West Virginia commission set to reverse decision on Charles Town Classic purse
The West Virginia Racing Commission, which on Jan. 23 voted not to approve the purse of the state's biggest horse race, the $1.2 million Charles Town Classic, has called another meeting for Monday.
There are three items on the agenda:
1) Rescind Commission's previous vote regarding Charles Town Classic purse.
2) Approval of the 2018 Stakes Schedule at Charles Town.
3) Adjournment.
Following the Jan. 23 meeting, according to an article in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Gov. Jim Justice issued a statement saying he supports the Classic, and has asked his staff to look into ways to reverse the commission’s decision.
The West Virginia Racing commission is a three-person panel comprising chairman Jack Rossi and commissioners Ken Lowe and Anthony Figaretti.
Approval of the Charles Town stakes schedule was discussed at the commission's December meeting, but was tabled until January after Lowe voiced his displeasure with the size of the Classic purse and recommended it be lowered to $300,000.
At the Jan. 23 meeting, Lowe made a motion to fund the Classic up to $300,000 with money from the horsemen's account. In addition, he said if Penn Gaming, the owner of Hollywood Casino at Charles Town and the track, contributed $400,000 to the purse, the commission would increase the horsemen's contribution to that same amount.
Lowe said he would be willing to make the race $1 million if Penn Gaming put up half the purse.
Figaretti seconded Lowe's motion and both commissioners then voted for it.
After the meeting Erich Zimny, the vice president of racing at Charles Town, said the race would not be run for a $300,000 purse and that Penn Gaming, which owns the track and the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town, would not contribute to the purse.
The Charles Town division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association has signed off on the 2018 stakes schedule, which is in compliance with an agreement that limits non-restricted stakes purses at the track to a maximum of 8 percent of the Charles Town purse fund.
Justice appointed Lowe and Figaretti to the commission in February, several weeks after he was elected governor.
Lowe, a former horse owner at Charles Town, has a complicated history with track management. He was elected president of the HBPA in 2009 but two years later, while still president of the organization, was ejected from the premises for two weeks for authorizing the distribution of political flyers on the backstretch.
Lowe owns a real estate development firm in Sherperdstown, W.Va.
Figaretti, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail, owns a Wheeling, W.Va., company that produces spaghetti sauce, and apparently had no background in racing prior to being appointed to the commission.
