Charles Town Races canceled the remaining five races on its Friday evening
card and also canceled its Saturday night program — the final live program
scheduled for 2012. Live racing at Charles Town is tentatively scheduled to
resume at 7:15 (EST) on Wednesday, the first live performance currently slated
for the new year.
Following the closure of its 2012 season on Friday evening, Charles Town was
able to boast a new record for average daily handle for a second consecutive
year, and this time did so by hitting the seven-figure mark for the first time
in the track’s 79 year history.
The average daily all-sources number of $1,001,938 — which includes all
completed live racing programs — established a new benchmark, topping the
previous record of $954,280 set in 2011, by five percent. A new record for total
all-sources handle was also set in 2012 with $227,660,327 wagered on Charles
Town’s races.
“To be racing as long as Charles Town has and now reach a milestone like this
is something our entire team should be immensely proud of,” said Vice President
of Racing Operations Erich Zimny about hitting the $1 million mark in average
daily handle. “We’ll do our best to build on our 2012 success as we move forward
in 2013.”
All told, average daily handle at Charles Town has grown 30 percent between
2009 and 2012.
Jockey Jose Montano, who spent much of 2012 as an apprentice, cruised to the
riding title by racking up 216 wins, 109 ahead of runner-up Travis Dunkelberger.
Montano, who came into 2012 with just 28 victories to his name, saw his 1,027
mounts earn a total of $3,442,187 on the racetrack. Included in those 216 wins
were five stakes triumphs, including one division of the Tri-State Futurity and
a pair in the West Virginia Breeders’ Classics.
For the seventh consecutive year, Jeff Runco found himself on top of Charles
Town’s trainer standings. Runco won 159 races at the track in 2012, including a
pair of scores in the West Virginia Breeders’ Classics with Waves and Tides and
In the Fairway. In addition to topping the list at Charles Town, Runco’s 2012
campaign will enable him to finish amongst the country’s top 25 trainers in wins
for the fifth straight year and he also stands poised to finish in the top 10
nationally for the first time in his career. Ronney Brown finished second with
79 victories.
Charles Town had previously announced that the 2013 season is slated to
include 235 live racing days, as well as an increase in the Grade 2 Charles Town
Classic purse to $1,500,000. The $500,000 increase allows for the Charles Town
Classic — which will be held on April 20 — to be the most lucrative
Thoroughbred race run in the United States outside of the Kentucky Derby and
Breeders’ Cup.
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