By next Saturday evening, two of the largest crowds ever to watch and wager on racing at Colonial Downs, oddly, may have seen only dirt races.

The official attendance for Grand Opening Day at Colonial Downs on September 1, 1997, before the turf course was built, was 13,468, a number many there that day believe to be low.

The $500,000 Virginia Derby on Saturday, March 15 once again gives the Colonial Downs dirt surface, the often-overlooked sidekick to the Secretariat Turf Course, a proper stage. Every race over the three-day mini-meet will be contested on the dirt.

The race may not be your traditional Kentucky Derby prep. But it should generate plenty of interest.

It’s not, as the Oldsmobile slogan once suggested, your father’s Virginia Derby.

Handicapping Virginia weather can be tricky in March, but if the forecast 10 days out that calls for mostly cloudy conditions and 70 degrees holds firm, references reaching towards the grand opening crowd figure wouldn’t be unmerited. Regardless, it will be a landmark day.

One of the many upcoming nuances of the Virginia Derby is that it’s the last one-turn race among 36 Kentucky Derby prep races contested in the U.S. It’s also the farthest one-turn contest at 1 1/8 miles, the longest that can be configured at Colonial Downs without attaining the Kentucky Derby distance of a mile and a quarter. A race at a mile and three-sixteenths has never been run over the dirt at Colonial.

In addition, it’s a one-turn race on a 1 ¼-mile long oval – that means a lengthy run down the backstretch followed by a lengthy turn, followed by a lengthy homestretch. Parenthetically, the 1 ¼-mile record over the strip belongs to Macgyver, who went 2:03.54 in the very first race contested on that grand opening day.

With 50 points to the winner and 49 days until the Kentucky Derby, the Virginia Derby winner himself won’t need points for the Kentucky Derby but may still need a race in the interim. Only one horse has ever won the Kentucky Derby with a seven-week layoff or more. Authentic won the 2020 edition in a Covid impacted Kentucky Derby run in September that year. In a typical season no one else has.

The Virginia Derby runners-up, though, will need points unless they come to New Kent with points in the bank. Only three of the 90 nominated, none of whom is expected to enter, have more than 20 points.

Two Saturdays after the Virginia Derby come the Florida Derby and Arkansas Derby, both offering 100 points to the winner. And a week after those are the Wood Memorial, Bluegrass and Santa Anita Derby, all offering 100 points to the winner.

All of the 100-point races also offer 50 points to the runner-up, 25 for third, 15 for fourth, and 10 for fifth.

After the Virginia Derby, all the Kentucky Derby prep races reward 100 points to the winner except the last race of Derby preps, the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, a last chance to earn up to 20 points on April 12. 

Epic Ride was the last to make the Derby last year with 35 points. In 2023 the 23^rd horse in the standings, King Russell, snuck in with 40 points. The 2022 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike drew in off the also-eligible list with just 21 points before scoring at 80-1.

Trainer Bob Baffert is expected to send Gaming and his 18 points to the Virginia Derby with jockey Irad Ortiz aboard. Ortiz won five races on Virginia Derby day (on grass) in 2022. Baffert previously came to Colonial Downs in 2002 with Senor Swinger with Pat Day aboard for Bob and Beverly Lewis, finishing fourth in an edition won by Silver Tree.

Virginia-bred Omaha Omaha for trainer Michael Gorham and either Rapture or John Hancock for trainer Brad Cox are also probables. American Promise is also expected for D. Wayne Lukas. The draw for the Virginia Derby is Saturday, March 8. 

“The horseman’s response has been terrific for the three-day meet, which is unique for our track and its caliber of racing,” reported Colonial’s Sr. Director of Racing Operations Frank Hopf. “I’m enthusiastic for the future of this event.”

Despite being held during the Atlantic 10 and ACC tournaments, the 28-year-old grandstand is already a virtual sellout, and attendance could rival some previous marks.

Being the only Kentucky Derby prep race over the weekend of March 15, the Virginia Derby has its own slot on the Kentucky Derby prep calendar. Beyond filling up the grandstand, it could draw national interest at a level Colonial rarely has.

“It’s exciting after looking at months at diagrams and plans to see it come alive,” says Hopf. “New areas have been set up as we’re finding ways to enhance the experience for new fans and take care of those who come regularly. It’s going to be a very full facility.”