Hollywood Casino At Charles Town Races has released its 2025 stakes schedule and announced the addition of an Early Pick 5 to its daily wagering menu, both following approval by the West Virginia Racing Commission.
Charles Town's biggest day on the 2025 calendar follows a format that started in 2020, as both of its graded stakes—the $1 million Charles Town Classic (G2) and $750,000 Charles Town Oaks (G2)—will be on the same Aug. 22 card. The Classic and Oaks card gets underway with a special first post of 5 p.m. ET.
Daniel Alonso's Skippylongstocking captured the track's signature event for the second consecutive year in 2024, taking the Charles Town Classic in wire-to-wire fashion under jockey Jose Ortiz for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. The son of Exaggerator became the fourth horse to win multiple editions of the Charles Town Classic. He remains in training as a 6-year-old, and would appear poised to attempt to become the first three-time winner of the Classic later this year.
The Charles Town Oaks will be run as a grade 2 for the second time this year, and remains the richest sprint race for 3-year-old fillies in North America. Last year's renewal was won by Mystic Lake, also for trainer Joseph. Mystic Lake went on to capture the Inside Information Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park in her first start as a 4-year-old this year, and the daughter of Mo Town figures as one of the leaders of the female sprint division this year.
The $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial Stakes and $250,000 Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon Stakes join the Classic and Oaks as the remaining unrestricted stakes races on the program.
Since moving the Charles Town Classic and Oaks to the same card in 2020, the blockbuster program has produced five of the six largest single-card handles in track history.
Charles Town's 2025 stakes schedule features 20 stakes races worth more than $3.6 million in total purses. These totals exclude the West Virginia Breeders' Classics XXXIX card scheduled for Oct. 11, with purses to be announced at a later date for the state's premier night for West Virginia-breds. The stakes schedule kicks off April 12 with the Original Gold Stakes for West Virginia-bred fillies and mares, with seven more state-bred stakes to follow over the course of April, May, June, and July, and two more scheduled for the Charles Town Classic and Oaks undercard.
The 2025 racing calendar calls for 160 days of live racing, including a Wednesday through Saturday schedule in January, February, November, and December, with racing Thursday, Friday, and Saturday the remainder of the year. Post time for all but Charles Town Classic and Oaks day is 7 p.m. ET.
Horseplayers will have a new nightly opportunity with the addition of an Early Pick 5 wager to Charles Town's wagering menu. The wager will cover the first five races of the card nightly, and features the same player-friendly 12% takeout as the Late Pick 5. The new wager will be offered starting March 6 when Charles Town returns to its Thursday through Saturday racing schedule.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
