In an attempt to make its signature race stand out from the crowd, Charles Town has dramatically raised the overall purse and the winner’s share of the Charles Town Classic.

The West Virginia track announced Thursday that the Grade 2, 1 1/8-mile Classic will get a $500,000 purse boost to $1.5 million. That puts the Classic behind only seven of the Breeders’ Cup races and the Kentucky Derby among the richest races for Thoroughbreds in the United States.

It cost Morris Bailey a modest $40,000 to buy a colt by the Storm Cat stallion Forestry at the Fasig-Tipton Eastern fall yearling sale in October 2011. After just two starts, Whiskey Romeo has already more than doubled Bailey’s investment.

A daylight wire-to-wire winner in each of his races, Whiskey Romeo will look to make it three in a row when he stretches out to seven furlongs for Saturday’s $125,000 Marylander for 2-year-olds at Laurel Park.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – The emphasis will be on youth Saturday when the $75,000 Inaugural and $75,000 Sandpiper highlight a Tampa Bay Downs opening-day program where every race is for 2-year-olds.

The Inaugural will be run at six furlongs, as will the Sandpiper, which is for fillies. The Inaugural has a field of six topped by Brave Dave, a son of Put it Back who will be shooting for his fifth win from six career starts, all for trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. Brave Dave’s only loss came in the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The 2011-12 Gulfstream Park meeting, fueled by an early December opening, was one of the most successful in the 73-year history of the track. The 2012-13 season, which kicks off Saturday and continues through April 5, figures to be even better.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Over the past decade Tampa Bay Downs has emerged as a major player on the winter racing scene with the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby developing into a legitimate Kentucky Derby prep. On the business side, the operation has almost doubled its all-sources average daily handle.

Home-track advantage is sometimes overplayed, but it’s hard to miss as a potential major factor when sizing up the field for the first stakes of the Turfway Park holiday meet, the $50,000 Holiday Inaugural on Saturday.

An oversubscribed field of 14 fillies and mares – only 12 can start – are entered in the six-furlong Polytrack race at the northern Kentucky track, and on recent form, it sure looks like a mare named Queen’s Award will be tough to beat after she earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure two starts back in an allowance victory at Keeneland.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Not many $65,000 races for 3-year-old fillies are as deep as Saturday’s Skillful Joy Stakes over six furlongs on turf at Betfair Hollywood Park.

The Skillful Joy Stakes has a field of eight, led by the two-time stakes winner Reneesgotzip, who was third against males in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 2. The field also includes the two-time stakes winner Byrama, the Del Mar stakes winner Nechez Dawn, and last-race winners Curvy Cat, Eileen’s Dream, Forbidden City, and Minds Eyes.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – When Game On Dude finished seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 3, he went from being a Horse of the Year candidate to just another good older horse.

“It’s amazing how things can go so badly in just two minutes,” trainer Bob Baffert said.

Game On Dude typically races near the front, but was never close to the lead and finished 15 lengths behind Fort Larned as the 6-5 favorite.

“He didn’t run,” Baffert said. “We were stunned. He lost Horse of the Year.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Can two Kings beat a full house in Saturday’s $125,000 Claiming Crown Emerald Stakes at Gulfstream Park?

The two Kings are King David and King Kreesa, who finished first and second, respectively, in the Grade 1 Jamaica Handicap at Belmont Park on Oct. 6. They’ll be favored in a bulky 14-horse field entered to go 1 1/16 miles on the turf in the Emerald, the most attractive of the seven Claiming Crown races on Saturday’s card.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Owner Jerry Jamgotchian spent $75,000 to purchase the multiple stakes-winning filly Moonlit Malibu out of the recent Keeneland November sale. He will be seeking a quick return on his investment when he runs Moonlit Malibu in Saturday’s $75,000 Garland of Roses Stakes at Aqueduct.

Moonlit Malibu and her stablemate Jelly Cable make a formidable entry in a seemingly wide-open renewal of the Garland of Roses, typically the first stakes run on the inner track. This year, the race will be run over the main track at six furlongs.