Full field for the West Virginia Breeders' Classic

2015 West Virginia Breeders’ Classic winner Charitable Annuity headlines a full field of ten older horses who will take to the track this Saturday night at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races to contest the featured event on the West Virginia Breeders’ Classics XXXI card – the $350,000 West Virginia Breeders Classic.  The 1 1/8 mile test is the most lucrative race on the nine race, all stakes card that sees $1 million in purse money given away to the top West Virginia breds in training.

Owned by Mark Russell and trained by James W. Casey, Charitable Annuity is easily the most accomplished runner in the field and boasts five stakes wins, including his triumph in this race two years ago, and lifetime earnings of nearly $700,000 in his 27 career starts.

However, after winning the $100,000 Swatara at Penn National against unrestricted company in November 2016, the son of Charitable Man has dropped five of his past six starts including his last two against West Virginia bred company.  One factor working in his favor as he looks to get back on track this Saturday night is the nine furlong distance of the Breeders’ Classic – a distance Charitable Annuity is five for ten in his career at with his lone finish off the board coming in the 2016 Charles Town Classic (G2).

Favored on the morning line at odds of 9-to-5, Charitable Annuity breaks from post three under jockey Christian Hiraldo.

The main challenge to Charitable Annuity could come from the horse breaking immediately to his inside – Coleswood Farm’s North Atlantic. 

While the son of Ghostzapper will be looking for his first stakes win, the Jeff Runco trainee appears to be peaking at the right time and comes into the race on Saturday off a pair of allowance wins in open company in his last two starts.  North Atlantic is also the owner of a credible second place effort in his lone try around Charles Town’s three turn, 1 1/8 mile configuration.

Runco will team up with jockey Arnaldo Bocachica on North Atlantic as the duo will seek its second consecutive win in the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic having taken it with Slip the Cable in 2016.

North Atlantic stands as the 3-to-1 second choice on the morning line.  Runco also sends out Weekend Liberty under jockey Gerald Almodovar.

Unlike Charitable Annuity who seems to thrive at the Breeders’ Classic distance, Carisa Figgins’ Ello Govna, the 4-to-1 third choice on the morning line appears long on ability but still must answer the distance question come Saturday night.

Ello Govna has won seven of his eighteen career starts and two of his last five outings, the most recent coming in a seven furlong allowance race on the September 23 Race for the Ribbon program.  However,  winning beyond that seven furlong distance has been a challenge for the five-year-old trained by Ollie Figgins, III as he’s come up winless in his six tries going a mile or longer.

Ello Govna will have the services of rider Jose Montano in the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic and breaks from post four.  Figgins also saddles Blazin Luck who checked in third behind Ello Govna in the September 23 allowance test.

The only other horse in single digits on the morning line – Gary Williams’ Follow the Notion – is also winless going longer than seven furlongs in his career but does sport a victory in a West Virginia Breeders’ Classics race having taken the Onion Juice Breeders’ Classic in 2016.

Follow the Notion will attempt to join Confucius Say as the only horses in Breeders’ Classics history to win the seven furlong Onion Juice and then the 1 1/8 mile Breeders’ Classic the following year.  Luis Batista has the call on Follow the Notion on Saturday.

Big Bad Dude, Rockhopper Penguin, Green Time and Profit Machine complete the lineup in the body of the race.

Navigate, who is a full sibling to North Atlantic, Run Real Quiet and Charitable Mark sit on the also eligible list and would need defections from the body to run on Saturday night.

West Virginia Breeders’ Classics XXXI gets underway at Charles Town’s standard first post of 7:00 P.M. EST with the $350,000 West Virginia Breeders’ Classic set as Race 8 with a 10:30 P.M. start time.  Select races on the West Virginia Breeders’ Classics card will be available on TVG with the card being shown in its entirety on TVG2. The Eclipse Award winning Horse Racing Radio Network will also be providing coverage between 9:00 P.M. and 11:00 P.M.

$350,000 WEST VIRGNIA BREEDERS CLASSIC (WV)

October 14, 2017

Race 8 – Post time 10:30pm EST

3&up, 1 1/8 Miles

PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer

1. Big Bad Dude, Darius Thorpe, 122, Anthony M. Rideoutt

2. North Atlantic, Arnaldo Bocachica, 122, Jeff C. Runco

3. Charitable Annuity, Christian Hiraldo, 122, James W. Casey

4. Ello Govna, Jose Montano, 122, Ollie L. Figgins, III

5. Rockhopper Penguin, Jevian Toledo, 122, Ronney W. Brown

6. Weekend Liberty, Gerald Almodovar, 122, Jeff C. Runco

7. Green Time, Jenn Miller, 122, Wayne Potts

8. Profit Machine, Oscar Flores, 122, Timothy C. Grams

9. Follow the Notion, Luis A. Batista, 122, Gary L. Williams, Jr.

10. Blazin Luck, Xavier Perez, 122, Ollie L. Figgins, III

ALSO ELIGIBLE

11. Navigate, J.D. Acosta, 122, James M. Day

12. Run Real Quiet, Luis A. Batista, 122, Gary L. Williams, Jr.

13. Charitable Mark, Jan C. Batista, 122, Raimondo Schiano di Cola