Dr. Feelgood too much in It’s Only Money

by Frank Vespe | Jun 7, 2020 | Breaking, Racing, West Virginia, WV Racing

Dr. Feelgood proved best in the Only Money Stakes at Charles Town Races. Photo by Coady Photography.

Make it a lucky seven for Charles Town’s reigning King of the One-Turn Dash.

Dr. Feelgood may have had to work for it this time, but in the end, the five-year-old Fiber Sonde gelding had too much for his four foes, taking Saturday’s $50,000 It’s Only Money Stakes, a 4 1/2-furlong dash for West Virginia-breds three years old and up.

The win ran Dr. Feelgood’s record to a perfect seven-for-seven at this one-turn trip.

Dr. Feelgood bobbled leaving the gate this time, and that gave Freedom Is Ringing — at 25-1, the longest shot on the board — the chance to grab the early lead.

Also by Fiber Sonde, Freedom Is Ringing led in the race’s earliest stages and pushed Dr. Feelgood through an opening quarter-mile in 21.79 seconds. Dr. Feelgood, under regular pilot Darius Thorpe, was able to come through along the inside to lead by a head at that marker.

By midway on the turn, he’d put some separation between himself and his nearest rival. And from there, Dr. Feelgood inched away to win by 2 1/4 lengths in 52.05 seconds. Freedom Is Ringing gamely held second, while the three-year-old Hypothesis was along for third.

Dr. Feelgood is trained by Crystal Pickett for Jill Daniel and was bred in the Mountain State by Francis Daniel, III. He now has 10 wins — four in stakes company — from 12 career starts, with earnings of $214,645.

Off at 2-5, Dr. Feelgood paid $2.80 to win and topped an exacta worth $36 for a buck.

On Friday, Twirling Owen won for the fifth time in nine starts and the third time in stakes company when she annexed the $50,000 Fancy Buckles Stakes.

The Anthony Farrior trainee, a homebred for Jim Miller, showed her exceptional gate speed when breaking to the lead and never looked back en route to a 2 1/2-length win in 52.83 seconds for 4 1/2 furlongs.

It was Twirling Owen’s second stakes win in two weeks and made clear that the daughter of Twirling Candy will be a formidable foe around one turn at Charles Town. She was sent off at even money, returning $4.00 to win and topping an exacta, with 7-1 Remy’s Rocket in second, worth $11.80.