The Kentucky Derby may be over two weeks away (May 6th), but there is still great racing around the country, and this Saturday April 22nd features big days at two regional tracks — Charles Town and Laurel.
Charles Town has their biggest day of the year with 8 stakes races worth nearly $1.7 million in purse monies. Showcase stakes is the $1.25 Million Charles Town Classic, which is Race 11 of a 12 race afternoon program. Note the post time of 12:45 PM — they normally run on Saturday evening! They also have a Guaranteed $100,000 Pick-4 wager that covers races 9-12. The 9th race goes off at 4:28 PM and the Classic goes to post at 5:35 PM.
Laurel has five stakes on their card including a pair of $125,000 events — the Federico Tesio Stakes for 3 year olds (Race 7 at 4:33 PM) and the Weber City Miss Stakes (Race 4 at 2:50 PM). The best of the bunch though appears to be the $75,000 Henry Clark Stakes, which features a 13 horse field and goes to post at 6:17 PM (Race 10). Virginia-bred Rose Brier won the Clark last year and is back in to go Saturday.
Finally, Hawthorne Racecourse has their biggest day of the year Saturday too, featuring the $250,000 Hawthorne Derby (Gr. 3). It is the 5th race on their card and goes off at 7:17 PM.
Wager the action at either of the two Richmond area Off Track Betting Centers — Ponies & Pints (downtown at 110 N. 18th Street) or at Breakers Sports Grille (west end at 9127 W. Broad Street in TJ Maxx Shopping Center). Virginia residents can also bet on line at any of four partner sites — TVG.com, XPressBet.com, TwinSpires.com and NYRABets.com
