at the time) and the staff was very accommodating but again, not much going on around there and traffic can be brutal in the tourist season.
I’m not sure why the interest isn’t there. After living in VB for 20 years, I can assure you that would have been hell to get back and forth for those shipping in. If you think the New Kent corridor is bad, just try the Hampton Roads Bridge tunnel during tourist season or rush hour traffic.
The current owner seems to be a real hard ass and doesn’t seem interested in live racing, primarily just the off track locations where he makes the money. I wish they would come to agreement but doesn’t appear that he will back down an inch.
It is in the middle of no where, that is why. They could not get the voters to support a track closer to the urban area of Northern Virginia and this is the best they could get. Besides, whoever designed the stables did not take into account that the sun beats straight into the majority of the stalls, they had to put up sun screens but it still swelters I am told.
I used to stable there, as they would give me enough stalls to drag all the 2yos down for gate cards.
The place SUCKS big fat hairy horse sized you know whats. It is in the middle of a freaking swamp, 30 miles from any sizable population. The bugs can carry away any jock with his 10lb bug and you can cut the air with a knife most days. You also have to fight with beach traffic since they switched to summer racing.
The fall meet was much easier to stomach, but you still didn’t get any attendance. The dirt track was no great shakes. I’ve seen them pull races off the dirt and run on grass.
One of the worst parts, other than letting Maryland essentially write the book, favoring MD horseman over VA, was the gyps that flocked to the place for free stalls. Seriously low level types that just made everybody shake their heads.
The water in the barns also never ran cold, made humans and dogs violently ill, and horses lose hair. The place was put together so shoddily, that when they had to retrench some electrical, they found the wires laid ON TOP of the conduit, rather than running through.
As a horseman, if you weren’t going to live in a room on the backside, you had to have a camper at the Rockahock, or drive from Williamsburg or Richmond
The one thing I can see making Colonial actually profitable would be a boutique meet running the same time as Keeneland for second tier horses that need a place to go after Oaklawn, or FL, and can’t handle Keeneland.
Bottom line, the location was possibly one of the dumbest choices ever, as is the timing of the meet.
and don’t eat anything from the track kitchen that you don’t see them make in front of you. There have been 4 people that have gotten food poisoning and the health department shut them down for a day or so this fall during the fall harness meet. There is the Italian place next to the Dairy Queen and now there is a pretty good Mexican place just down the road in Providence Forge. There is absolutely no marketing for that place and though I just live down the street I don’t go as a spectator ever.
I don’t think Jeff Jacobs has done his best for Virginia but it’s location and the quality of its vendor foods is not the whole problem. I am surprised that no one has mentioned the mismanagement and lackluster efforts of the VRC, VHC, VTA etc. At least Suffolk Downs put up a fight and tried to invest back into its horse industry. VA doesn’t even stand a single major “regional” stallion.
[QUOTE=Calamber;7794823]
It is in the middle of no where, that is why. They could not get the voters to support a track closer to the urban area of Northern Virginia and this is the best they could get. Besides, whoever designed the stables did not take into account that the sun beats straight into the majority of the stalls, they had to put up sun screens but it still swelters I am told.[/QUOTE]
Not long afte I moved to Hampton Roads, I had heard a location in Virginia Beach had been considered for the track, but they didn’t want ‘that kind of people’ there. I never could figure out why VAB thought itself so special; it’s the Sears of Resort Areas.
[QUOTE=Shammy Davis;7795241]
At least Suffolk Downs put up a fight and tried to invest back into its horse industry.
VA doesn’t even stand a single major “regional” stallion.[/QUOTE]
What “regional” stallions stand in MA?
[QUOTE=Texarkana;7795428]
What “regional” stallions stand in MA?[/QUOTE]
When comes to stallions in New England, you need look no further than NY, plus the fact that NE, NY, RI, DE have substantial harness and TB racing activities. I guess my point is that racing NE commissions, track owners, and horsemen make an attempt to work together. In the case of Suffolk Downs, when the casino initiative failed recently, fairground operators offered some concessions to keep horses in NE. Probably won’t work, but they made the effort.
Tex, it appears you are quibbling with me. High quality regional sires are probably found in CA, FL, MD, NY, and PA. Even those standing in racing states like TX, OK, and LA would not be considered top regional sires IMHO.
The current decline in the TB industry began its decline a couple of decades ago, when the current executive director of the VTA was then the elected President of the VTA. Even then VA was home to the Melon, Van Clief, and Guest breeding and racing operations. Knowing something about VA TB history might help you understand the gist of my comments.
