Laurel Park

[Jeff P]

Originally Posted by bisket

Mountaineer WVA has night racing to itself. Penn National in Pennsylvania has night racing too.

I know that.

But my point wasn't about Charles Town running against PEN.

He posted about visiting LRL on a day when they were running against major thoroughbred tracks AQU-GPX-KEE-SAX.

And then wrote about on track players at LRL following and betting races at the major tracks.

He visited Charles Town that same night (Fri 04-05-2024) when the only other tracks running were EVD-HOU (and Sam Houston isn't even distributing their track signal.)

And then wrote about on track players at Charles Town following and betting the local card.

There's a reason for what he saw.

That's what I was getting at (and probably should have quoted both of his posts #1 and #11.)

-jp
.

[proximity]

Originally Posted by racenomics

Maybe it’s just me. But Charles town was very different

I agree with the main theme of your post about the uniqueness of the Charles town experience. and although there are newer and nicer hotels now i'd at least stay once at the turf motel (rodeway?) to summon the nostalgic feelings of the Shenandoah era and before!

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[racenomics]

Originally Posted by Jeff P

How many tracks, other than Charles Town, are running thoroughbreds in that time slot this time of year?


-jp
.

Evangeline I saw

[racenomics]

Originally Posted by Jeff P

I know that.

But my point wasn't about Charles Town running against PEN.

He posted about visiting LRL on a day when they were running against major thoroughbred tracks AQU-GPX-KEE-SAX.

And then wrote about on track players at LRL following and betting races at the major tracks.

He visited Charles Town that same night (Fri 04-05-2024) when the only other tracks running were EVD-HOU (and Sam Houston isn't even distributing their track signal.)

And then wrote about on track players at Charles Town following and betting the local card.

There's a reason for what he saw.

That's what I was getting at (and probably should have quoted both of his posts #1 and #11.)

-jp
.

That’s a good point, but I also just felt more people were there to enjoy them some live racing, and just enjoy themselves at CT.

[bisket]

Originally Posted by racenomics

That’s a good point, but I also just felt more people were there to enjoy them some live racing, and just enjoy themselves at CT.

After posting I thought of my experiences at Charles Town. My first time at the track was a night at Charles Town with my family, grand mom, and uncle. Charles Town is a destination to visit outside of the track. My lady friend went there for a concert at the casino last year and didn't go to the track. My sons and I went there a few times to bet the ponies. Charles Town is in a rural area surrounded by rural towns and the Appalachian Mountains. They were the first place to get slots, and then casino gambling. Which made it more of a destination. The only town with night life within a large area. Although Frederick is catching up. Penn National is a dump like Parx. If you have a horse a cut below Laurel and Parx, barns will ship into Penn for some class relief. In my opinion the class level is higher at Charles Town than Penn. Some of this answering Jeff's question as well...

[Jeff P]

I wasn't aware of the destination part.

But it makes perfect sense.

Many times while watching CTX track video of the horses going through pre-race warmups (especially in the final few minutes leading up to the start) the camera zooms out - and I can see the line of cars arriving and leaving the Casino parking area and/or The Inn along Hollywood Drive in the background.


-jp
.

[bisket]

Originally Posted by Jeff P

I wasn't aware of the destination part.

But it makes perfect sense.

Many times while watching CTX track video of the horses going through pre-race warmups (especially in the final few minutes leading up to the start) the camera zooms out - and I can see the line of cars arriving and leaving the Casino parking area and/or The Inn along Hollywood Drive in the background.


-jp
.

Kinda like all the towns of ill-repute out west in the 1800 and 1900's. Charles Town was always known for it's night life. Blue laws in MD and Virginia were around until the 1980's. You couldn't buy anything especially liquor after 9pm on Saturday Night anywhere in the surrounding states. LOL Charles Town cornered the market. They had gambling at the track, and live music, so they already established themselves. When table games and eventually all types of gambling were legalized. The casino at Charles Town Races was a natural progression just like towns out west like Vegas. You still can't purchase a car on Sunday in MD. To sell liquor in MD on Sunday, your liquor license has to be established as a restaurant. So many bars/restaurants have liquor stores attached to the building to get around the blue law.