McKee hoping for last laugh with Catch the Humor
Ran good second in Confucius Say
Ted Black
June 18, 2026
In the span of two weeks trainer Cynthia McKee won the last West Virginia-bred stakes race at Charles Town in May and then nearly won the first stake there in June.
On May 30, McKee sent out her talented distaffer Overnight Pow Wow to capture the $75,000 Original Gold Stakes for state-bred fillies and mares as the odds-on choice in an emotional tally. Less than 30 minutes later, McKee was back in the winners’ circle for the evening finale when Catch the Humor kicked off his five-year-old campaign by rallying for a sharp, two-turn allowance score to give the conditioner the late double.
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A five-year-old Girvin gelding, Catch the Humor had been idle for nearly nine months when he prevailed in his 2026 debut in the May 30 nightcap. His next outing would come up much quicker.
On June 13, Catch the Humor rallied from off the pace to finish a sharp second behind Ray of Sunshine in the $75,000 Confucius Stakes for West Virginia-bred older runners. It was only his third appearance in a local stakes race, having won the $75,000 Russell Road Breeders Classic at age three nearly two years ago. Last year he ran third in the Frank Gall Memorial.
“Going into his first race, I wasn’t sure that I had him fit,” McKee said of Catch the Humor, who now sports a 6-2-2 slate and a nearly $160,000 bankroll from 13 career outings. “I was very happy with the way he ran that night and the way he came out of the race. I thought the two weeks [between his first race and the stake] might be a little quick. But he was doing so good I decided to nominate him.”
Catch the Humor has returned at an ideal time for McKee, as other barn stars are dealing with injury or nearing retirement.
McKee’s late-running multiple-stakes winner No Change has been retired after two dull outings this year, ending his career with 19 wins and over $635,000 banked from 48 career tries.
Overnight Pow Wow, winner of the May 30 Original Gold, is set to be retired after competing in the West Virginia Cavada Breeders’ Classic this fall.
And McKee was forced to scratch Im the Director from the Confucius Say, as that runner has been dealing with foot issues. The scratch enabled stablemate Catch the Humor to get into the body of the race from the also eligible list.
“Catch the Humor has always showed a lot of ability,” McKee said. “He won that stakes race at three in just his third start. He really didn’t have a great four-year-old season. I thought he ran well in the Gall, but then he didn’t run well that next start so I stopped with him. He came back training good, but I still thought he might be a little short going into his first race back. He should be even better going longer. But I won’t know for a while.”
Catch the Humor could pick up the baton for the recently retired No Change, who won six stakes races in his career, including the last three editions of the $75,000 WVBC Onion Juice.
McKee and her late husband, John McKee, have captured nearly every stakes race on the Charles Town calendar over the last four decades.
But there is one race that has eluded them: the $300,000 Sam Huff West Virginia Breeders’ Classic.
“Me and John have won every race except the big one,” McKee said, referring to the Classic. “No Change, even though he won the Funkhouser, just never seemed like he wanted to go that far. He was so good going seven [furlongs], I just kept pointing him to the Onion Juice because he kept winning it. Catch the Humor could win the Gall and the Onion Juice, but one year I would like to try him in the big one. That’s really the only race we’ve never won.”
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