An Afternoon at Charles Town Races is all it takes to make a throughbred racing fan of anyone.

At one time thoroughbred racing was one of the three major sports in America—boxing, baseball and horseracing dominated the sports pages and most winning horses were as well-known as baseball’s Cy Young award winners.
Winning the Triple Crown is still considered one of the greatest accomplishments in sports. In the 125-year history of U.S. horseracing, only 11 horses have won the Triple Crown and none have done it since 1978. The last time a horse came close was in 1998, when Real Quiet lost the Belmont Stakes by a nose.
Lovers of sport thrive on the thrill of competition. They develop an appreciation for the complexities necessary for athletes to master their abilities. They admire the dedication it takes to perform and the sacrifices that are made. Within horseracing, these complexities are magnified because you have man/woman, beast, and the odds at play at the same time.
In horseracing there are many games within the game. There is the strategy of picking how horses will perform and the challenge of using the odds and the amount of your bet to your advantage.
The attraction is similar to that of rotisserie baseball or football where regular fans get to play manager and choose their own rosters, hedging their teams each week—usually for a modest wager disguised in a fancy statistical category, like best quarterback or most yards rushing.
When some people think about horseracing, they think of people blowing their paychecks on a hope and a prayer, but a day at the races is actually an affordable entertainment. You can bet a mere two dollars a race. On a Friday night there are only ten races, so even if you lose every race, 20 bucks will at least let you go home without worrying how to pay your bills.
If you do some research, you have at least chance of going home with heavier pockets than you brought. A review of the Daily Racing Form (DRF) will give you 10 angles to use to pick the right horse or combination of horses. It also teaches you how to read a racing form. Then, you can pick your horse using information on its past performances, jockey and trainer records, the kind of weather and track conditions favorable to each horse, and other factors. Instead of just picking it because you like the horse’s name, number, or the color of the jockey’s outfit—hey, that’s fun, too!
The DRF will also tell you that the odds are not against you. You are only betting against the field, meaning the other people who have placed bets. Odds are not determined by the house, but by how the betters bet. If you ask a handicapper which horse he likes, he will invariably refuse to give up his pick. He knows how much he wins is directly related to how many people agree or disagree with him.
The horses themselves are another attraction to the sport. Thoroughbreds are majestic creatures; even if you’re not betting, the races they are exciting to watch. Win or lose you will enjoy yourself. There is just something exciting about the whole atmosphere at the track.
Admission to the track is free. You can watch from down at track level, where you can see each horse in the trackside paddock before the race, or sit in the grandstand and gaze out the large windows to view the track and leader board. At Charles Town, you can even dine in the skyline terrace, where you can view the races in real time on a monitor at your table.
At track level you can also bring along children; they can see the thoroughbreds up close and personal. The jockeys are friendly and like to hand out goggles to the younger fans. And there is nothing like the sound of the horses racing past. Inside there are simulcasts of races at other tracks across the country.
In recent years horseracing has experienced a resurgence. Some of the renewed interest can be attributed to the bigger purses at Charles Town, thanks to the infusion from slot operations. Slots have also introduced a new generation of people to horseracing—people who come to Charles Town for slots then discover horseracing for the first time. Once people experience thoroughbred racing live, they’re drawn in by its excitement and beauty.
Horseracing is as much apart of American history as baseball and apple pie. It has captured the hearts of enthusiasts for many decades; fans feel fortunate to have it here in Jefferson County—where it also contributes big bucks to the agricultural economy.