Forty improbable years of WV Breeders Classics
West Virginia’s top state-bred event reaches a milestone
Frank Vespe
October 5, 2026
Carol Holden helped create the West Virginia Breeders Classics. That didn’t mean she remembered to nominate her own horse.
Each nomination season, she would check with the office: How many horses did they have? How were things looking?
Then, about a week after nominations closed one year, she realized a West Virginia-bred filly of her own wasn’t on the list.
“I named her Classic Oversight,” Holden laughed on the Sept. 29 episode of the Midlantic Racing Today podcast.
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With the event she cofounded with football Hall of Famer Sam Huff about to hold its 40th running, Holden has plenty of stories. Some involve great horses. Others involve the people trying to keep up with them.
The next chapter comes October 10 at Charles Town Races, with a 7 p.m. first post for a night celebrating West Virginia-breds. Getting this far wasn’t necessarily the expectation when Holden and Huff started.
“I was amazed we got past the first one, considering all the circumstances we had to had to deal with,” she said.
The idea came on the ride home from the inaugural Maryland Million in 1986. Huff wanted something similar for his home state. Holden’s practical objections: not enough horses, and no obvious source of money.
Money from uncashed pari-mutuel tickets helped launch the first Classics in 1987. There were five Classics races, with the horsemen adding three others to fill the card. The centerpiece was West Virginia’s first $100,000 race.
Onion Juice won it, with the crowd urging home a horse they already knew from Saturday nights at Charles Town.
“Come on, Juice! Come on, Juice!” Holden recalled the fans shouting.
That familiarity remains a big part of the appeal. These are horses people watch through seasons and careers, then welcome back for another big night. At the time of the interview, Holden said at least nine of last year’s 10 winners were still in training and could return.
The celebration will also make room for some accomplished veterans. Three-time Onion Juice winner No Change is scheduled to welcome gala guests at Beau Ridge Farm, while trainer Jeff Runco has offered to bring two-time Sam Huff Classic champ Muad’dib to Charles Town for an appearance on race night.
The weekend includes the Sam Huff Golf Tournament, a gala with a tent and band at Beau Ridge, and a Saturday afternoon tour at O’Sullivan Farms. This year’s winners will receive special handblown glass trophies featuring the event’s mare-and-foal logo.
Presenting trophies has occasionally given Holden mixed feelings. Huff once sold three of their broodmares, and their offspring proceeded to win Classics races for the Casey family.
“It got a little frustrating,” she said.
Still, the Caseys became central to the program, and Holden credits Jim Casey with recognizing its possibilities early. The resulting farm, she joked, benefited nicely from both the Classics and Huff’s mares.
Huff’s determination helped the event survive its early obstacles. Even the soundtrack required intervention.
Before the first Classics, Holden recalled, someone reported that the outrider would not permit “Country Roads” to be played, fearing it would upset the horses. Huff began rising from his chair; the racing commission chairman stepped in to handle it.
The song played. As Holden and Huff crossed the track afterward, she noticed one horse bouncing around unhappily.
The outrider’s.
After four decades of races, trophies and occasional complications, Holden isn’t pretending to know exactly what comes next.
“Well, I left my crystal ball at home,” she said.
For October 10, though, the plan is familiar: gather the people, bring back the horses, and celebrate another Classics night.
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