I know a number of owners in VA. Where do they breed and race? Primarly in WVA!. Why? There is almost 365 days of racing at two well established WVA tracks. Check out there stallion listing. MD and PA have thriving racehorse breeding and racing operations also. Check out the lengths of their meets. Where did horseracing begin? Where was Secretariat foaled? Where did the owners of Sir Ivor, Battleship, Riva Ridge, Ruffian (a VA bred) reside and farm? I believe it was Commonwealth of the Virginia.
VA is 12 nationally rated by horse population. When I was a young man in 60’s I recall it ranked 4th or 5th nationally. I do know that in the 50’s and 60’s TB breeding and ownership was very high nationally.
When you think that the registry is about 300 years old, VA’s decline in the industry has been swift.
Shammy, I’m sorry you perceive it as “quibbling.” I’m also sorry you assume that I have no knowledge of Virginia racing history, as I lived there for years and was active in the industry there. If you re-read the last paragraph of my first post, I was pretty much agreeing with you. I suppose I didn’t articulate it well-- Colonial Downs as always been an afterthought for the VA thoroughbred industry.
My comment above regarding Massachusetts does not stem from ignorance of what a regional breeding program is, but rather from the fact that I do not think it is a good analogy for the situation. Massachusetts has been producing well under 100 foals a season for decades (with recent numbers in the twenties), while Virginia’s crash in numbers has been much more pronounced and sudden.
[QUOTE=Texarkana;7795702]
Shammy, I’m sorry you perceive it as “quibbling.” I’m also sorry you assume that I have no knowledge of Virginia racing history, as I lived there for years and was active in the industry there. If you re-read the last paragraph of my first post, I was pretty much agreeing with you. I suppose I didn’t articulate it well-- Colonial Downs as always been an afterthought for the VA thoroughbred industry.
My comment above regarding Massachusetts does not stem from ignorance of what a regional breeding program is, but rather from the fact that I do not think it is a good analogy for the situation. Massachusetts has been producing well under 100 foals a season for decades (with recent numbers in the twenties), while Virginia’s crash in numbers has been much more pronounced and sudden.[/QUOTE]
Your points are all well taken. I apologize to you also. I probably should think before I “quick reply.” Particularly, if I’m making assumptions. I was assuming you had “western” origins. Originally from VA, I started in the horse business in late 60’s shoeing in OK and KS and I learned quickly that western folk often have misconceptions about horse people living closer to the Atlantic. Also, my wife has often accused me of selective hearing and reading. I missed the TN part.
Best wishes.
I’ll bite. Colonial Downs has a special place in my heart kind of like a crappy summer camp. I’m a Virginia native, still a Virginia resident, and very, very disappointed in the lack of racing.
IMHO, the biggest problem is the purse structure. Jeff Jacobs has tried to apply trickle-down economics to horse racing in Virginia by supporting huge purses for a limited number of stakes races and relatively tiny purses on a daily basis.
Big name trainers send their horses – rarely themselves – for 24 hours to compete for the real money. Then they leave the gyps behind to run 8-year-old maidens on the turf for a few thousand dollars.
As an earlier poster noted, gyps do indeed come out of the woodwork. The care or lack thereof in some of those stalls is appalling. But those people win races at Colonial when they can’t hit the board the rest of the year. If the purses were better on a daily basis, quality midrange horsemen would fill races and Colonial could deny stalls to the worst offenders.
I think that’s the biggest problem. But, yes, I have a LIST of issues.
-The lack of convenient housing for the meet is a turnoff.
-The constant uncertainty over race dates, followed by the tardy production of a condition book that only slightly reflects the races that will actually go makes it impossible to plan.
-The summer race dates subject horses to sweltering heat and horsemen and women to absurd traffic.
-The hasty application of a TB-appropriate main track means the surface is inconsistent at best and often unsafe.
-First there were not lights on the turf and main track races had to fill out the later part of the card. Now there are not lights on the main track and there’s simply nowhere to race when they’re off the turf after dark.
-Track management is absolutely insane on the subject of what’s “safe” around horses. The fireworks are an annual hazard and, well, I thought the ostriches were amazing but none of the horses seemed to appreciate them being turned out behind Barn 14 the first year.
But I think there is still tons of upside in Colonial. If updated and maintained, the huge, open main track is a beautiful opportunity to train horses – particularly young horses. The gate crew that they get, (mostly the Maryland crew with a few out-of-towners), is quite good – again, great for babies.
I’ve enjoyed beautiful summer evenings at Colonial Downs. The sun drops, the heat breaks, and if you squint just a little it is so very, very nearly the fantasy of gracious Virginia horseracing.
You make some good points. I still get the impression that everyone who has posted thinks that Jeff Jacobs is the culprit and no others. I don’t t agree. I think the VA horse industry failed the program miserably and I am one that hasn’t cared for how Jacobs does business.
I don’t know who Jeff Jacobs is, I just think the place sucks.
