Art Collector Headlines Field Of 10 For Friday’s Charles Town Classic

With back-to-back front-running victories last year in Keeneland's Blue Grass Stakes (G2) and the Ellis Park Derby, Bruce Lunsford's homebred Art Collector stamped himself one of the leaders of the 3-year-old division.

In a 2020 racing season turned topsy-turvy by the COVID-19 pandemic, Art Collector stormed into an unusual October edition of the Preakness Stakes (G1) as one of the principal favorites. When the field crossed the finish line, however, Art Collector had checked in a dispiriting fourth, having never made the lead, the hallmark of his best efforts. He went on to the Breeders' Cup and was a well-beaten eighth in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), and when he returned to the races seven months later, this past June, he was off the board again in the ungraded Kelly's Landing at Churchill Downs.

Perplexed, Lunsford decided to shake things up and sent the son of Bernardini to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott's barn in Saratoga. On August 6, Art Collector raced for the first time under Mott and scorched a quality field in the Alydar Stakes, his imposing velocity back on full display.

Now, Mott will find out if Art Collector is all the way back, sending him out as the 5-2 morning-line favorite in a field of ten Friday night in the 13th running of the Grade 2, $800,000 Charles Town Classic for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles at Hollywood Casino at Charles Races.

The Classic, celebrating its 10th anniversary as Charles Town's first graded stakes race, highlights a packed 13 race card that will see total purses top $2 million. Post time for the first race is 5:00 P.M.

Mott is one of the premier trainers in the history of racing, with more than $300 million in career earnings and horses like the great Cigar and Royal Delta on his resume. Even after decades in the sport, getting a horse like Art Collector still excites him, and that he runs in the Classic off just three weeks rest – uncharacteristically short for Mott – is a sign of high confidence.

“We're glad to have the opportunity to have a horse like him in the barn,” Mott said. “It's nice to have a horse you can take to these kinds of races, and you have some sort of chance.

“It's a little bit risky coming in on that short rest, but it's a nice race to participate in and the purse money is very good. If we had another week it would be a lot better, but that's the only drawback.”

Mott's lone other Charles Town Classic starter, Ron the Greek, finished a close-up third behind Game on Dude and Clubhouse Ride in the 2013 edition.

Jockey Luis Saez, the leading rider this summer at Saratoga, will fly in for the mount.

Like Art Collector, every horse in the Classic has a resume laced with success as well as something to prove.

Ten Strike Racing and Madaket Stables' five-year-old millionaire Warrior's Charge has been a top racer since 2019, but hasn't won since taking the Razorback (G3) at Oaklawn Park in February 2020. Yet he has placed in three graded stakes including last time out in the Stephen Foster (G2) at Churchill Downs, where he got pinballed around at the start only to rally courageously for second behind top-flight handicap horse Maxfield.

Normally a constant pace presence or front-runner, Warrior's Charge showed maturity and a new dimension in the Stephen Foster, giving confidence to trainer Brad Cox that he's not so one-dimensional.

“Maxfield is a cut above that group, but he ran second,” Cox said of the Stephen Foster. “But it showed [Warrior's Charge] doesn't have to go to the front and can pass horses. It wasn't the way we thought it would play out, and we were happy with the way it played out.”

Cox admitted he didn't know how Warrior's Charge would run Friday, only that he expects a good race.

“I'm not a big instruction giver to begin with,” he said. “Florent [Geroux]'s riding him, and he knows the horse really well. We always try to break with the speed and be involved with all of our horses. Good jocks don't need instruction and bad ones don't listen. He's training well at Ellis Park, and we'll ship Wednesday.”

“We have to hopefully get a good trip and hopefully he likes Charles Town. There are 800,000 reasons to try it.”

Trainer David Fawkes comes into the race with Harold Queen's homebred six-year-old Noble Drama, a win machine making his first start outside of Florida.

The evening will be extra special for Fawkes as this is the 10th anniversary of him winning the Classic with Duke of Mischief, the first year the race was graded.

Charles Town has announced that Duke of Mischief, who stands stud at nearby Flowing Acres Farm, will lead the Classic post parade.

“I haven't seen him in 10 years,” Fawkes said. “[VP of Racing & Sports Operations] Erich Zimny called me about a week ago and the farm manager called me. Now, I've gotta win.”

Fawkes just might. Noble Drama, who comes from off the pace has won four of his past seven starts and two in a row. He's a Sunshine Millions Classic winner with multiple stakes victories.

“He's gotten really good this year, and he came off that layoff [in May] like a monster,” Fawkes said. “I know bull rings. You've got to pick your horses, and I think this is the right one. First of all, it's how he's built. He's not a real big horse. He should be comfortable on the tighter turns. I never lean on him at all. I put a couple horses in front of him last work and he went 47 and three and galloped out in 59 and 1. He wasn't even breathing.”

