Heading into Saturday’s $300,000 Sam Huff West Virginia Breeders’ Classic at Charles Town, trainer Jeff Runco will saddle defending champion Runaldo and past two-time hero Muad’dib.

But it will be conditioner Stephen Murdock who will send out 7-5 morning line favorite Teachintherelease with a chance to make history.

The Classic, the ninth race on a 10-race program, is for West Virginia-bred three-year-olds and up going the three-turn distance of 1 1/8 miles.

A five-year-old Windsor Castle gelding that Murdock trains for Robert Cole, Jr., Teachintherelease has won his last three starts, including the $75,000 Frank Gall Memorial Stakes two back. He now boasts seven wins from 10 tries since Cole and Murdock reached in to claim him for $20,000 on June 20, 2024 from trainer Kristy Petty.

One month after the claim, he romped home nearly six lengths clear in a two-turn allowance/optional $20,000 claimer while stopping the timer in 1:17.75 for the 6 1/2 furlongs.

Teachintherelease also won last year’s $75,000 Frank Gall Memorial before finishing second to No Change in the $75,000 Onion Juice Breeders’ Classic. He capped his 2024 campaign by capturing the $75,000 Randy Funkhouser Memorial for state-bred older runners by getting the one mile and one-eighth in 1:53.53, perhaps setting the stage for his appearance in the Classic this weekend. In that contest, he bested both Muad’dib and Runaldo.

“It’s been a great opportunity for me to train for Mr. Cole,” said Murdock, who has won 15 races from 46 starters this year and boasts 52 wins from 154 career runners, a healthy 34 percent clip. “[Teachintherelease has] a lot of natural early speed. I am hoping he can break well, and then [jockey Carlos Lopez] will be able to keep his face clean the whole trip. That’s how he runs. He is really coming into the race great. I’m excited, but I’m also a little nervous going into it.”

Teachintherelease was off from the November 16 Funkhouser Memorial until this summer, when he finished a solid second in a two-turn allowance at Charles Town on July 19 — exactly one year after his initial victory for the connections. He returned two weeks later to capture a local allowance then followed that up with a superb, wire-to-wire effort as the even-money choice in the $75,000 Frank Gall Memorial, defending his title in that event. He was just one of two horses on that Charles Town Classic card to win in wire-to-wire fashion; the other was the millionaire multiple graded stakes winner Mystic Lake.

“He really has a lot of talent,” Murdock said. “He really makes my job easy. He’s been training great since his last start, and I know he can get the distance. He won that last stakes last fall going a mile and an eighth and three turns. I know he’s going to have the bullseye on his back. There are a lot of really good horses in there. He’s got speed and I hope he breaks well and makes the lead, but he might get pressed by someone at some point.”

Teachintherelease will look to give Murdock and Cole their first triumph in the featured Sam Huff West Virginia Classic, which would be Murdock’s first in a WVBC race. Runco, meanwhile, will counter with the formidable duo of defending champion Runaldo and two-time prior Classic hero Muad’dib, the lone millionaire competing on the card. Runaldo has chased Teachintherelease unsuccessfully in recent months but seeks his second straight score in this event, while Muad’dib seeks his first win in nine seasonal outings and seek his third overall Classic tally.

“They’re both coming into it really well,” said Runco, noting that 2023 Classic hero Coastal Mission bypassed the race again to defend his title in the Grade 3, $175,000 Forty Niner Stakes at Aqueduct Nov. 2.

“They both drew toward the outside, so hopefully they get come away in good order on that first turn,” the trainer added. “We know who they are going to be chasing. Runaldo is doing well. I think he’ll run well in there. Muad’dib hasn’t won in a while, but he loves the distance and he’s always right there at the end.”