CT: Farrior sophomores sweep Saturday allowances
Trainer saddles three winners, two runners-up
Ted Black
March 23, 2026
Things could not have worked out much better for trainer Anthony Farrior Saturday night at Charles Town Races. His trainees finished one-two in a pair of West Virginia-bred three-year-olds allowance races, and then later a third of his sophomores prevailed in a two-turn allowance to enable him to sweep the trio of allowance races on the card.
The first of those allowance events brought a major surprise. Farrior trainee Priority One went off as the 1-9 in a five-horse field as she sought to run her record to 3-for-3. Indeed, she attracted more than $205,000 in show wagers from a total pool just north of $225,000.
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While bridge jumpers perhaps never had an anxious moment, her win backers would feel remorseful as Priority One weakened noticeably in the lane and stablemate Edy’s Flame, with J.D. Acosta up, rallied inside to a three-length score while stopping the timer in 52.00 seconds flat for the 4 1/2 furlongs.
“I knew that Farrior’s other filly was the speed, so I wanted to just sit behind her and save ground and hope to get room toward the inside,” said Acosta. “When that other filly just started to stop, I went up inside there and she was really good.”
Although Priority One faded as the odds-on choice, Farrior was pleased to see Edy’s Flame prevail as a genuine consolation. Farrior, who trains Edy’s Flame for owner Richard Burnsworth, bred the sophomore daughter of Flameaway and named her for her friend trainer Brittany Russell’s daughter.
“She’s always had plenty of ability,” Farrior said of Edy’s Flame. “I didn’t think she would beat my other filly tonight, but that other filly has a tendency to get a little hot going to the gate. She broke well, but she just came up empty in the lane.”
Farrior had hoped to add blinkers to Edy’s Flame, but that plan came a cropper, forcing Acosta to remove them.
“Edy’s Flame won her last start and I wanted to add blinkers on her tonight,” Farrior explained. “But the stewards called me right before the race and told me they had to come off.”
Two races later, The Big Lep, with Arnaldo Bocachica, provided a mild upset in a one-turn allowance dash for state-bred three-year-olds, inching away from stablemate Coach Siggy in the stretch to win by three parts of a length. A sharp debut winner at Timonium last summer, The Big Lep ended a modest drought to record his second win in five career tries while getting the 4 1/2 furlongs in 51.93 over the fast strip.
“I really thought he might be the best one of the state-breds that I had,” Farrior said. “I still think he’s going to do all right. He’s got the ability.”
“I knew he had plenty of speed and I wanted to press the leader [Coach Siggy], but I didn’t want to lean on him too much because he has the same trainer,” Bocachica said. “But this colt has speed and today he didn’t try and run off from me, and he finished up pretty good.”
Then several races later in the penultimate race on the Saturday night card, Farrior struck again. His trainee Irish Jubalee, with Acosta in the irons, forged a mild upset in a two-turn allowance for sophomore boys when he broke well to press the pace through the clubhouse turn and down the backside and then drew clear in the lane to a 4 ¾-length score while stopping the timer in 1:19.36 for the 6 1/2 furlongs.
“I knew that apprentice (Moises Santaella aboard I’m Not Catty) was going to send his horse so I didn’t want him to get too far in front of me,” Acosta said after guiding Irish Jubalee to his second win in three seasonal outings and fourth in 10 lifetime tries, which also pushed his career earnings above the $100,000 plateau. “The last time I rode him, we got caught in behind horses. I wanted to be in the clear and be able to press the speed horse, so going into the far turn I just let him loose and he responded.”
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