Colonial Downs cancels Friday race card due to heavy rain

Due to the severe weather and excessive rainfall in the New Kent area, Friday racing at Colonial Downs has been canceled.

Colonial Downs will announce its plan for rescheduling the races as soon as it is available. The track will refund all tickets purchased for Friday’s racing. A plan for these races being rescheduled will be posted as soon as it is available. Rosie’s Gaming Emporium in New Kent remains open Friday with regular operating hours.

According to the National Weather Service, a flood watch is in effect for an area including New Kent, Va. until midnight Saturday. The Friday forecast calls for showers and possibly a thunderstorm, with a 90 percent chance of rain and between a quarter-inch and a half-inch of new rainfall through the afternoon. An 80 percent chance of rain continues into the evening, with between a quarter-inch and a half-inch of further rain possible.

Colonial Downs expects to resume racing Saturday with a nine-race card scheduled to begin at 1:35 p.m. EDT. According to the National Weather Service forecast, there is a 50 percent chance of rain for Saturday, with the possibility of between a quarter-inch and a half-inch inch of new precipitation.

Saturday’s card at Colonial Downs features three stakes races on the grass, all intended as local preps for graded races on Aug. 10.

The Million Preview Stakes, covering 1 1/8 miles on the grass, features Integration. Tabbed as the even-money morning-line favorite in the field of six, the Shug McGaughey trainee is a two-time graded-stakes winner including the 2023 Virginia Derby (G3) at Colonial Downs.

An eight-horse edition of the Beverly D. Preview Stakes, run at 1 1/6 miles on the outer turf, features 2-1 morning-line favorite Nadette. Trained by Neil Drysdale, Nadette won the Wilshire (G3) two starts ago at Santa Anita and was most recently fourth behind Anisette in the Gamely (G1).

The Boston Stakes, a one-mile turf race for sophomores, is a prep for the Secretariat (G2). The 2-1 morning-line favorite is Maryland-bred Fulmineo for trainer Arnaud Delacour. Fulmineo broke through at the stakes level in the James W. Murphy on May 18 at Pimlico, and he was second behind Agate Road in the Pilgrim (G2) last fall.