WV-breds seek spotlight on Classic night
Hope to join local graded winners Runnin’toluvya, Late Night Pow Wow
Ted Black
August 27, 2026
While they may have been initially viewed as inferior to their more fancily-bred rivals who arrive at Charles Town for races like the Grade 2, $1 million Charles Town Classic and Grade 2, $750,000 Charles Town Oaks, those West Virginia-breds who have stayed home to tackle open stakes foes have more than held their own over the past decade.
West Virginia-breds such as Runnin’toluvya and Late Night Pow Wow have recorded victories in the Charles Town Classic and Charles Town Oaks, respectively, while other state-bred stars such as Coastal Mission and Muad’dib have been prominent in the Classic and other open stakes on the card. Muad’dib was second and fourth in two Classic tries while Coastal Mission won the Russell Road Stakes and was fourth in the Classic.
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This year a pair of undefeated sophomores, At a Premium and Ryan’s Run, are poised to tackle open stakes foes on Friday in both the Charles Town Oaks and Robert R. Hilton Memorial, while durable local product Xcellent Start is seeking to shock rivals in the Charles Town Classic.
At a Premium has won all four of her lifetime starts for trainer David Walters heading into the Oaks and is the 9-5 morning line second choice, just behind favored Luv Your Neighbor, a Grade 3 winner.
“My filly is coming into the Oaks about as good as she can be,” Walters said. “I’m not the least bit nervous about trying her in there. This is her home track and she’s been training great. All I can do now is sit back and watch and hope she breaks well and runs the way she’s capable of running. Good horses are good horses no matter where they’re bred. She’s going to get an acid test on Friday, but she’s shown me that deserves a chance to be in there.”
Ryan’s Run is also perfect through his first four outings for trainer Jeff Runco. However, he is 10-1 on the morning line for the Hilton Memorial in a race which appears to run through the Saffie Joseph-trained Solitude Dude, who is even money. Regular pilot Arnaldo Bocachica has the mount on Ryan’s Run.
“My colt came out of the Leavitt perfect and he’s been training great ever since,” Runco said. “There are some really good ones in there with him, so he’s going to have to run his best race yet to win. But he won that last stakes race easily and ‘Boca’ said he never had to get after him. I’m hoping that he breaks well and is able to work out a good trip in there. We’ve seen what West Virginia-breds can do in these open and graded stakes races recently, so the entire program has gotten a lot stronger.”
Although West Virginia-breds such as Afternoon Deelites, A Huevo and Soul of the Matter had captured Grade I races elsewhere, state-breds tackling open, graded stakes foes on their home track is a more recent phenomenon.
Late Night Pow Wow set the bar high by taking the 2018 Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks during a nine-race win streak for owner-trainer Javier Contreras, and the following year Runnin’toluvya won the Grade 2, $1 million Charles Town Classic, a race that has produced Grade I winners such as Game On Dude, Art Collector, and Skippylongstocking.
“I think a lot of people did not give the West Virginia-breds much respect when my filly was in the Oaks,” Contreras said of Late Night Pow Wow, who concluded her career with 12 wins in 15 starts and earned just over $700,000. “Even after she won the Oaks and the Cavada, when I took her to Laurel for those open stakes, people just said that a West Virginia-bred can’t win these races. Well, she won two open stakes and then won the [Grade 3] Barbara Fritchie.”
If the Oaks morning line is to be believed, these days West Virginia-breds are held in higher regard. Contreras says he’s a believer in At a Premium.
“I think that filly definitely has a big chance in the Oaks,” he said. “I would like to see her win it.”
In much the same fashion that Late Night Pow Wow proved dominant against state-breds and then flexed her muscles successfully in open stakes company, Runnin’toluvya captured the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic during a gaudy 10-race win streak for trainer Tim Grams and was a solid third in his title defense a year later. Grams expects both At a Premium and Ryan’s Run to perform well on Friday and perhaps put West Virginia-breds back in the spotlight.
“When Javier’s filly was winning those races and then my horse won the Classic, that just showed everyone that West Virginia-breds can run with anyone,” Grams said. “Besides, when you come to Charles Town, there are a lot of things that those other horses have not seen before. Most of those fillies have not been two turns, and a lot of those older horses have never gone three turns, and it makes a difference up here.”
Like Contreras, Grams thinks the locals can make some noise.
“I think David’s filly and Jeff’s colt both have a good shot in those races,” the veteran trainer said. “Nobody should count them out just because they’ve been running at Charles Town and they’re West Virginia-breds.”
Xcellent Start will look to join Runnin’toluvya on the very short list of West Virginia-breds to win the Classic when he breaks from post three on Friday. A six-year-old Upstart gelding trained by Wade Sanderson for owner Regulator Racing Stable, Xcellent Start owns an 11-9-3 slate and nearly $330,000 banked from 46 career outings, including an 8-8-2 slate and roughly $250,000 bankroll from 37 local tries. He finished second in the $75,000 Randy Funkhouser Memorial and third in the Sam Huff West Virginia Breeders Classic last fall in two stakes outings at the three-turn distance, both of which were won by eventual West Virginia-bred horse of the year Teachintherelease, who is running in the $75,000 Frank Gall Memorial on Friday.
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