was dismissed in the District Court on November 24, 2015. In November 2015, Colonial Downs was denied 2016 racing dates by the Virginia Racing Commission. In rendering their decision, commissioners stated that Colonial Downs "displayed callous disregard for the industry" when it surrendered its unlimited racing license in 2014. A spokesman for Jacobs Entertainment said that all options to keep the track open have been exhausted. In April 2018, Virginia enacted a law to allow historical racing machines (similar to slot machines) at the track and at off-track betting parlors, in an effort to make it economically viable to reopen the track. Weeks later, the track was purchased by Revolutionary Racing (later named Colonial Downs Group), a Chicago-based partnership that included gaming executives and Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, for a price of over $20 million. Peninsula Pacific later bought out the other investors, taking full ownership of Colonial Downs. The track held its first race since 2013 on August 8, 2019. In 2022, Peninsula Pacific sold the bulk of its assets, including Colonial Downs, to Churchill Downs, Inc. Physical attributes The track has a 1¼-mile dirt oval, a 7½-furlong inner turf oval and a 1⅛-mile outer turf oval. Racing The track featured an autumn harness racing meet. Colonial Downs was the only 1¼-mile track in North America with harness racing and features a one turn mile. The horses start from a chute on the backstretch. Harness racing times at Colonial Downs were the fastest in racing. On October 11, 2008, the world trotting record was set during the $100,000 Patriot Invitational. It was set by Enough Talk. The trotter became the first in harness racing history to break the 1:50 barrier with 1:49.3. Graded events The following Graded events were held at Colonial Downs in 2022. Grade III Virginia Derby Former graded events The following graded stakes were formerly ran at Colonial Downs: Grade II Colonial Turf Cup (since 2015, run at Laurel Park now as Baltimore Washington International Turf Cup) Grade III All Along Stakes (since 2015, run at Laurel Park) Listed Virginia Oaks References External links Sports venues in Virginia Buildings and structures in New Kent County, Virginia Tourist attractions in New Kent County, Virginia 1997 establishments in Virginia