Penn National Gaming agreed to purchase the facility in 1997, and immediately began a $175,000,000 upgrade of the venue.īy 2004, Charles Town Races & Slots had added simulcast racing, numerous dining options, and 3,500 slot machines. Then, during the fall of 1996, voters approved video lottery machines at Charles Town. The track's future was in serious doubt as recently as 1996, observers feared the facility would close. Now the event boasts $1,000,000 in purses.ĭuring the 1990s, purses fell, leading to dwindling attendance and fewer high-caliber horses.

That year local favorite Onion Juice won the inaugural running and the state's first $100,000 purse. In 1987, NFL Hall of Famer Sam Huff organized the first West Virginia Breeders' Classics. In 1969, 19 year old Barbara Jo Rubin rode into history at Charles Town, becoming the first jockey to win a pari-mutuel race in the United States. Edgar Hoover was a frequent visitor during the era. Kennedy held a large rally at the track in 1960, and J. In 1954, Hall of Fame jockey Bill began his career here, going on to win 4,277 races, including nine Triple Crown races. Train service from Baltimore boosted attendance, and the track continued to thrive through World War II. Even with freezing temperatures and odds being calculated by slide rule, the grandstand overflowed. The Boyles had bet that Charles Town would draw crowds as the only northern track to hold races during the winter season, and they were right.

The original owners, Albert and Joseph Boyle, spent $160,000 - a huge sum during the height of the Depression - to build the facility the facility. The facility officially opened as Jefferson County Races on December 3, 1933. During its 70-year run, the track has welcomed historical figures, teetered on the brink of collapse, and reemerged as a premiere gaming and entertainment facility. Since it was founded in 1933, the race track at Charles Town has seen- and made- history.

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