New Purse Payout for Charles Town Classic

The $1.5 million Charles Town Classic (gr. II), which has a new purse payout structure, again highlights the stakes schedule at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races for 2015.

Track officials said the first $500,000 of the guaranteed purse will be set aside for horses having won some of the country's most prestigious races. In 2014 the connections of the winning horse got $1 million, and the remaining $500,000 went to the other finishers.

In 2015 the connections of a Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands or Breeders' Cup Classic (both gr. I) winner would each receive $200,000 of the $500,000 for finishing the Charles Town Classic, which is run at 1 1/8 miles. Winners of the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, Breeders' Cup Distaff, and Pacific Classic (all gr. I) would be eligible to receive $100,000, with the connections of any other grade I winner in the field eligible to receive $50,000 depending on how many winners of the aforementioned races compete.

Any money not paid out from the original $500,000 will be added back to the remaining $1 million and become part of the regular purse.

The Classic will be one of seven stakes on an April 18 program that will begin at 12:45 p.m. EST. In previous years the Classic program began at 5 p.m.

"We want to lure some of the top horses in the division to Charles Town for the Charles Town Classic, and hope this added wrinkle helps in doing so," Charles Town vice president of racing operations Erich Zimny said. "We've seen how our fans responded to a Game on Dude, Commentator, and some of the other top handicap horses who came into our race as accomplished as they did, and see this as a more pointed and direct effort in terms of inducing the connections of those types of horses to send them here."

One of the supporting stakes on the Classic card is the Sugar Maple Stakes presented by CANTER Mid-Atlantic for fillies and mares at seven furlongs. The purse next year will be $150,000, down from $200,000.

The Charles Town Oaks (gr. III) will be the top stakes on the Sept. 19 "Race for the Ribbon" program, which begins at 5 p.m. The purse for the Oaks, which achieved graded status for 2014, has been reduced from $500,000 this year to $350,000 for 2015.

In total, the 2015 Charles Town stakes schedule offers 23 events worth $3.15 million. Not included are the nine stakes that make up the West Virginia Breeders Classic; purses for those races, to be held Oct. 10, haven't been finalized.

The West Virginia Racing Commission approved the stakes schedule at its Dec. 16 meeting.