It’s important for a trainer to have people he can trust in key positions. For Ollie Figgins, III his key people are kin: his younger brother and his 21-year-old daughter.
Twenty years ago, Captain Bodgit finished second in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Preakness. Combined margin of defeat: two heads.
Jockey Xavier Perez rode in the Breeders’ Cup in 2013 but has since fallen off the map. His three stakes mounts Friday are one sign he’s coming back.
Jockey Matt McGowan’s comeback is coming along nicely — and, he says, bringing his career full circle.
Things kept happening in pairs on the undercard of this afternoon’s Grade 2 Charles Town Classic.
Charles Town trainers tackling open company on Saturday’s big card know they’re up against it – but “it’s up to the horses,” one says.
The three fillies at the head of the Charles Town sophomore class all will run in undercard stakes Saturday, though one, Cuttin Edge Tech, will take on the boys.
The Charles Town Classic has always attracted good horses in search of a payday. But in the first running, local hero Researcher boosted local pride with an upset.
Two of the best horses to run for trainer Ronney Brown have Charles Town stakes named after them – but his true hallmark has been his year-in year-out consistency.
He’s been a groom, a jock’s agent, an on-air analyst. Now trainer Hubert Gaffney has a growing barn — and a compelling reason to come home each day.