Angel Cruz has the call on Noble Drama on Friday night.

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Jim and Donna Daniell's Rushie has at times shown glimpses of being a top horse in his own right, and he will ship in from California for trainer Michael McCarthy. The four-year-old son of Liam's Map finished third last year in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and third behind Art Collector in the Blue Grass before breaking through with a commanding win in the Pat Day Mile (G2) at Churchill Downs.

After finishing seventh behind the overwhelming Knicks Go in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Rushie returned in April and missed winning the Oaklawn Mile by a nose. McCarthy said he thought the race portended good things to come, but Rushie ran fourth in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita (G1) and then dueled on the lead and tired to sixth in the San Diego Handicap (G2) last time out on July 17.

“The horse has been training well and had a bit of a head scratcher in the San Diego,” McCarthy said. “I have no reservations about this. I thought this would be a big year for this horse. He ran so well in the Oaklawn Mile. He's got a stamina pedigree. It's been frustrating, but he's got a lot of ability, and we hope he can get it all together on Friday.”

Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza will ride Rushie in the Charles Town Classic.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. will send out John Fanelli, Cash is King and LC Racing's Ny Traffic, another runner who has flashed tremendous promise and is looking for a breakthrough performance.

The gray four-year-old son of Cross Traffic finished second last year in the Louisiana Derby (G2) and Matt Winn (G3) before nearly knocking off Horse of the Year Authentic in the Haskell (G1), beaten only by a nose.

Ny Traffic tailed off in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and has failed to regain his best form this year, although he showed glimpses with a good second in the Salvator Mile (G3) in June at Monmouth.

He also likes to be involved in the pace early.

“He's a tactical type of horse,” Joseph said.

Tyler Gaffalione, who rode Ny Traffic in his last start at Monmouth, has the mount once again.

The horse that beat Ny Traffic in the Salvator Mile was Informative, who won at odds of 79-1 and comes from the barn of one of racing's long-shot kings, trainer Uriah St. Lewis.

St. Lewis won the 2018 Jockey Club Gold Cup with Discreet Lover at 45-1, who ran the following year in the Charles Town Classic. Last year, his Forewarned checked in seventh in the Classic.

Informative, a four-year-old son of Bodemeister, comes into the Classic off a fifth-place finish behind Max Player and Mystic Guide in the 1 1/4 mile Suburban (G2) at Belmont Park.

“I work with him, work with him; we're trying with him every day,” St. Lewis said. “We took him to Pimlico [for an allowance], and he ran a good race, so we decided to go to the Salvator Mile and won that. Then we went to the Suburban, and we got beat, but it was still only nine lengths to those types of horses.”

At 20-1 on the morning line, St. Lewis will have the services of Jose Ferrer in the irons as he attempts to pull the upset.

2020 Charles Town Classic winner Sleepy Eyes Todd will attempt to do what the prior seven horses in his shoes failed to accomplish – defending his title in West Virginia's richest horse race. He waltzed home by 7 1/2 lengths last year and then took down two more graded stakes races before moving up and running consecutively in three of the world's richest races – the $3,000,000 Pegasus World Cup Invitational (fourth), the $20,000,000 Saudi Cup (fifth) and the $12,000,000 Dubai World Cup (10th).

Sleepy Eyes Todd, owned by Thumbs Up Racing and trained by Miguel Angel Silva at Canterbury Park, hasn't raced since April, when he finished third in a stakes race at Fonner Park in Nebraska.

Ry Eikleberry has the mount on Sleepy Eyes Todd in the 2021 Classic.

Bourbon Lane Stable and Six Column Stables will run seven-year-old Bourbon Calling, who won the seven-furlong Russell Road on the Classic undercard last year at the track and has twice placed in graded stakes.

“We know he likes the track,” said trainer Ian Wilkes. Sometimes it's not the best horse that wins [at Charles Town] because that track is a little different.”

Bourbon Calling was prepped for the Classic by finishing third in the West Virginia' Governor's Stakes (G3) on August 7 at Mountaineer Park.

Joining Rushie in making the trip from out west is the versatile Restrainedvengence, a six-year-old California shipper owned by Kelly Brinkerhoff and Bob Grayson and trained by Val Brinkerhoff.

The gelded son of Hold Me Back is a graded stakes winner on grass, placed in Grade 1 races, and is a stakes winner as well on dirt. In his most recent start, on July 24, Restrainedvengence finished sixth, beaten just 3 1/4 lengths by leading turfer United in the Eddie Reed (G2) at Del Mar.

Brinkerhoff had two decades of experience riding bull ring tracks and as a trainer breaks and prepares his babies at Dixie Downs, a six-furlong track in St. George, Utah, before bringing them down to California.

