At a Premium, Overnight Pow Wow zig, others zag
No Cavada showdown between top distaffers
Ted Black
October 8, 2026
Among the distaffers who could take center stage Saturday during the West Virginia Breeders Classics night card at Charles Town are a talented sophomore filly early in her career and veteran mare about to close the curtain on her career.
Budding three-year-old filly star At A Premium garnered an ample portion of attention this spring and summer for trainer David Walters and owner-breeder Jill Daniel by virtue of four straight victories to begin her career. Then she validated that with a game, second-place effort in the Grade 2, $750,000 Charles Town Oaks in her most recent outing.
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Meanwhile, five-year-old Overnight Pow Wow is slated to cap her busy career this Saturday in the $125,000 West Virginia Cavada Breeders Classic for owner-trainer Cynthia McKee.
A daughter of Fiber Sonde out of the late, great local broodmare, Holy Pow Wow, Overnight Pow Wow is seeking to put the final, finishing touches on her career on the track before potentially following in her dam’s footsteps as a stellar producer off of it. Overnight Pow Wow is a full-sister to past state-bred stars Late Night Pow Wow and Muad’dib and current sprint champ Duncan Idaho, and she also was the last horse her dam foaled.
Overnight Pow Wow is 3-5 on the morning line in the Cavada, in part because the connections of At a Premium have opted to remain in her own age group in the $75,000 West Virginia Lottery BC for three-year-old fillies.
“Regardless of how she does this Saturday night, the Cavada is definitely her final start,” said Cynthia McKee, who actually paid late husband John McKee $40,000 for a half-interest in Overnight Pow Wow soon after she was foaled. “She’s been good to me over the years, so now it’s time to let her start the next phase of her career. She was the last filly out of Holy Pow Wow. I wanted to make sure John didn’t sell her so I paid him for half of her. She’s made over a half million dollars since then. After the race her shoes will come off and she’ll come home to the farm for good.”
McKee admitted she has not selected the first stallion to breed to Overnight Pow Wow but is eager to see what the mare will produce beginning in the spring of 2028 when her first foal hits the ground.
Overnight Pow Wow won the Cavada two years ago at age three, as did her older sister Late Night Pow Wow in 2018. But she faded to fourth in last year’s renewal won by Petty Perfect. Overnight Pow Wow will head into the Cavada having won five of seven outings this year and 15 of 24 career starts to date. She has been the odds-on favorite in each of her last 16 races.
Overnight Pow Wow looms the odds-on choice in the Cavada despite the presence of defending heroine Petty Perfect for trainer Kristy Petty and the razor sharp Edy’s Flame for trainer Anthony Farrior.
At a Premium is expected to be an even shorter price in the West Virginia Lottery off a 1-5 morning line. The sophomore daughter of Great Notion, unraced at age two, won her first four starts by an average of over 10 lengths before finishing a solid second as the 3-5 favorite in the Grade 2 Charles Town Oaks last out.
“I thought about going in the Cavada, but really the money is not much different and this way she gets to race three-year-old fillies one last time here,” Walters said. “I have to do what’s best for this filly. She’s run five really good races already this year. She’ll get probably two more chances to run in the Cavada if everything goes right. There might be a race for her at Laurel later this fall. But I would like to get her a break at some point and then have her ready for the races next season.”
While Walters opted to bypass trying his talented sophomore filly against older rivals in the Cavada, Farrior admitted he wanted to avoid testing At a Premium in the West Virginia Lottery so he has entered three-year-olds Edy’s Flame and Mitoleisdynamite in the Cavada.
Edy’s Flame, last year’s winner of the Triple Crown Nutrition BC for two-year-old fillies, has won three straight allowance races heading into the Cavada, while Mitoleisdynamite exits a quartet of one-turn dash events over the track and guarantees some pace pressure for Overnight Pow Wow.
“When I saw David’s filly was only nominated to the three-year-old filly race, that’s when I decided to put both of mine in the Cavada,” Farrior said. “I mean, I saw At a Premium train the other morning and she looked super. I really think she is the best horse on the grounds up there, regardless of age or gender. Edy’s Flame is really coming into the race really good. I think there’s going to be plenty of pace up front for her to run at. So, maybe it will set up for her.”
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