Several of Saturday’s West Virginia Breeders’ Classics supporting events perhaps provided onlookers a glimpse into future feature winners.

In the opening race on the card, the $75,000 West Virginia Triple Crown Nutrition Breeders’ Classic for juvenile fillies, much of the attention was focused on 2-5 choice C’Mon Eileen, who had won the $75,000 John McKee Memorial Stakes impressively. The attention remained on her throughout Saturday’s affair, though not necessarily for the right reasons.

C’Mon Eileen veered out sharply on the first turn and carried several foes wide before recovering to retake the lead. By the stretch, she was one tired filly.

While the favorite endured a troubled journey, albeit of her own doing, Edy’s Flame (Jeiron Barbosa) benefited from a clean trip, rallied between horses at the top of the lane, and edged clear from the odds-on favorite in the lane to a two-length score while stopping the timer in 1:21.85 for the 6 1/2 furlongs.

Trained and bred by Anthony Farrior, Edy’s Flame, a daughter of Flameaway, notched her second win from three career outings and provided some beginner’s luck for her trainer in at least one regard.

“She was the first horse that I ever bred,” Farrior said. “Then I named her for [trainer] Brittany Russell’s daughter. Kind of ironic that we beat her filly in the stakes here. I thought she would do well going two turns up here. There’s a seven-furlong stakes for her here next month [the $75,000 James & Eleanor Casey Memorial]. Then I’ll probably turn her out.”

Several races later in the $75,000 Vincent Moscarelli Memorial BC for state-bred two-year-olds, Tricks R for Juba (Denis Araujo) forged a very mild upset when he gained command soon after the break and led throughout en route to a three-length score over 1-5 choice Gurney Halleck, winner of the $75,000 Henry Mercer Stakes in his previous outing. A juvenile son of Juba trained by Ronald Sigler for owner Casey’s Legacy (Brad Broy), Tricks R for Juba recorded his second win in four career tries while getting the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:19.57, roughly two seconds faster than the freshmen fillies three races prior.

Tricks R for Juba had won at first asking before finishing third in a two-turn allowance at Timonium. Last out in the Henry Mercer Memorial, he was part of a wicked early pace and stayed on to be third.

“He’s always had a lot of speed, but the key was having some experience going two turns,” Sigler said. “That’s why I took him over to Timonium for that race. He raced good here in the stakes and he won his first start going one turn, but I wanted to make sure he was fit enough for the two turns tonight.”

Not surprisingly, both the $75,000 West Virginia Lottery BC for three-year-old fillies and the $75,000 West Virginia Russell Road BC for three-year-old boys had one common denominator – the team of trainer Jeff Runco and jockey Arnaldo Bocachica.

Zip Start took the WV Lottery for owner David Raim as the odds-on choice, while Spotafreeone fended off favored Pascaline to capture the WV Russell Road for owner John Link as the 9-5 second choice.

“Zip Start has been racing well all year,” Runco said of the filly who won the $75,000 Sylvia Bishop Memorial Stakes and was seventh in the Grade 2, $750,000 Charles Town Oaks most recently. “The race set up perfect for her, but it looked like Boca had to get after her a little bit. Spotafreeone is really nice. He got the jump on that other horse [Pascaline] tonight. I think he may be even better as a four-year-old and I think he might like to go even further.”