'We're incredibly pleased with the business results of the last three Charles Town Classic programs and look forward to ramping up the card this August,' said Charlie McIntosh, Charles Town's director of racing operations. Since moving the Charles Town Classic and Oaks to the same card in 2020, the blockbuster program has produced three of the four largest single-card handles in track history, with the two largest coming in 20. The other unrestricted stakes-the Russell Road and Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon-remain at $250,000. In addition to the Charles Town Oaks (G3), one other unrestricted stakes race on the Classic night undercard-the Robert Hilton Memorial for straight 3-year-olds-received a purse hike to $350,000.
The Jeff Runco trainee will be pointed to the Charles Town Classic again in 2023, looking to improve on that second-place performance under Charles Town's reigning five-time leading rider, Arnaldo Bocachica. While unable to match the win of fellow West Virginia-bred Runnin'toluvya, David Raim's Muad'dib continued a trend of success for local runners in the Classic by finishing second last year before pulling off a repeat of his own in the Sam Huff West Virginia Breeders' Classic.
