John Casey passed away mere months after his father, James W. Casey, had also died.

“This year is definitely going to be a lot different without him,” Petty said of John Casey. “I always looked forward to getting a congratulatory call from him after I won a race. But right now the entire barn is doing good, and I owe it all to the help. I have great assistants, grooms, hot walkers and so much help. Our entire team has been sensational. We would not be doing so well if it were not for all the great help that we have at the barn every day.”

Last fall, Petty earned the spotlight when she saddled Hessica to an upset victory in the $125,000 Cavada. Although Hessica has managed only one win since then, Petty is keeping the faith. Hessica, a winner once in eight tries this year, sports a 5-3-6 slate and nearly $210,000 banked from 22 career outings heading into the Cavada. 

Regular pilot Antonio Lopez has the mount. Hessica is 5-1 on the morning line in one of the evening’s more wide-open events.

“Antonio rode Juba’s Parade for me in that allowance race last out, and I think Hessica just moved a little too soon,” said Petty, who has recorded 31 of her 41 career training wins this year. “When she gets clear she tends to wait on other horses. Hessica is doing really good. She’s been training great since her last start and I think she will run well this weekend.”

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Lopez, in fact, will ride three horses for Petty Saturday. In addition to Hessica, he will be aboard Juba’s Parade in the Department of Tourism Breeders Classic and Candy Invasion in the Sam Huff Classic.

While Hessica heads into the Cavada as the defending champion of the yearly feature for state-bred distaffers locally, Petty will send out Jubawithatwist in the $75,000 Vincent Moscarelli Memorial for two-year-olds seeking to maintain his winning ways. In his most recent outing, Jubawithatwist closed willingly to dead-heat with King Kontie for the win in the $75,000 Henry Mercer Memorial for state-bred juveniles.

Those two will renew acquaintances in the Moscarelli, and Jubawithatwist will seek his second straight stakes tally and third win in five career tries.

“Jubawithatwist came out of that stakes race really well,” Petty said. “He kind of lugged in a couple of times in the stretch in the stakes, which probably cost him the outright win. But I was really happy with him. He seems like he’s going to like the two turns and the extra distance.”

Petty will also saddle Candy Invasion in the $300,000 Sam Huff West Virginia Breeders Classic, a three-turn event for older runners that will include two-time defending champion Muad’dib and his stablemate Coastal Mission, hero of the $250,000 Russell Road Stakes against open rivals here on the undercard of both the Grade 2, $1 million Charles Town Classic. 

Coastal Mission has never tasted defeat in a two-turn event at Charles Town, but the Classic would be his first attempt at the one-mile and one-eighth distance.

“I know John was always really high on Candy Invasion,” Petty said. “He’s a lot like Late in the Game, the one that Ronnie [Sigler] trains for Casey’s Legacy Racing since Mr. [James W.] Casey passed. They both really start to get rolling late and they both have a really good finishing kick. I’m definitely going to be busy on Saturday night and that’s a good thing. I just hope we have good weather and a little luck.”