Charles Town: 10 stories that mattered in 2025
Ted Black
January 7, 2026
During the recently concluded yearlong racing season at Charles Town, there were a number of stellar performances from equines and humans alike.
Here is a glimpse at 10 of the most memorable performances throughout 2025 at Charles Town.
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ONE – TEACHINTHERELEASE EMERGES
While two-time defending West Virginia-bred horse of the year Coastal Mission failed to win a race during an abbreviated, three-race campaign, Teachintherelease ascended to the head of the class among state-bred runners of all ages with a trio of stakes victories in a memorable three-month stretch. A now-five-year-old Windsor Castle gelding trained by Stephen Murdock for owner Robert Cole, Jr., Teachintherelease won five of seven starts and earned over $280,000, highlighted by a 14 1/4-length romp in the $300,000 Sam Huff West Virginia Breeders’ Classic sandwiched in between victories in both the $75,000 Frank Gall Memorial at seven furlongs and the $75,000 Randy Funkhouser Memorial going one mile and one-eighth.
TWO – SHIPPER MYSTIC LAKE RIGHT AT HOME
In each of the past two years, Mystic Lake arrived at Charles Town for only one outing and made the most of it. One year after forging a 6-1 upset in the Grade 2, $750,000 Charles Town Oaks for three-year-old fillies, Mystic Lake returned to annex the $250,000 Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon Stakes for fillies and mares as the 6-5 second choice while upending favored defending champion Vahva. A daughter of Mo Town trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr., Mystic Lake concluded her campaign with five wins and nearly $560,000 banked from eight starts. Runner-up Vahva, who had also completed the Oaks-Pink Ribbon double one year earlier, would later finish second in the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.
THREE – BOCA’S BIG YEAR
Jockey Arnaldo Bocachica’s 2025 campaign also featured several high percentages of success as well as a career milestone. Bocachica has now won eight consecutive riding titles at Charles Town after recording 197 winners from only 598 local mounts (33 percent), and he finished in the money two-thirds of the time. Bocachica also attained the 3,000th victory of his career last spring, fittingly aboard a Jeff Runco trainee, and should eclipse the $60 million earnings barrier sometime during the summer of 2026 while seeking his ninth consecutive riding title and 10th overall.
FOUR – THE “OTHER WALTERS” WINS THE HILTON
During a very memorable campaign for his trainer that virtually offset two decades of obscurity, Barbadian Runner won six of 12 starts and earned over $730,000 for trainer Henry Walters, highlighted by his victory in the $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial for three-year-olds at Charles Town on the undercard of the Classic and Oaks. Walters, the older brother of longtime local conditioner David Walters, who is Hilton’s son-in-law, recorded his first stakes tally since Basketball Court prevailed in the Horatius Stakes at Laurel Park on March 21, 2004 and did so with a $5,000 yearling purchase. Granted, David Walters still owns family bragging rights with more wins (1,610-295) and earnings ($16.5 million to $5.5 million), but last year it was Henry Walters and his bargain purchase that earned the spotlight.
FIVE – FOUR FOR FARRIOR
Conditioner Anthony Farrior recorded his fourth consecutive Charles Town training title last year. Farrior recorded 131 of his 242 winners last year at Charles Town and won at least one stakes race in three different states (West Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio). He also sent out the first horse he ever bred, Edy’s Flame, to a win on WVBC night. Farrior is on target to attain the 1,500th victory of his career perhaps in late 2026 as he seeks his fifth consecutive local training title.
SIX – FOR SIGGY
After trainer Ronald Sigler’s son Tyler Sigler, 28, a high school wrestling coach in Jefferson County, was killed in a freak accident at a nearby golf course last spring, a couple of horses helped to provide some solace in the face of tragedy. Sigler trainee Maskedandmummed proved to be the best state-bred two-year-old filly by ending her campaign with a pair of stakes victories after having run third in the WVBC Triple Crown Nutrition. And on Nov. 29, the Anthony Farrior-trained Coach Siggy, named for Tyler Sigler, graduated at second asking. “It was great to have so many of Tyler’s friends in the winners’ circle with us that night,” said Sigler. “I have to admit I could not hold back the tears after that race.”
SEVEN – CLASSIC
Trained by David Jacobson for owner Lawrence Roman, then-four-year-old Banishing ended Skippylongstocking’s two-year reign as Grade 2 Charles Town Classic champion when he rallied from off the pace with a powerful move entering the far turn and held sway late for a 2 1/4-length score. Tyler Gaffalione was in the irons as Banishing, a son of Ghostzapper, earned his second graded triumph.
EIGHT – THE NAME SAYS IT ALL
Trainer Kristy Petty is quietly enjoying ample success. Last October the aptly named Petty Perfect captured the $125,000 Cavada Breeders Classic, marking the third time in the last four years that a Petty trainee has won the local signature event for state-bred fillies and mares. Hessica won both the 2022 and 2023 editions of the Cavada before finishing second to Overnight Pow Wow in the 2024 renewal. Hessica still rates as Petty’s top trainee with over $400,000 banked largely on the strength of those two Cavada tallies, but homebred Petty Perfect is rapidly climbing the ladder for her namesake owner-trainer.
NINE – BUGGY
A trio of apprentice riders — Juan Belisario, Warren Ebow, III, and Moises Santaella — made their marks at Charles Town in 2025. Belisario led the group with 48 local wins, tied for eighth most at the track, from 254 starters, winning at a 19% clip. Santaella was 30-for-193, a 16% strike rate, while Ebow won nine times from just 69 local starters (13%). Belisario’s mounts earned nearly $875,000, good for 11th at the meet.
TEN – ROCKIN’ AND ROLLIN’
Six years after he recorded his first West Virginia Breeders’ Classic tally with Parisian Diva, trainer Stacey Viands notched his second one when the talented-but-flighty Time To Rock rallied to capture the $75,000 West Virginia Dash For Cash Breeders’ Classic for owner-breeder Jill Daniel to cap a genuine Cinderella story for horse and trainer. Daniel had initially sent Viands two horses to train, but one of them never made it to the track. The other, Time fo Rock, displayed plenty of talent from the outset and put the finishing touches on a solid 2025 campaign by winning his last three starts over the strip capped by a 9-2 score in the Dash for Cash.
What to look for in 2026? Farrior’s bid for 1,500 is one thing, and trainer Jeff Runco, who finished third by wins in the standings in ’25, could reach a remarkable 5,000 career wins late in the season. Will one (or more) of the bug riders take another step forward in ’26? Will Banishing defend his Classic title? How about Teachintherelease?
It looks like there’ll be plenty to keep an eye on at Charles Town in the coming year.
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