CT: Teachintherelease strong Funkhouser favorite
The Biz
November 13, 2025
A field of West Virginia-bred routers will line up Saturday night at Charles Town for the Randy Funkhouser Memorial, but all roads once again run through Teachintherelease, who returns as the overwhelming 1-5 favorite and defending champion.
This article contains affiliate links. If you click and buy, we may earn a commission at no extra charge to you.
Pick up reliable and rewarding tickets for major events!
Teachintherelease has risen from claim-box pickup to one of the state’s most dominant runners. Since owner Robert Cole Jr. claimed him for $20,000 in June 2024, the Windsor Castle gelding has been a revelation—winning eight races, four of them stakes, and currently riding a four-race win streak. He enters off his most emphatic performance yet, a front-running blowout in the $270,000 West Virginia Sam Huff Breeders’ Classic, where he controlled the pace and drew away with authority.
Already a 14-time winner with more than $530,000 earned, he has delivered his best work at this 1 1/8-mile distance and over this surface. With pace advantage, consistency, and class all in his corner, he will be extremely tough to deny.
A pair of familiar rivals will take their shots again. Runaldo, runner-up in last year’s Funkhouser — which came a month after his signature victory, in the 2024 Sam Huff Breeders’ Classic — is as honest as they come at Charles Town and arrives with solid recent form, including a sharp allowance win and a respectable fourth in the Breeders’ Classic behind Teachintherelease.
Xcellent Start, a distant third in the Sam Huff, continues to produce big late rallies and owns four wins this season. But he’ll need a well-timed trip, a pace collapse, and arguably a performance we haven’t seen from him to threaten the champ.
Trainer Ron Sigler sends out a pair here, which might offer intrigue. Three-year-old Bail Is Denied chased Teachintherelease to no avail last out, but he has plenty of early speed, and if his mission is to go to the attack, that could aid the late-running Lord of Cork.
Still, the storyline remains centered on the defending champion. Teachintherelease has beaten nearly this entire group multiple times and enters in peak form for trainer Stephen Murdock. If he replicates his recent efforts, the rest may simply be running for minor awards.
Pick up reliable and rewarding tickets for major events!
RANDY FUNKHOUSER MEMORIAL STAKES ENTRIES
| PostPosition | Horse | Odds | Jockey | Trainer | Owner |
| 1 | Runaldo | 5-1 | Bocachica A | Runco Jeff C | Huntertown Farm LLC |
| 2 | Xcellent Start | 8-1 | Peltroche F | Sanderson Wade S | Regulator Racing Stable |
| 3 | Paymengold | 20-1 | Almodovar G | Johnson Dewayne C | Dewayne C. Johnson |
| 4 | Love Is Wicked | 30-1 | Bocachica A J | Johnson Dewayne C | Dewayne C. Johnson |
| 5 | Late in the Game | 20-1 | Larrosa G | Sigler Ronald G | Casey’s Legacy LLC |
| 6 | Neverpopthecork | 30-1 | Lopez A | Petty Kristy | KP Racing Stables LLC |
| 7 | Bail Is Denied | 20-1 | Acosta J D | Sigler Ronald G | Casey’s Legacy LLC |
| 8 | Lord of Cork | 15-1 | Araujo D V | Sigler Ronald G | Casey’s Legacy LLC |
| 9 | Teachintherelease | 1-5 | Lopez C E | Murdock Stephen | Robert L. Cole, Jr. |
| 10 | Big Joe B | 30-1 | Lewis J M | Atkins Michael G | Michael G. Atkins |
LATEST NEWS
