Looking to follow up on a successful 2009 stakes slate, Charles Town on
Tuesday released its open stakes schedule for 2010. Using a similar theme as its
2009 schedule, Charles Town will employ a trio of themed event days between
April and September. These three event days will accompany Charles Town’s
richest stakes day, West Virginia Breeders’ Classics Night, which offered a
record $2,000,000 in purses in 2009.
After debuting in 2009, the second running of the Charles Town Classic for
horses four-years-old and upward, going 1 1/8 miles, will take place on April
17. Unlike the tiered structure used in 2009, whereby entrants ran for a purse
based on prior success in graded stakes, the 2010 Charles Town Classic will
carry a guaranteed purse of $1,000,000 for all runners. Charles Town Classic Day
will also feature a pair of six-figure stakes, the $250,000 Sugar Maple for
older fillies going seven furlongs, as well as the $100,000 Blue & Gold for
three-year-olds going seven furlongs.
The next event day on the calendar will be June 19 when the track holds the
third edition of the Charles Town Sprint Festival. The feature event on the
Sprint Festival card is the Red Legend for three-year-olds going seven furlongs.
The 2010 Red Legend will receive a purse increase to $400,000, which makes it
the richest unrestricted three-year-old dirt sprint in the country.
The Charles Town Race for the Ribbon will make its return on September 18.
The day’s marquee race will again be the Charles Town Oaks for three-year-old
fillies at a distance of seven furlongs. Like the Red Legend, the Charles Town
Oaks received a purse bump to $400,000, making it the richest three-year-old
filly sprint in the country. Race for the Ribbon Day will again include many of
the same events as the 2009 edition, where Charles Town raised over $15,000 for
the West Virginia affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
The West Virginia Breeders’ Classics and West Virginia-bred stakes schedules
will be released in the coming months.