Charles Town will award more than $3 million in purse money on the 13-race card this Friday, Aug. 23. It’s an historic night for 3/4-mile West Virginia oval that opened its doors 91 years ago. The tracks two signature races – The Grade 2 Charles Town Oaks and Charles Town Classic go for $750,000 and $1 million, respectively, kicking off the 50-cent Late Pick 4 wager that carries a guaranteed $100,000 pool. 1/ST BET and Xpressbet players be sure to opt into the promo to play this sequence for your share of 2 million 1/ST Rewards wager points.
CT 10th race (9:40 p.m. EST) --The 10 entrants in the main body of the Charles Town Oaks are a combined 12/5-4-3 at the 7F distance, including two graded stakes winners and two Grade 1-placed sophomore fillies. If speed carries in this two-turn sprint, MYSTIC LAKE looms dangerous after she set a rapid pace in the Grade 3 Victory Ride last out but got caught by 3-to-5 favorite Emery (4-6, $452K), who came back to run second in the Grade 1 Test. PRINCESS MADISON and ROSWELL seek their first stakes victory after they battled 5- and 6-wide in the stretch to finish 1-2 in a six-figure allowance at Saratoga. They finished well clear of Tricky Temper, who won the restricted Union Avenue Stakes by 3 lengths last Friday at Saratoga. MY MANE SQUEEZE overcame post 10 for the second time this year when she won the Grade 2 8Belles at Churchill Downs and faces a similar task again, albeit with a shorter run to the first turn. Don’t discount HAULIN ICE, whose first long sprint try – and second start for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. -- produced a runaway minor stakes victory. She’s 7-to-2 on the morning line with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard.
CT 11th race (10:20 p.m. EST) -- Defending Charles Town Classic champ SKIPPYLONGSTOCKING posted triple-digit Beyer speed figures in his three graded stakes victories at 1-1/8 miles. He controlled a moderate pace from the outset last year, responded to urging on the third turn and won easily. He was bumped at the start and remained prominent until the eighth pole while chasing speedy winner Arthur’s Ride in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga last out. BENDOOG will try to give Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott his third Classic win in the last four years. He was bumped at the start, raced 4-wide on the backstretch and ‘seized command’ at the top of the stretch in the Grade 2 Suburban at 1-1/4 miles, only to get caught by deep closing second favorite Crupi.
CT 12th race (10:50 p.m. EST) -- MAGGIE’S GIRL conquered three distances in winning 8 of 13 starts at Charles Town, most as the odds-on favorite. But the 4-year-old West Virginia-bred filly draws post 10 in the $40,000 Autumn Stakes on the cutback from a long sprint and seeks her first stakes victory. Jeff Runco, the track’s all-time leading trainer with more than 3,000 wins, sends out four-time allowance winner DREAMY SONDE off a three-month layoff and recent :35-1/5 bullet workout. BELLA MELA is an ultra-consistent allowance sprinter looking to top $100,000 in 4-1/2F earnings.
CT 12th race (11:20 p.m. EST) -- Taking two first-time starters and going 3-deep overall in the Maiden Special Weight finale. The aforementioned Jeff Runco is 9-for-26 with debut 3-year-olds the last three years and – get this – 22 of them were dismissed at 5-2 odds or less. Have to use SUBTLE STORM as a result. CANDY TRICKS chased an 8-to-5 debut runaway in vain but held second as the odds-on choice in a blazing :51-3/5. BUCKPASSING WAY could be the sleeper for a hot barn. Her dam, Metal Firecrakcer, was a 9-3/4-length first-out winner and $179k earner with a 23/5-7-4 record.
Suggested 50-Cent Ticket
CT 10th Race: 2, 4, 5, 9, 10
CT 11th Race: 5, 7
CT 12th Race: 2, 3, 10
CT 13th Race: 2, 6, 7
Cost: $45
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