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West Virginia Officials Awaiting Split Sample Results On Georgina Baxter-Trained Charles Town Oaks Winner

Georgina Baxter, one of five Florida-based trainers sanctioned on Oct. 1 by Gulfstream Park for violating the track's house rules on clenbuterol, may be in jeopardy of losing her biggest career win after a horse in her care, R Adios Jersey, tested positive for the anti-inflammatory flunixin (trade name Banamine) following the $400,000, Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks in West Virginia on Aug. 27.

West Virginia Racing Commission steward Denver Beckner confirmed the initial finding from Industrial Laboratories in Colorado and said officials are awaiting results of a confirmatory split sample before conducting a hearing to consider possible disqualification of R Adios Jersey and sanctions that could include a fine and/or suspension of Baxter.

R Adios Jersey, a Florida-bred 3-year-old filly by Adios Charlie, is owned by Averill Racing LLC and ATM Racing. Her front-running, 3 1/4-length victory under Paco Lopez was her fourth victory without a defeat. R Adios Jersey earned $230,400 and paid a $12.80 mutuel for the Charles Town Oaks win.

Banamine is a Class 4 drug with a Category C penalty under Association of Racing Commissioners International guidelines. For flunixin, under those guidelines, if the sample tests higher than 5 ng/ml, the recommendation is for a disqualification and loss of purse in the absence of mitigating circumstances. A trainer faces a maximum fine of $1,000 for a first offense in any jurisdiction and a $1,500 fine and 15-day suspension for a second offense in a 365-day period in any jurisdiction, under the ARCI guidelines.

Baxter, a native of England who was a jockey and exercise rider, took over the stable of Ralph Ziadie in 2018 after the latter was denied a license renewal by the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering because of multiple medication violations. Ralph's son, Kirk Ziadie, who won numerous South Florida training titles during his career, is serving a six-year license suspension for multiple clenbuterol violations that runs through Jan. 10, 2022.

According to the MyFloridaLicense.com website, Baxter has had six complaints filed against her for Class 4 medication violations since August 2018, most recently on Nov. 5, 2020. She served a 25-day suspension earlier last year for three violations that involved impermissible levels of flunixin and phenylbutazone.

According to Equibase, Baxter has won 132 of 502 starts (26%) and her horses have earned $3,999,741.

On Friday, Baxter was one of five trainers suspended by Gulfstream Park for violating the track's house rules concerning clenbuterol. The bronchodilator was detected in 12 horses from five of the 10 stables tested out-of-competition using hair and blood samples. The other trainers sanctioned were Rohan Crichton, Daniel Pita, Peter Walder, and Gilberto Zerpa.

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R Adios Jersey Wins Charles Town Oaks To Remain Unbeaten In Five Starts

R Adios Jersey was hustled to the front at the start under Paco Lopez and was never headed en route to a 3 1/4-length victory in Friday night's $400,000, Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks in Charles Town, W. Va.

Pauline's Pearl finished second, with Allworthy third and 7-10 favorite Caramel Swift fourth in the field of 10 3-year-old fillies.

The winner, a Florida-bred 3-year-old filly by Adios Charlie out of Marion Theatre, by Montbrook, paid $12.80 as the second wagering choice after running seven furlongs on a fast track in 1:24.37. R Adios Jersey set fractions of :22.24, :46.27 and 1;11.06 along the way. The filly earned $230,400.

“I sent her and I got her into the race very good,” said Lopez. “I know the horse and she's very fast. I tried to save her a little bit because the last time I rode her at Tampa, she got a little tired. … I wanted to go and try and sit second with her but the owners said I had to send her and I have to listen to the boss.”

“Turning for home she started to get really tired. She was running very hard all the time, that filly. But Georgina [Baxter] the trainer told me, Paco, that filly is ready.”

R Adios Jersey is owned by Averill Racing LLC and ATM Racing. She is trained by Georgina Baxter, a former exercise rider who in 2018 took over the racing stable of Ralph Ziadie, whose Florida trainer's license was not renewed by regulators after an unusually high number of medication violations. Ziadie's son, Kirk, is serving a six-year ban for repeated medication violations. Baxter has won at a 27% clip since taking out her trainer's license.

R Adios Jersey, bred in Florida by Ocala Stud and Mike O'Farrelll, won her previous four starts in Florida, including a stakes triumph at Tampa Bay Downs in her most recent start on March 28.

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Caramel Swirl Tabbed Morning-Line Favorite For Charles Town Oaks

With the second-largest purse of the year offered by Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia's only graded stakes race for fillies up for grabs, a wide-ranging, full field of 10 3-year-old fillies will battle for the top prize on Friday night in the $400,000 Charles Town Oaks (G3) at seven furlongs.

