On a day when speed killed, out-of-town riders said the key to Charles Town was having the right horse — including Charles Town Oaks winner Vahva.
Once a $25,000 claim, four-year-old Benevengo is favored in Friday’s Russell Road Stakes, and his owner thinks the best is yet to come.
Trainer Jeff Runco has horses in six stakes Friday night at Charles Town, including Muad’dib, bidding for an upset in the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic.
With the big name jocks home because of Covid-19, local riders spread the wealth around, with six different jocks winning stakes.
Trainer Jeff Runco, who won the first two runnings of the Charles Town Classic, has three live runners in stakes on this year’s Classic undercard.
In a pair of preps for next month’s Charles Town stakes, Lake Ponchatrain is favored in the distaff version, while Runnin’toluvya dominated the boys’.
The three open stakes on the Charles Town Classic undercard — the Sugar Maple, Hilton Memorial, and Russell Road Stakes — have drawn over 130 nominations.
