Although these days he has only a trio of broodmares on his farm in Middleway, West Virginia thoroughbred breeder and owner James F. Miller had himself quite a weekend April 18-19.

Miller, 69, who was born and raised in Berkley Springs and attended West Virginia University on a track scholarship after excelling as a sprinter in high school, could easily boast, if it were in his nature, that a pair of horses he bred had the distinction of winning the first two stakes races at Charles Town this year.

Within a 24-hour span, Miller product Mendys Honey captured the $75,000 Original Gold Stakes for fillies and mares, and then one night later Social Chic narrowly prevailed in the $75,000 Confucius Say Stakes for state-breds three and up.

“You don’t have too many chances to have good weekends like that,” said Miller, who has been the president of the Charles Town HBPA since 2018. “Mendys Honey is usually on the lead when she races at Charles Town, but [jockey Arnaldo Bocachica] rode a perfect race and sat third until the far turn, and then he let her run when he thought she was ready and she went right by the leaders. She had run well at Colonial Downs in her previous start when she won an allowance race. She’s always shown speed and now I think she will probably get a chance to compete on the turf.”

One night later at Charles Town, Miller would make another appearance in the winners’ circle after Social Chic captured the Confucius Say Stakes with Angel Cruz in the irons for trainer Jeff Runco.

Social Chic has been no stranger to the winners’ circle at Charles Town over the years and he now sports 13 wins, along with 13 runner-up efforts and nearly $500,000 banked in 35 career outings. It was only the third stakes victory for the seven-year-old Upstart gelding, who had been disqualified from first in another stakes outing for a late racing infraction. The win came in his first start since finishing fourth in the Onion Juice on the October 12 WV Breeders Classics card.

“Social Chic has had quite a nice career at Charles Town,” Miller said. “He had some time off since his previous start but Jeff had him ready. He doesn’t quite have the resume or the bankroll of a horse like Muad’dib, but he’s had a really nice career. I’ve always liked Upstart as a sire. He’s a big, good-looking horse, and most of his runners have good size and they’re durable. He’s not a stayer like Muad’dib, but he loves the two-turn races up there.”

Mendys Honey, by Mendelssohn, is out of the Invisible Ink mare Honey Chile, whom Miller campaigned to multiple graded stakes placings and more than $340,000 in earnings. Social Chic is by Upstart out of the winning Harlan’s Holiday mare Tres Chic.

Miller’s weekend success wasn’t limited to Charles Town, however. Miller also had the opportunity to see Social Chic’s full brother, Pascaline, make his three-year-old debut earlier that same afternoon in the $150,000 Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct, where the Arnaud Delacour trainee finished a solid third behind favored Mo Plex and the previously undefeated Faster Gator. Pascaline, the champion West Virginia-bred two-year-old male of 2024 when he captured the famed Laurel Futurity in just his second start, raced well off the lengthy layoff and was beaten just a length despite suffering his first setback in three career tries.

“He was off for a long time between the Laurel race and the Bay Shore, but he had some really nice works at Tampa Bay Downs this winter,” Miller said. “I flew up for that race [in New York] and had the chance to see him run then I flew back to Charles Town to see his full brother Social Chic win the Confucius Say. It was a busy weekend, but it was fun and it was exciting to see both full brothers compete in stakes at two different tracks on the same day. I was hoping Pascaline would win, but that was two nice horses that beat him and they went fast [1:21.96 for seven furlongs].”

Down the road apiece, Mendys Honey and Social Chic may compete on the same card August 22. Both would presumably be live contenders, Mendys Honey in the Sadie Hawkins Stakes and Social Chic in the Frank Gall Memorial on the undercard of the Grade II, $1 million Charles Town Classic and Grade II, $750,000 Charles Town Oaks on August 22.

Call it a pipe dream, but Miller can see in his mind’s eye a situation where all three of this talented trio compete on the same card.

“I would love to see Pascaline make a start or two at Charles Town. It would be great to see a really good West Virginia-bred compete in the [$500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial on Charles Town Classic night],” Miller said. “Seven furlongs is probably not ideal for him, but the race is two turns at Charles Town, so it’s not really like most sprints. I would also enjoy seeing all three of those horses run on West Virginia Breeders Classics night [October 11]. There are plenty of spots for three-year-olds on the calendar, so I am not sure where he will end up next, but it would be nice to see him run once at Charles Town.”