At a Premium, Ryan’s Run run big for the home team
Earned open stakes placings on Charles Town’s biggest night
Ted Black
September 1, 2026
Although both At a Premium and Ryan’s Run suffered the first setbacks of their respective careers last Friday night at Charles Town, the talented tandem of West Virginia-breds certainly held their own facing open stakes foes for the first time.
Heading into the latest edition of the Grade 2, $750,000 Charles Town Oaks for three-year-old fillies, trainer David Walters realized his undefeated At a Premium was about to get the first genuine acid test of her career. She had fashioned a career-starting four-race win streak by a combined total of more than 40 lengths, including an 8 ¼-lengths win in the $75,000 Sylvia Bishop Memorial Stakes in her previous outing.
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A flood of late money in the wagering pools made At a Premium, a three-year-old homebred for Jill Daniel, the surprising 3-5 post time choice.
Ultimately, the Charles Town Oaks played out as a virtual match race between At a Premium and 14-1 outsider Niche, a Rob Atras trainee making her graded stakes debut under Dylan Davis, who was making his local riding debut.
Niche and At a Premium raced as team through honest early splits and they were nearly inseparable on the far turn and through the lane where the longshot rebuffed the state-bred star for a determined victory. At a Premium, a sophomore daughter of Great Notion trained by Walters for Daniel and co-owner Michael J. Miller, had been game in defeat while suffering her first blemish in five career outings.
“I was happy with the way she raced, and I was happy with the ride [from regular pilot Jeiron Barbosa],” Walters said. “She did everything that we could have asked of her. That was a big step up in class, but she proved that she belonged in there. When she was sitting just off [Niche] I thought that other horse would do what she’s always done and start to get a little tired that last furlong. But she kept going and my filly just could not go by her.”
Ryan’s Run, like At a Premium, was looking to remain undefeated and extend his win streak to five races when he went postward as the 3-1 second choice in the $500,000 Robert R. Hilton Memorial. Ryan’s Run, too, had easily handled his state-bred rivals in his first four starts, capturing a pair of stakes, including the recent $75,000 Robert Leavitt Memorial in his first attempt at seven furlongs and navigating two turns.
Ryan’s Run broke alertly to press the longshot leader, the Saffie Joseph, Jr.-trained Langvad through the clubhouse turn and down the backside. But he gave way in the lane as Bravaro rallied to overtake his stablemate for a neck score. Ryan’s Run, who had won his previous four starts by an average of seven lengths, settled for third in a good effort in his first try against open stakes company.
“That was a really tough field,” trainer Jeff Runco said. “On paper, I was just hoping that he would be able to get a piece of it. [Trainer] Saffie [Joseph, Jr.] had three in there and the one I thought my horse couldn’t beat [Solitude Dude] had the best trip and never picked up his feet and I got beat by his other two. But this track is not always easy to navigate. My horse was a little keyed up in the paddock and a little rank early in the race.”
The performances from At a Premium in the Charles Town Oaks and Ryan’s Run in the Robert R. Hilton should not come as a surprise. Indeed, several local runners have made their marks in open company both over the strip and on the road.
Late Night Pow Wow had won the 2018 Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks and later captured the Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel Park. Runnin’toluvya captured the Grade 2, $1 million Charles Town Classic in 2019 and finished third in his title defense a year later, while Muad’dib was second in the Classic and Coastal Mission prevailed in the Russell Road Stakes and was fourth in the Classic. Coastal Mission also won the 2024 Grade 3 Forty Niner at Aqueduct.
All in all, it was a productive night for the home team. Even if the two runners didn’t win, they proved they belonged in tough company. And they provided their connections a pretty nice payday.
“He ran well,” Runco said. “I mean, third in a $500,000 race is like winning a state-bred stakes.”
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