He believes with that past experience that Restrainedvengence will take nicely to Charles Town.

“I trained him a little on Dixie Downs,” said Brinkerhoff, who decided to re-route his horse from the Del Mar Mile to take a shot in the Classic. “This is a really good horse. He's never thrown in a clunker.”

Jockey Edwin Maldonado, a former leading rider at the old Fairplex in Pomona, California, will ride.

“He's excellent on this type of track,” Brinkerhoff said.

Air Token completes the full field of ten for the Charles Town Classic on Friday.

The Classic, which is slated to go postward at 10:18 P.M. EST, will be part of three sequences of interest to horseplayers – a mandatory payout of the Charles Town Pick 6 jackpot, which commences with Race 8, a $100,000 Guaranteed Pick 5 beginning in Race 9 and a $100,000 Guaranteed Pick 4 that starts with Race 10.

$800,000 CHARLES TOWN CLASSIC (G2)

August 27, 2021

Race 12 – Post time 10:18 PM EST

1. Warrior's Charge, Florent Geroux, 118, Brad H. Cox

2. Noble Drama, Angel Cruz, 118, David Fawkes

3. Rushie, Victor Espinoza, 118, Michael W. McCarthy

4. Bourbon Calling, Brian J. Hernandez, Jr., 118, Ian R. Wilkes

5. Informative, Jose C. Ferrer, 120, Uriah St. Lewis

6. Ny Traffic, Tyler Gaffalione, 118, Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.

7. Sleepy Eyes Todd, Ry Eikleberry, 118, Miguel Angel Silva

8. Art Collector, Luis Saez, 118, William I. Mott

9. Restrainedvengence, Edwin A. Maldonado, 120, Val Brinkerhoff

10. Air Token, J.D. Acosta, 118, Jose Corrales

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‘Better Than Normal’ Noble Drama To Take A Shot In Charles Town Classic

Although Harold Queen's Noble Drama would have been looked upon as a 'sure thing' by many bettors, the 6-year-old multiple-stakes winner with Grade 1 bloodlines will bypass a title defense in Saturday's $75,000 Benny The Bull at Gulfstream Park in search of graded glory.

“I'm thinking Charles Town,” trainer David Fawkes said Wednesday.

Fawkes has his sights set on the $800,000 Charles Town Classic (G2), a 1 1/8-mile stakes for 3-year-olds and up scheduled for Aug. 27.

“I think he fits in there really well,” Fawkes said, “and I've won the race before.”

Fawkes saddled Duke of Mischief for a 2 ¼-length victory over Game on Dude in the 2011 Charles Town Classic. The Florida-bred son of Graeme Hall returned the following year to finish second behind Caixa Eletronica.

Out of a half-sister to 2010 Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Big Drama and full sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Sheer Drama, Noble Drama has won seven stakes and more than $700,000 in purses while racing in Florida, but the gelded son of Gone Astray came up short in only one graded-stakes opportunity.

“I just think this year he's gotten better than normal. He seems better than he used to be,” Fawkes said. “His comeback race was good and his second race is better. I just feel like he's doing really good and deserves an opportunity like that.”

Fan Favorite Noble Drama is 2-for-2 in mile overnight handicap starts since returning from a four-month layoff following his second-place finish in the $200,000 Sunshine Classic during Gulfstream's Championship Meet. He captured the May 22 My Name's Jimmy with a last-to-first surge before defeating a very talented field of rivals with another last to first score in the July 11 City of Dania.

In Noble Drama's absence, a field of seven veteran stakes performers has been assembled for the Benny The Bull, a seven-furlong stakes for Florida-breds.

Jacks or Better Farm Inc.'s Shivaree and Garter and Tie were entered Wednesday with trainer Ralph Nicks hoping that the homebreds can return to winning form. Shivaree, the runner-up in the 2020 Florida Derby (G1), is winless in four starts this year. Garter and Tie, a multiple-stakes winner who finished a troubled third behind Noble Drama in last year's Benny The Bull, is scheduled to make his 2021 debut Saturday.

Owner/trainer Kathleen O'Connell's Well Defined, who captured the 2019 Sam F. Davis (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs, is scheduled to seek his fifth victory in eight races this year in the Benny The Bull. Gary Barber and Michael Sebastian's Untitled, who finished second in the 2020 Gotham (G3) at Aqueduct, is set to come off a 5 ½-month layoff.

Owner/trainer Larry Bates' With Verve, owner/trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Silver Enough, IAB Stables and Walter Fralick's Quenane; Rodney Lundock's Pro Quality round out the field; and Hacienda Real Racing LLC's Travy Boy round out the field.

