Dispatched as the prohibitive 3-10 favorite under regular pilot Arnaldo Bocachica, Muad’dib regained his winning ways when he benefited from patient handling early, rallied along the fence down the backside and through the far turn, and eventually overhauled a game, gritty 18-1 Hero’s Man to score by three parts of a length. Now six, the Fiber Sonde gelding and full-brother to the talented distaffer Late Night Pow Wow, notched his first win in two starts this year and 13th tally in 16 career tries overall for trainer Jeff Runco, who admitted the brief skid caused little anxious moments.

Muad’dib had won the first 10 starts of his career, including the 2021 West Virginia Breeders’ Classic. His successes over the local strip prompted Runco and owner David Raim to test considerably deeper waters in the Grade 2, $1 million Charles Town Classic last August.

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While it may have seemed like a stretch, Runco knew what he was doing. He had won the first two editions of the track’s signature event with Researcher, and later fellow local trainer Tim Grams garnered Classic glory when his state-bred star Runnin’toluvya captured the 2019 edition.

While Muad’dib arrived with an unblemished record, the Runco trainee was dismissed at 12-1 in the Classic in a solid field led by defending champion and Grade I winner Art Collector. Muad’dib prompted the pace of the odds-on choice most of the way, gave way in the final furlong, but lasted for the place spot in a superb performance that validated his connections’ decision to enter.

Runco noted that Muad’dib had trained well since his modest effort in the Confucius Say. He was confident that Raim’s runner would regain his winning ways in last Friday’s two-turn allowance over a wet-fast track. He did just that, though perhaps more narrowly than the 3-10 odds would have predicting, in 1:25.16 for the seven furlongs.

“He came out of the Confucius Say great,” Runco said. “He just got a little tired that night having been away a while. But I expected him to run his race the other night. That horse on the front is tough to go past when he gets things his way. Plus, speed has been holding up here lately so horses have to work to come from out of it. He came out of that race great and now we’re start weighing our options and see where we want to go next.”

The Charles Town Classic is slated for August 25. That same night the track will also offer the Frank Gall Memorial for West Virginia-breds, a race Muad’dib won two years ago. Two months out from Charles Town’s richest night of racing on the calendar, Runco has several ways to approach which event to pursue.

“There should be another race here for him next month, then we’ll start to look at the stakes,” Runco said. “I think we would like to take another shot at the Charles Town Classic. He ran well in that race last year and it’s on his home track and he loves the distance and he’s shown he can compete in that type of race here. He doesn’t even need a three-turn race to set him for that – he can go into it off another seven-furlong race and be fit enough.”

Muad’dib had won the first three starts of his career at age three in early 2020, but when the outset of the coronavirus pandemic nixed live racing for two months locally, Runco opted to shut him down for the remainder of that season. He came back one year later to resume his winning ways, later ending the 2021 slate with wins in the Frank Gall, West Virginia Breeders’ Classic, and A Huevo Stakes [later renamed the Randy Funkhouser Memorial] en route to sharing the title of West Virginia-bred horse of the year with stablemate Star of NIght.

Last year Muad’dib enhanced his resume with repeat wins in both the West Virginia Breeders Classic and Randy Funkhouser Memorial, as well as his second-place finish behind Art Collector in the Charles Town Classic. But he ended the campaign with a surprising third-place finish, behind Free Sailin, in a two-turn allowance then was a humble fifth in the Confucius Say Stakes to kick off this season before regaining his winning ways.