West Virginia Racing Commission Approves 2018 Dates
Description:
The West Virginia Racing Commission has approved 162 live racing dates in 2018 for Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races and 123 dates for Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort.
As a result of unanimous ratification during the three-member commission's Feb. 27 meeting, Charles Town will hold two meets, from Jan. 10-April 21 and May 3-Dec. 22. Mountaineer's meet will begin May 1 and continue through Nov. 28.
The 2018 dates compare with 166 dates scheduled for Charles Town in 2017, while Mountaineer raced 131 days last year.
Approval of the dates, with no objections, followed a kerfuffle last month in which two commissioners approved a significant reduction in the West Virginia Classic (G2) purse. Following indications that owner Penn National Gaming would not run the race with the reduced purse and comment from Gov. Jim Justice in support of the race, that commission action would be reversed. The commission in February approved Charles Town's stakes schedule with full funding of the Classic restored.
The Classic will be run April 21 and is one of 20 stakes currently scheduled at Charles Town for the coming year, not including the finalized lineup for West Virginia Breeders' Classics XXXII which is slated for release in the coming months, according to the track.
Highlighting the seven-race stakes schedule at Mountaineer are the $500,000 West Virginia Derby and $200,000 West Virginia Governor's Stakes, both grade 3 events on Aug. 4. The track has reduced the purse for the Derby by $250,000 from its previous $750,000 level, and all other stakes remain at 2017 levels.