[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_text background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_alignment=”left” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Major advertisers” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_id=”Major advertisers” module_alignment=”left” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]
Moonlit Song. Photo by Coady Photography.
by Ted Black
One week after the older West Virginia-bred males were on display in the $50,000 A Huevo Stakes at one-mile and an eighth, the state-bred fillies and mares will have their chance to garner the spotlight this weekend in the $50,000 My Sister Pearl Stakes at the same three-turn distance of nine furlongs over the Charles Town strip.
Last weekend in the A Huevo, trainers Tim Grams and Jeff Runco saddled the top two finishers in Runnin’toluvya and North Atlantic, respectively, and there is a good possibility those two prominent local conditioners could also see a duplicate result with their top distaffers. Moonlit Song will make her first start at nine furlongs and going three turns for Grams, while T Rex Express will seek to defend her My Sister Pearl title for Runco.
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”All advertisers” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_alignment=”left” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]
Moonlit Song has won four times and finished second on five occasions in nine starts this year and boasts just shy of $120,000 in purse earnings along the way. But one year after she dominated state-bred fillies and mares, Moonlit Song has yet to win a stake. She will head into the My Sister Pearl having finished second most recently in the West Virginia Breeders Classic Cavada, and prior to that she was the runner-up in the Sadie Hawkins and the Fancy Buckles, coincidentally a trio of stakes she won the previous year at age three.
Moonlit Song will also have to deal with breaking from the far outside, having drawn the 10-hole. No horse has won a three-turn race from either the nine- or 10-hole this year at Charles Town. Moonlit Song is 6-5 on the morning line and will have Oscar Flores up.
T Rex Express (6-5), an easy winner in the Distaff on West Virginia Breeders Classics night in her most recent outing, has won three of eight starts and earned over $75,000 this year and arrives as the defending champion of this event. T Rex Express sports a solid 11-7-3 slate and nearly $300,000 banked from 27 lifetime tries for Runco. Her previous success in three-turn events over the local strip — along with the more congenial seventh post — could give her an edge in upending Moonlit Song in her nine-furlong debut. Gerald Almodovar will ride.
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text background_layout=”light” border_style=”solid” module_alignment=”left” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.0.78″]
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”3rd part of story” background_layout=”light” border_style=”solid” module_alignment=”left” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.0.78″]
Runco will also send out Starlight Flight (12-1) and Frozen Tundra (15-1), while Grams will also saddle Rock N Gold (15-1).
Trainer James W. Casey will send out Scottish Denis (8-1), who owns a modest 2-2-3 slate from 10 starts this year and 5-5-6 mark and nearly $160,000 bankroll from 28 career outings. His son, John A. Casey will saddle Jacky’s Notion (15-1), who arrives winless in seven starts this year but sports a solid 7-11-7 slate and roughly $244,000 banked from 38 lifetime tries.
A pair of three-year-old fillies, For The Crown (15-1) and Dark Empress (5-1), will look to topple their older rivals, and Boca Birdie (30-1) seeks a huge upset for trainer Michael Atkins. Saturday’s My Sister Pearl Stakes is slated as the seventh race of an eight-race program set to get under way at 7:00 p.m. with the main event scheduled for just prior to 9:49 p.m.
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”related posts” _builder_version=”3.0.78″ background_layout=”light” border_color=”#757575″ border_style=”solid”]
[yuzo_related]
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”3rd part of story” background_layout=”light” border_style=”solid” module_alignment=”left” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.0.78″]
SELECTIONS
- Moonlit Song
- T Rex Express
- Jacky’s Notion
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Minor advertisers” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_alignment=”left” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]
