Charles Town Picks

Charles Town is a racetrack and casino facility which is located in Charles Town, West Virginia. It is around 60 miles from Baltimore and approximately 10 miles from the historic Harpers Ferry.


It is presently owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties, and the day-to-day operations are overseen by the Penn National Gaming. They bought the center back in 1997.


Charles Town is home to one of the tiniest racetracks in the US, with a six-furlong oval track frequently leading to races held over the four-and-a-half and 5 furlongs. It is referred to as traditional dirt, and there are currently no strategies to develop a grass course.


The primary track has a width of 60 feet and has a four-and-a-half furlong chute, which permits path races to be held at CharlesTown.


The track possesses a modern gambling establishment, which was the first to be developed in West Virginia. Sports betting has actually been offered at this place given that August 2018.


There is likewise a 153-room hotel on-site. The track also has a grass enclosed grandstand and clubhouse, with the previous having the ability to seat up to 3,500 spectators.


Racing happens all-year-round at Charles Town with live race-days generally taking location Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The track takes a short break around the holiday before recommencing in mid-January. It was the very first East Coast track to hold live racing throughout the winter months.


Charles Town just hosts Thoroughbred racing at the track. There are presently no plans to introduce Quarter Horse contests.


The track holds a number of valuable stakes races throughout the season, with the West Virginia being the standout contest. This occasion pays over $500,000 to the winning connections, while the overall bag for the day has actually recently increased above the million-dollar mark.


Charles Town Racetrack History


Charles Town opened in 1933 and ended up being the first gaming house wagering track in West Virginia. The first live race-day was staged on December 2 and was organized by Albert Boyle of the Shenandoah Valley Jockey Club.


The owners invested $160,000 in order to get the place up to scratch and to ensure that the West Virginia place was fit to stage winter racing. Despite a variety of naysayers suggesting that Charles Town would have a hard time to get visitors through the door, the track saw numbers increase over the first years despite the perilously cold conditions.


Hall of popularity jockey Bill Hartack was a routine at the track during the early days, and he set a number of performance history - a lot of which still stand today. He when rode 24 winners during Charles Town's 24-day winter season fulfill.


John F. Kennedy and his spouse went to the track in 1960 as part of their presidential campaign.


In 1969, Barbara Jo Ruben ended up being the very first female jockey to win a pari-mutuel race in the US, with the 19-year-old guidingCohesion home by half-a-length. She went on to have an incredible profession and was invited back to the track in 2019 to mark the anniversary of the event.


The track closed for 2 weeks in 1979 with all horsemen asked to abandon the facilities, although racing soon recommenced, with Sunday being added to the calendar not long after the re-opening.


The first running of the West Virginia Breeders' Classic was held at the track and was arranged by NFL Hall of Famer Sam Huff.The inaugural prize bag consisted of $100,000 and was won by local raider Onion Juice.


The track was purchased by Penn National Gaming in 1997, and they carried out a $175,000,000 upgrade of the facilities.They built brand-new barns and opened a multi-million dollar simulcast center.


The Charles Town Classic was held for the very first time in 2009, with inaugural race available to older horses running over a mile and one eighth. Researcher won the very first 2 renewals of this contest.With a reward bag of over $1 million, the race continues to draw in a premium field and is among the wealthiest contests in the US.


Charles Town Track Configuration and Bias


When the track rides quickly (which occurs throughout the majority of the summer season), this frequently hinders closers. The fast dirt at Charles Town tends to permit frontrunners to get enough take advantage of to win wire-to-wire, and this is a crucial element of summer season racing in West Virginia.


Frontrunners often struggle when the rain has boiled down, and the track is riding sloppy.


There has actually been lots of racing at CharlesTown in 2019, and the stats suggest that there is a relatively even split when it pertains to publish positions. In sprint races, the within positions have the edge, with stalls one and 2 producing 15.8 and 15.9 percent of the winners, respectively.


Stalls 3 and 7 were likewise fairly productive, with 14.4 and 14.6 percent of horses beginning here entering the winner's enclosure, respectively.


Stall 9 was the poorest beginning position, with simply 11 of the 169 runners being drawn in this slot handling to secure victory (6.5 percent).


In path races, the within stalls likewise produced the greatest number of winners. Stall two had 18.6 percent of the winners, while the inside position yielded 17.6 percent of all winning thoroughbreds. Stall 5 showed a fairly bad return of just over 10 percent, while only one of the 12 runners starting in stall nine got in the winner's enclosure.


Neither of the two horses who started in stall 10 were first to pass the post.


Charles Town Racing Season


Charles Town is among a handful of tracks in the US to host year-round racing. The West Virginia venue takes a small break for the holiday before racing returns at the start of the fiscal year. Racing generally takes place Thursday-Sunday although they often stage extra cards on Thanksgiving and Labor Day.


There are a variety of stakes races held at the track and these command decent-size purses. The standout races include the Charles Town Mile and the West Virginia Breeders' Classic.