Colonial Downs NEW KENT—There was no Nicanor, no hype and no national TV. All Colonial Downs had to offer yesterday was fancy hats and horse racing. And both turned out very well. On a Virginia Derby day where nearly every race was tight, including a dead heat to end the day, it was Battle of Hastings thrilling the crowd with a come-from-behind victory to claim the top prize.

HORSE RACING  FRIDAY
FIRST RACE
$9,100, 3-year-olds & up, 1 Mile
Race time: 1:37.10
Also ran: Pasco Gettle, First Western, Stash Your Cash
Late scratches: Mantle, Thrillofitall, Gambles List, National Guard
Exacta (6-7) $43.40; Superfecta (6-7-8-1) $78.50; Trifecta (6-7-8) $100.20

The 4-1 favorite, under Tyler Baze, edged Straight Story in a photo finish to capture the $750,000 Virginia Derby on a day of tight races at Colonial Downs.

The crowd at Virginia Derby Day got to see more than the races. Activities that included a hat contest provided plenty of opportunities for cheer.

The Virginia Derby lost a bit of its luster yesterday when morning-line favorite Nicanor, brother of famed Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, was scratched because of injury.

The first thing you have to understand is that Carol McKenzie won’t be driving six hours just to see a horse. The second thing is that Nicanor is not “just a horse.“ Barbaro’s brother is making his stakes-race debut tomorrow at the Virginia Derby, and it’s set an online community abuzz. Several dozen members of a group known as FOB—Fans of Barbaro—will head in from across the country to meet and watch Nicanor’s big race. McKenzie is from Chester, S.C., and will travel with a van of five other FOBs, none of whom she’s met.

Of the 10 horses in this year’s Virginia Derby, two are certain to warrant attention—one going for a $5 million bonus, another will be a sentimental favorite. Both fared well in yesterday’s post-position draw at Colonial Downs. The Derby, the track’s biggest race and one that offers a $750,000 purse, is Saturday. Racing will take place all afternoon, with the Derby scheduled as the 11th of 12 races, posting at 5:59 p.m.

Officials at Colonial Downs are expecting more with less when the track opens its 13th season of Thoroughbred racing tomorrow night. The 2009 season, highlighted by the 12th running of the $750,000 Virginia Derby on July 18, will consist of 40 race dates. There were a record 45 in 2009. “We might have had a few days too many last year, considering the economy and the price of fuel,“ said Tyler Picklesimer, the track’s director of racing.

Prize money will shrink at Colonial Downs this year, with the notable exception of the Virginia Derby. The track will host 17 stakes races during this year’s summer thoroughbred meet, which runs from June 5-July 28. For the local weekend stakes races, purses will drop to $50,000, down from last year’s $60,000. “In order to keep the overnight purse level in line with past years, we had to cut some of the stakes purses marginally,“ director of racing Tyler Picklesimer said.