After winning the 2015 edition of the West Virginia Breeders' Classic, Charitable Annuity will try to win the race for a second time in a full field of 10 in the $350,000 race for West Virginia-breds Oct. 14 at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races.
The 1 1/8-mile test is the featured race on a nine-race, all-stakes card that will reward West Virginia-breds $1 million in purses.
Mark Russell's Charitable Annuity is the most accomplished runner in the Classic field with five stakes wins. Trained by James Casey, the son of Charitable Man is the 9-5 morning-line favorite. Besides winning the 2015 edition of the race, Charitable Annuity finished second to Slip the Cable in last year's edition.
Charitable Annuity has been in a bit of a slump as of late. After winning the $100,000 Swatara Stakes against unrestricted company in November, he has dropped five of his past six starts including his past two races against West Virginia-bred company. One factor working in his favor Saturday night is the nine-furlong distance of the Breeders' Classic—a distance Charitable Annuity is five for 10 at, with his lone finish off the board coming in the 2016 Charles Town Classic (G2).
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 off a pair of allowance wins in open company in his past two starts.
Hollywood Casino At Charles Town Races, Saturday, October 14, 2017, Race 8Entries: West Virginia Breeders' Classic S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Big Bad Dude (WV) Darius Thorpe 122 Anthony M. Rideoutt II 20/1 2 2North Atlantic (WV) Arnaldo Bocachica 122 Jeff C. Runco 3/1 3 3Charitable Annuity (WV) Christian Hiraldo 122 James W. Casey 9/5 4 4Ello Govna (WV) Jose Montano 122 Ollie L. Figgins, III 4/1 5 5Rockhopper Penguin (WV) Jevian Toledo 122 Ronney W. Brown 20/1 6 6Weekend Liberty (WV) Gerald Almodovar 122 Jeff C. Runco 15/1 7 7Green Time (WV) Jenn Miller 122 Wayne Potts 20/1 8 8Profit Machine (WV) Oscar Flores 122 Timothy C. Grams 20/1 9 9Follow the Notion (WV) Luis A. Batista 122 Gary L. Williams, Jr. 6/1 10 10Blazin Luck (WV) Xavier Perez 122 Ollie L. Figgins, III 10/1 11 11Navigate (WV) J. D. Acosta 122 James M. Day 20/1 12 12Run Real Quiet (WV) Luis A. Batista 122 Gary L. Williams, Jr. 20/1 13 13Charitable Mark (WV) Jan C. Batista 122 Raimondo Schiano-Dicola 20/1
