WVRC Grills CT Officials on Resurfacing

Officials with Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races told the West Virginia Racing Commission May 11 the usual protocol was followed for a track resurfacing project stalled by rainy weather and the discovery of rocks in the new material.

Charles Town already has lost four live racing programs—May 6-7 and May 11-12—because of the delay. The resurfacing, which is done in the spring and fall, was scheduled for an almost two-week break after the April 23 Charles Town Classic (gr. II) program.

Track officials told racing commissioners during an "emergency" meeting that the surface material—a combination of fine, medium-grade, and coarse sand—is kept by the company that provides it in an uncontaminated area and the trucks that transport the material to the track are washed out beforehand. Charles Town track superintendent Doug Bowling said the material was sampled when it arrived at the track and no rocks were discovered until workers started spreading the last of the material.

"There is protocol at the quarry but there is always the potential for rocks in sand," Bowling said. "We've had rock issues once or twice before (over the past 10 years) but never this large an amount. The contamination was isolated in one truck (that came from the quarry).

About 75 truckloads were shipped to Charles Town under a project handled by York Building. Bowling said.

The Charles Town area received more than three inches of rain over a 12-day period, and there's more on the way, Charles Town vice president of racing operations Erich Zimny said. There was no announcement as to when live racing will resume given the weather forecast.

WVRC members sought assurances any lost racing programs would be made up at a later date, while Randy Funkhouser, president of the Charles Town Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, requested that extra races be added to each program whenever live racing resumes.

"We want to make up days in July and August, when there is racing only three days a week, but we request to have an extra race each day to help guys get their horses back in. It would be a big help to everybody on the backside.

"Another problem is there is no place to train other than on the (three-eighths-mile) track at Charles Town. Horsemen are frustrated they can't run, and one of the largest stables on the grounds has (removed most of its horses). We're continuing to lose people with the shortage of purse money and fewer race days. Add this to it and it becomes very frustrating."

Zimny said Charles Town has every intention of making up the lost days in full, which is part of its contract with the Charles Town HBPA, and is amenable to adding races.

"As long as we have enough horses, we plan to do that the first couple of weeks (after racing resumes)," he said.