Charles Town adds sprint night

The purse for the Charles Town Invitational Dash has been doubled to $200,000 as part of the newly created Charles Town Sprint Festival.

The event, on Saturday night, June 21, highlights a schedule of eight open stakes worth a cumulative $900,000, announced by the West Virginia track Friday.

In addition to the 4 1/2-furlong Dash for colts and geldings, the card will feature two other 4 1/2-furlong stakes worth $100,000 apiece - the Lady Charles Town for 3-year-old fillies and the West Virginia Sprint Derby for 3-year-olds - plus the $100,000 Red Legend Stakes for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs.

The track will also inaugurate a pair of stakes for 2-year-olds on Aug. 23, the Charles Town Juvenile and the Miss Shenandoah, both at 4 1/2 furlongs.

The two other open stakes are the $100,000 Charles Town Distaff Sprint, a 4 1/2-furlong race for fillies and mares on Aug. 16, and the $100,000 Wild and Wonderful, for 3-year-olds and up going seven furlongs on Oct. 11.

The track is still in the process of putting together its stakes package for West Virginia-breds, but did announce that West Virginia Breeders Classic Night, with $1.8 million in purses, has been set for Oct. 18.