"I think, generally speaking, the industry in this past year has seen their attendance and [amount wagered] fall off, probably mostly because of the economic situation that we have," said the Virginia Racing Commission's executive secretary, Stan Bowker.

"Let's face it, horse racing is a leisure sport. If people don't have leisure dollars, they aren't going to baseball games, they aren't going to football games, they aren't going to horse races. They just don't have discretionary spending."

Industry magazine The Blood-Horse reported that wagering on Thoroughbred racing dropped 11 percent since the Triple Crown series ended June 7 with the Belmont Stakes.

Even though Colonial Downs is for sale, that doesn't mean the track will be sold.

Since Jeff Jacobs took over in 1996, he has repeatedly offered the property for sale -- at one point telling buyers to name their price -- and then rejected offers. He also has threatened on more than one occasion to declare bankruptcy, to raze the track and redevelop it, and to simply close it.

In between, he has expressed his desire to buy television air time for the track's biggest races and book national recording artists to perform on important race dates. He has tried to build a second racetrack in Northern Virginia.

Jacobs Entertainment Inc., the Colorado-based company that owns Colonial Downs and its off-track betting parlors, has put the track on the market at least every other year over the past 12 years, but it has rejected all offers and eventually declared it profitable -- although barely -- and no longer for sale.

In March, Jacobs Entertainment backed off another sale, saying in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission: "At this point, a sale is not probable and we are not actively seeking a buyer."

In June, track President Ian Stewart said confidential business memoranda had been released to interested parties but that interest was short-lived.

"At this point, what I've been led to believe is there's nobody on the radar screen," Senior Vice President Jerry Monahan said. "Whatever there might have been apparently has dissipated."

. . .

Anyone interested in buying or buying into a racetrack has plenty of options other than Colonial Downs.

Magna Entertainment Corp., North America's largest controller of horse racetracks, is marketing tracks and interest in tracks in Oklahoma, Oregon, Ohio and California and recently completed the sale of a track in Michigan.

Magna's operator in Maryland has already announced that it is cutting races for next year, and the future of even the Preakness Stakes is doubtful.

Dates for Colonial Downs next year won't be finalized until December, but length of meet has always been a source of contention between track management and the Virginia Racing Commission.

Track officials maintain that the track's signature Bermuda-grass turf course can't hold up to more than 40 days of racing and that prize money available is spread too thin to attract entries.

The commission, which supports the Virginia breeders association, contends that more days of racing gives Virginia-bred horses more chances to run in-state -- which will promote the state horse-racing industry.

Colonial Downs is legally obligated to host 150 days of combined Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing per year, but it's at the commission's discretion to approve fewer. Colonial Downs has never reached 150 days of racing. This year, in addition to the 45 days of Thoroughbred racing, the track has 34 days of Standardbred racing scheduled, starting Sept. 12.

A repeat of the annual squabbling over the number of racing days will amount to a tacit acknowledgement that, for now, Colonial Downs will continue to operate in the same tumultuous fashion it has since before ground was even broken.

And even though no one involved in track management seems to believe a buyer is going to turn up, there will always be speculation about the property.

"There are more rumors than there are horses," said Iain Woolnough, Colonial Downs general manager and vice president. "And if you don't like the rumor you hear now, then wait five minutes and you'll hear another."

Contact Andee Sears at (804) 649-6210 or asears@timesdispatch.com.

Deputy business editor Greg Gilligan contributed to this report.