Meet new Colonial Downs Seasonal Dirt Track Superintendent Roy Smith — who was coaxed of retirement after he and his wife relocated to Providence Forge, VA — of all places ironically — from Indiana. Yes, that Providence Forge which is just four miles down the road from Colonial Downs. “The world works in strange ways,” Smith said.
Smith, whose father was a trainer, was born in Massachusetts but didn’t want to train horses. After befriending the track superintendent at Suffolk Downs, Smith was hired as his assistant and after he passed, took over that job. Three years later, he took the track superintendent’s job at Philadelphia Park where he spent 31 years, then finished his career at Indiana Grand for the final ten.
“I’ve been blessed my whole life just to be in this industry, 46 or 47 years now,” he said. “My wife and I often vacationed in Williamsburg and always enjoyed it so when it came time to retire, we looked for a place there and other neighboring areas but always got outbid. This went on for 1 1/2 years. My wife finally saw this property in Providence Forge, came out, looked at and bought it. We moved in late February and someone told Frank Hopf (Colonial Downs Sr. Director of Racing Operations) I was here. He ended up calling me three weeks later. News travels fast,” he added.
“After Frank Hopf called and offered me the job, I no sooner hung up the phone and my wife said ‘take the job, take the job’ — she didn’t care if I went back to work. I missed it in retirement and am glad to be here.”
Smith’s mentor was Joe King who built Indiana Grand and together with John Passero, built Colonial in the mid 90’s. “It feels good to be here,” he said. “Anytime I got an opportunity, I’d visit a track including this one. Both track surfaces here are great. It’s a gorgeous place and a beautiful plant.”
The 10-week, 41-day summer season in New Kent begins July 9 and continues thru September 13. Post time every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday is at 12:30 PM with Friday’s twilight cards beginning at 4 PM. A number of Thursday programs will be preceded by three steeplechase races at 10:45 AM — which will now feature pari-mutuel wagering.