Charles Town: Lucylou Who favored in Original Gold * The Racing Biz

Charles Town: Lucylou Who favored in Original Gold

Ted Black
April 14, 2023

This Saturday night Charles Town will offer its first stakes race on the calendar when the historic Jefferson County oval hosts the latest edition of the $75,000 Original Gold Stakes for West Virginia-bred fillies and mares.

Charles Town stakes races in the spring don’t come up much tougher, or more evenly matched, than this one.

A full field of 10 state-bred distaffers, plus an also-eligible, is entered for the 7-furlong, $75,000 contest. A glimpse at the morning line underscores the competitive nature of the event; Lucylou Who, a four-year-old daughter of Sky Mesa trained by Emanuel “Mike” Geralis for owner-breeder Robert Cole, Jr., is the tepid 3-1 morning line favorite.

Lucylou Who has won her last two outings against allowance company over the strip, has crossed the wire first in four of five, and sports a 6-2-1 slate and nearly $150,000 banked from 11 career tries. Carlos Lopez has the mount, and the duo will leave from the outermost stall.

As is customary for state-bred stakes here, trainer Jeff Runco figures to be a major player in the Original Gold with three fillies entered. Change the World is the 9-2 third choice in the field, followed by The Sky Is Falling, tabbed next at 5-1, with Navy Sword among the outsiders in the group at 15-1 on the morning line. David Raim owns The Sky Is Falling, while Runco’s Coleswood Farm owns the other two horses.

Navy Sword, last fall’s My Sister Pearl winner, has been second twice in three winless tries this year, while both The Sky Is Falling and Change the World will be making their seasonal debuts in this spot. The Sky Is Falling finished second in last fall’s WVBC Cavada but was disqualified for a crop rule violation, while Change the World finished second by a head in the WVBC Department of Tourism.

Arnaldo Bocachica, regular pilot on both The Sky Is Falling and Change the World, will ride the latter, while Runco will leg up Marshall Mendez on the former. Denis Araujo will ride Navy Sword.

Also expected to get considerable support in the Original Gold is Seneca Rocks, a sharp second in her seasonal debut behind Dulcimer Dame, who’s 7-for-7 this year. Rated as the 4-1 second choice on the morning line from the rail, Seneca Rocks owns a 5-3-1 slate and over $150,000 bankroll from 11 career outings for trainer Javier Contreras and owner-breeder O’Sullivan Farms. She won the West Virginia Department of Tourism Breeders’ Classic last fall and followed that up with a runner-up effort in the My Sister Pearl Stakes.

Wesley Ho has the mount for the sixth consecutive outing. The duo has finished first or second in five straight.

Another distaffer arriving off a second-place finish in her seasonal bow is Azzurra (6-1), a seven-year-old Capo Bastone mare trained by Anthony Farrior for owner Timothy Freitag. Azzurra owns a solid 11-7-9 slate and over $285,000 banked from 46 career outings.

Last fall she finished third in the Cavada, though she was awarded second money, third in the Sadie Hawkins, and fourth in the My Sister Pearl during another busy campaign. Reshawn Latchman will ride.

Others in the Original Gold on Saturday night include Alpine Moon (15-1), Ocean Lilly (15-1), Yolo Charlotte (15-1) and Moonlit Shadow (10-1), while three-year-old filly Xanthe (15-1) is on the also-eligible list. The Original Gold is listed as the eighth race on the nine-race card on Saturday night with a scheduled post time of 10:32 for the main event.

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