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Noble Drama Rallies To Take City Of Dania Stakes

Harold Queen's Noble Drama called on his family's class to rally from far off the pace to win Sunday's $60,000 City of Dania, a rapidly run contest in which multiple Grade 1 stakes-placed Jesus' Team, the 7-10 favorite, was never a factor while finishing fifth in a highly anticipated return to action.

The City of Dania, a one-turn mile overnight handicap for 3-year-olds and up, headlined an 11-race program that wrapped up a weekend of racing action that included Papetu's victorious comeback in the $75,000 Carry Back and Competitive Speed's return to winning form in the Hallandale Beach on Saturday.

Out of a half-sister to 2010 Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Big Drama and full sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Sheer Drama, Noble Drama with Emisael Jaramillo collected his seventh career stakes victory at Gulfstream Park with a 1 1/2-length decision over pacesetter I'm a G Six.

“What a horse,” said trainer David Fawkes, who also campaigned Noble Drama's more famous family members.

Jesus' Team, who finished sixth in the $10 million Grade 1 Dubai World Cup March 27 after checking in second behind Knicks Go in the $3 million Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Jan. 23, raced evenly under Samy Camacho while proving unable to employ the stretch kick that powered him to a second-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes.

“Samy said he felt good but that maybe he needed a race,” trainer Jose D'Angelo said. “I know he had a lot of weight. Now we just have to check him and make a decision.”

Jesus' Team carried 127 pounds as the starting highweight while conceding between five and 12 pounds to his seven rivals, including five pounds to Noble Drama.

The victorious 6-year-old gelding, who went to post as the 5-2 second betting choice, was coming off a late-rallying triumph in the My Name's Jimmy overnight handicap May 22 off a four-month layoff.

“That last race took a lot out of him but it gave him plenty of time to recover. This week while training he's been bucking and playing like a yearling,” Fawkes said. “He's so much fun. He shows up every time.”

I'm a G Six, who was coming off an impressive optional claiming allowance victory, was hustled to an early lead by jockey Rajiv Maragh and proceeded to set a blistering pace, putting up eye-catching fractions of :22.81 for the first quarter and :45.12 for the first half mile and 1:08.89 for six furlongs. Pro Quality chased the pacesetter into the stretch under Chantal Sutherland and briefly appeared on his way to victory inside the eighth pole, but Noble Drama loomed in full strike on the far outside and claimed the victory. I'm a G Six battled back to finish second, a neck ahead of Pro Quality.

Noble Drama ran the mile in 1:35.09.

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Noble Drama, Caribou Club Make Victorious Returns At Gulfstream

Harold Queen's Noble Drama made a triumphant return from a four-month layoff, closing from last to eke out a victory in Saturday's $60,000 The Name's Jimmy Handicap at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Out of a half-sister to 2010 Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Big Drama and full sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Sheer Drama, Noble Drama showed his class while rallying off a pedestrian early pace to prevail by a nose over Glory of Florida in the mile overnight handicap for 3-year-olds and up.

“He gives you 150 percent every time,” said trainer David Fawkes, who conditioned Big Drama and Sheer Drama, both Queen homebreds.

Unraced since finishing second in the Jan. 16 Sunshine Classic at Gulfstream, the homebred 6-year-old gelding dropped back to trail the six-horse field as Pro Quality showed the way during a first quarter of a mile in 24.59 seconds on his way to half-mile in 47.85. Emisael Jaramillo asked Noble Drama for some run leaving the backstretch and the son of Gone Astray responded with a four-wide rally to enter contention at the top of the stretch. The Florida-bred veteran kicked in through the stretch to narrowly prevail over a rail-rallying Glory of Florida.

“Emisael said it took him a little time to get him moving, but where he was sitting going into the turn, I was comfortable, although he did have to go four wide,” Fawkes said. “I wasn't so comfortable right there [at the finish line].”

Noble Drama, the 6-5 favorite who carried highweight of 122 pounds, ran a mile in 1:36.39 to claim his sixth career stakes victory and boost is career bankroll over $700,000.

“Look at the weight he's gained. We gave him three months off, brought him in and breezed him four times, and he won,” Fawkes said. “He's such a neat horse.”

Glory of Florida, who was ridden by Samy Camacho, finished a neck in front of pacesetter Pro Quality and jockey Miguel Vasquez.

Caribou Club Returns a Winner in Sunny Isles
Glen Hill Farm's Caribou Club, coming off a year layoff, drove to the lead down the stretch to win Saturday's $60,000 Sunny Isles over Harry's Ontheloose. Tiger Blood was third.

Winner of the 2019 Baltimore-Washington International Turf (G3) in 2019, Caribou Club, a 7-year-old gelding by City Zip trained by Thomas Proctor and ridden by Edwin Gonzalez, covered a firm five-furlong turf course in :55.01.

Caribou Club, who raced only three times in 2020, has now won 10 of 26 starts on the turf.

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