The Oaks, now in its 13th year, is the main undercard attraction on a card featuring the $800,000 Charles Town Classic (G2) and total purses topping $2 million. Post time for the first race is 5:00 P.M.

Being a two-turn race at a sprint distance, the Oaks has attracted trainers sending sprinters they hope will hold their speed against routers that figure to have a stamina edge.

One of those who believes he's found what his filly wants to do is Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott who sends out Caramel Swirl for Godolphin off a sharp three-length score in an allowance July 24 at Saratoga. The Union Rags filly raced forwardly and sailed home under a hand ride by jockey Junior Alvarado. The race was an impressive rebound after a dull seventh-place finish in the Eight Belles (G3) on Kentucky Oaks Day at Churchill Downs.

“She's a nice filly,” Mott said, “Always well thought of. We tried stretching her up to a mile, two turns, and it didn't work, so we shortened her back up and it worked well. Six and seven furlongs are probably good distances for her.”

Alvarado has the return call on Caramel Swirl who sits as the 5-2 morning line favorite for the Charles Town Oaks.

Brad Cox, the second-leading trainer in the country, sends out Inject for owner Louis Wright. The daughter of Frosted out of the Grade 1 winning mare Appealing Zophie, is a half-sister to 2017 Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit, and Cox is looking to build Inject's credentials for a future career as a broodmare.

“Our filly doesn't have any experience around a racetrack as tight as Charles Town,” Cox said, “But it's a very nice purse, a graded race, and will add to this filly's value if she can finish 1-2-3. We hope she'll be a big-time broodmare. She's got the pedigree.”

Inject finished third last out in the Victory Ride (G3) at Belmont Park and has the services of Florent Geroux on Friday evening.

The Oaks will feature no shortage of horses who tried the major filly races in the spring: Stonestreet Stables' Pauline's Pearl won the Fantasy (G3) at Oaklawn Park before finishing eighth behind the powerful Malathaat in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) for leading trainer Steve Asmussen while John C. Minchello's Competitive Speed who tried her hand in the Kentucky Oaks after back-to-back third place efforts in graded stakes company at Gulfstream Park. BB Horses' Miss Leslie finished fifth in the Black-Eyed Susan (G2) at Pimlico for leading Maryland trainer Claudio Gonzalez. Moon Swag, trained by Brendan Walsh, finished fourth in the Ashland (G1) behind the aforementioned Malathaat and most recently came up only a neck short of her first graded stakes triumph in the Indiana Oaks (G3).

Lucky 7 Stables' Street Lute, trained by John Robb, has seven stakes wins sprinting with earnings of $481,720, second only to Pauline's Pearl. The Street Magician filly has never gone around two turns but has been dominant in stakes at Laurel Park, her home track.

“It's a tough race, but what I like about is there's only one or two horses with any speed at all,” Robb said. “You can have all the class you want; give me speed all the time. I like the way it's shaping up for that kind of money.”

Trainer Ian Wilkes enters Fabricate out of a productive allowance race at Ellis Park while trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. ships Allworthy down from Saratoga, where she's been training after a fourth-place finish in the Monmouth Oaks (G3).

The wildcard in the field could be the undefeated R Adios Jersey for trainer Georgina Baxter who comes into the Charles Town Oaks a perfect 4-for-4 in her career after being made a short priced favorite in each of her starts. Friday will mark the first start outside of Florida for the daughter of Adios Charlie who most recently cruised to a front running score in the restricted Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

Lynch Racing LLC's Alayla was also entered in the Charles Town Oaks but sits as the first horse on the also eligible list and would need a defection from the body of the race to run.

The $400,000 Charles Town Oaks is part of Charles Town's Pick 6 sequence starting in Race 8 which will see its jackpot carryover forced out as well as Guaranteed $100,000 Pick 5 and Pick 4 pools which kick off in Race 9 and Race 10 respectively.

Post time for the Charles Town Oaks is set for 9:45 P.M. EST.

