Beginning Aug. 8, purses at Charles Town will receive a boost due to a measure passed in the West Virginia legislature earlier this year. The bill that originally started as Senate Bill 13 and was passed by the Senate and House of Delegates before being signed into law by Governor Jim Justice returned a chunk of funds originally diverted from the purse fund in the mid 2000's to address the state's struggling workers compensation program. Based on the proportion of overnight races run so far in 2019, Charles Town's blended purse increase equates to a hike of slightly more than 17% in the daily distribution of overnight purses.
Maiden special weight purses will receive an increase of $4,000 to $27,000, while existing allowance conditions will be augmented by anywhere between 12 and 22%. Claiming events will be increased in a similar range of percentages as the allowance ranks. Allowance races going longer than seven furlongs will also carry a $1,000 premium over events run at shorter distances while claiming races going longer than seven furlongs will similarly see purses bumped an additional $500 over those run up to and including that distance.
In conjunction with the purse increase at Charles Town, the Charles Town HBPA and Jockey's Guild have reached an agreement that will bump the losing mount fees to a minimum of $100.
“This is certainly a significant help in bolstering our purse structure which had taken a hit in recent years due to a diminishment in gaming revenues going into it,” said Charles Town's Director of Racing Operations Charlie McIntosh. “We understand it won't happen overnight, but this will unquestionably make the racing program here at Charles Town and racing in West Virginia in general more desirable places to run which we hope in turn leads to a reinvigoration of our product.”
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