Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races has released its 2024 stakes schedule following approval by the West Virginia Racing Commission at its Tuesday morning meeting.  

Charles Town’s biggest day on the 2024 calendar follows up on a format that started in 2020, as Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races presents both of its graded stakes — the $1 million Charles Town Classic (GII) and $750,000 Charles Town Oaks (GII) — on the same Friday, August 23 card. The Classic and Oaks card gets underway with a special first post of 5 p.m. Eastern.  

The newly upgraded Charles Town Oaks will be run as a Grade 2 for the first time this year, one year after the race received a purse increase to $750,000, making it the richest sprint race for three-year-old fillies in North America. Last year’s edition was won by Vahva for trainer Cherie DeVaux and jockey John Velazquez. Vahva went on to capture the Grade 2 Lexus Raven Run Stakes (GII) at Keeneland in her subsequent start, and the daughter of top stallion Gun Runner and 2012 Charles Town Oaks runner-up Holiday Soiree remains in training as one of the leaders of the female sprint division.  

Daniel Alonso’s Skippylongstocking captured the track’s signature event in 2023, taking the Charles Town Classic in wire-to-wire fashion under jockey Tyler Gaffalione for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. Skippylongstocking and stablemate O’Connor (CHI), runner-up in the 2023 Classic, will both look to add to their resumes this Saturday in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park.  

In addition to the Charles Town Oaks, one other unrestricted stakes race on the Classic night undercard — the Robert Hilton Memorial for straight three-year-olds — received an upgrade from the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. The Hilton earned Listed status one year after drawing one of the deepest fields in the race’s history. Last year’s renewal was won by multiple-Grade 2 winner Damon’s Mound, and also featured Wood Memorial (GII) winner Lord Miles, and Chick Lang (GIII) winner Ryvit. Multiple graded stakes winner Sibelius is perhaps the most accomplished runner in the race’s history, taking down the Dubai Golden Shaheen (GI) last year.  

Given the recent success of both the Hilton and the Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon, both races received purse hikes to $500,000 for 2024. 

“When we made the decision to increase the purses for the Oaks and the Hilton last year, we felt like those races had the greatest potential for improvements in their metrics,” said Charlie McIntosh, Charles Town’s Director of Racing Operations. “We were incredibly pleased that the TOBA graded stakes committee recognized the consistent improvement in the quality of those races, and we feel like boosting the purses for both the Hilton and Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon to $500,000 will give each race the best opportunity to maximize its potential.”  

Since moving the Charles Town Classic and Oaks to the same card in 2020, the blockbuster program has produced four of the five largest single-card handles in track history, including last year’s record-setting $7,976,942 total, shattering the previous mark of $7,179,783 set on the 2021 Classic card. 

Charles Town’s 2024 stakes schedule features 20 stakes races worth just shy of $4 million in total purses. These totals exclude the West Virginia Breeders’ Classics XXXVIII card scheduled for October 12th, with purses to be announced at a later date for the state’s premier night for West Virginia-breds. For the second time, all non-Futurity or Breeders Classics’ state-bred stakes races will be run for $75,000 in 2024. The stakes schedule kicks off on April 13 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, with four more scheduled for the Charles Town Classic and Oaks undercard.  

The 2024 racing calendar calls for 158 days of live racing, including a Wednesday through Saturday schedule in January, February, November, and December with racing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday the remainder of the year. Post time for all but Charles Town Classic and Oaks day is 7 p.m. Eastern.   

CHECK OUT THE LATEST OFF TO THE RACES RADIO!