$400,000 CHARLES TOWN OAKS (G3)

August 27, 2021

Race 11 – Post time 9:45 PM EST

1. Caramel Swirl, Junior Alvarado, 118, William I. Mott

2. Street Lute, Xavier Perez, 120, John J. Robb

3. Pauline's Pearl, Brian J. Hernandez, Jr., 123, Steven M. Asmussen

4. Moon Swag, Deshawn L. Parker, 118, Brendan P. Walsh

5. Fabricate, Open, 118, Ian R. Wilkes

6. Inject, Florent Geroux, 120, Brad H. Cox

7. Competitive Speed, Leonel Reyes, 120, Javier E. Gonzalez

8. R Adios Jersey, Paco Lopez, 120, Georgina Baxter

9. Miss Leslie, J.D. Acosta, 120, Claudio A. Gonzalez

10. Allworthy, Tyler Gaffalione, 118, Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.

Also Eligible

11. Alayla, Charlie Marquez, 118, Cathal A. Lynch

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Happy Saver, Mind Control Top Nominees To Aug. 27 Charles Town Classic

A pair of Grade 1 winners from the barn of recent Hall of Fame inductee Todd Pletcher in 2020 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) winner Happy Saver and 2019 Allen Jerkens (G1) victor Mind Control as well as defending Charles Town Classic winner Sleepy Eyes Todd lead a list 108 nominations for both the Charles Town Classic and Charles Town Oaks, which closed this past Saturday. The Classic and Oaks will both be run on Charles Town's biggest night of the year – Friday, Aug. 27 – a card that includes a total of nine stakes races with more than $2 million in purse money on the line.

In addition to his two Grade 1 winners, Pletcher also has multiple graded stakes winner Dr. Post and Moretti nominated to West Virginia's richest race – an event he will try and win for the third time after taking it with Caixa Eletronica in 2012 and again with Stanford in 2016.

Thumbs Up Racing's Sleepy Eyes Todd will attempt to buck recent history and do something the last seven horses to attempt the feat have failed to accomplish – win the Charles Town Classic in consecutive years, with Researcher still standing alone as the race's lone back-to-back winner. The five-year-old son of Paddy O'Prado has banked over $1 million in 2021 despite not finding the winners' circle by virtue of his fourth place effort in the Pegasus World Cup (G1) and fifth place finish in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1).

Bill Mott, who would be sending out his first Classic starter since he saddled Ron the Greek to a third-place finish behind Game on Dude and Clubhouse Ride in the 2013 Classic, has a pair of possible runners in Bruce Lunsford's talented homebred Art Collector as well as multiple graded stakes winner Modernist. Art Collector took the 2020 Blue Grass (G2) at Keeneland and most recently led at every call to win the restricted Alydar Stakes at Saratoga in his first start for Mott.

Multiple graded stakes winner Warrior's Charge headlines a trio of nominations from trainer Brad Cox, a list that also includes Plainsman and Night Ops, second to the aforementioned Art Collector in the Alydar. Owned by Ten Strike Racing and Madaket Stables, Warrior's Charge was most recently seen finishing second to top older horse Maxfield in the Stephen Foster (G2) at Churchill Downs.

Among the other noteworthy nominees for the Charles Town Classic include 2021 New Orleans Classic (G2) winner Chess Chief, 2020 Pimlico Special (G3) victor Harper's First Ride, Tom Durant's multiple graded stakes winner Silver Dust and a pair of west coast invaders in 2019 Nashua (G3) champ Independence Hall and American Stakes (G3) winner Restrainedvengence as well as 2020 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) runner-up Jesus' Team and Ny Traffic, who came within a nose of upsetting eventual Horse of the Year Authentic in the 2020 Haskell (G1).

The Kentucky Oaks (G1) field is represented in the Charles Town Oaks nominations by three fillies who are possible for the race, including 2021 Fantasy (G3) winner Pauline's Pearl, Honeybee (G3) heroine Will's Secret and the Florida based Competitive Speed from the barn of trainer Javier Gonzalez.

Trained by the newly crowned all-time leading trainer in the history of North American thoroughbred racing, Steve Asmussen, Pauline's Pearl would be Asmussen's third ever starter in the Charles Town Oaks after winning the inaugural edition of the race with Four Gifts in 2009 and sending out runner-up Wicked Whisper in 2020.

The Monmouth Oaks (G3) is also well represented in the Charles Town Oaks nominations with the top five finishers under consideration for the Mountain State's only graded race for fillies lead by the first three under the wire – SMD Limited's Leader of the Band, lightly raced Edie Meeny Miny Mo and Midnight Obsession. Leader of the Band and Midnight Obsession are both trained by Charles Town native John Servis.

Entries for the August 27 Charles Town Classic card will be taken on Tuesday, August 24.

Nominations for three more unrestricted stakes all worth $150,000 and all run at seven furlongs – the Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon Stakes for older fillies and mares, the Russell Road for older horses and the Robert Hilton Memorial for three-year-olds – close this upcoming Friday, August 13.

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