Charles Town Classic rescheduled for Aug. 28, purse reduced to $600,000
The Grade 2 Charles Town Classic will be run this year on Aug. 28 and have its purse cut from $1 million to $600,000, Charles Town racetrack said Friday.
The Classic, the richest race run at Charles Town last year, was originally scheduled for April 18, but the track was shut down on that date due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The new date of the Classic, run at 1 1/8 miles for horses 4 years old or older, will place it nearly four weeks after the Whitney Stakes on Aug. 1 at Saratoga Race Course and 12 weeks out from the Breeders’ Cup Classic, scheduled for Nov. 7 at Keeneland Racecourse in Kentucky.
Charles Town also said that it has moved the Charles Town Oaks to the same day as the Classic, with the race’s purse cut from $300,000 to $200,000. Five other minor stakes races will be held that day, including two for West Virginia-bred horses, and the first post will be 5 p.m. Eastern, rather than 6 p.m.
The West Virginia Racing Commission approved the scheduling changes and purses cuts Friday morning.
Like many tracks across the country, Charles Town has been shuffling its stakes races and diverting purses toward overnight races due to massive changes in scheduling and wagering due to the pandemic. Nearly all of the wagering taking place in the United States over the past three months has come from account-wagering, which returns far lower shares to tracks and horsemen than live handle. In addition, casinos across the country have been shuttered for most of the pandemic, costing horsemen subsidies in many jurisdictions, including in West Virginia.
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Charles Town reopened for live racing on May 21, and it plans to begin allowing patrons into its third-floor simulcasting area Monday, with spectators being allowed on the trackside apron when live racing resumes next week on Thursday night. Also on Monday, Charles Town’s casino will reopen at a limited capacity.