Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races canceled its evening live program Jan. 24 after two races and will not hold live racing as scheduled on Friday, Jan. 25. The cancellations were announced after a vote of the Charles Town jockey colony that didn't produce enough riders to continue with the live program.
According to local weather services, the temperature at 8 p.m. EST, 15 minutes before the decision was made to cancel the card, stood at 20 degrees with a wind chill of 13. With similar weather forecast for Friday evening, Charles Town preemptively canceled that card as well.
"If tonight was deemed too cold, and tomorrow night is predicted to bring more of the same, we wanted to do right by our fans who expect to see a full card and the horsemen who treat their horses with an expectation of running," said Erich Zimny, Charles Town's vice president of racing operations.