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Tactius Heads List Of Nominees For Fayette At Keeneland

Juddmonte's homebred Tacitus, fourth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic here last fall in his lone Keeneland appearance, heads a list of 27 horses nominated to the 64th running of the $200,000 Grade 2 Hagyard Fayette going 1 1/8 miles on the main track to be run Oct. 30, closing day of the 17-day Fall Meet at the Lexington, Ky., track.

Trained by Bill Mott, Tacitus has earned more than $3.7 million in his career with five placings in Grade 1 events and three Grade 2 victories. In his most recent start, Tacitus finished fourth behind top 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic contender Knicks Go in the Grade 3 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs.

Other nominees of note with Keeneland success include Steve Landers Racing's Night Ops, who was second in the Grade 3 Ben Ali this spring; Thumbs Up Racing's well-traveled Sleepy Eyes Todd, winner of the Lafayette Presented by Keeneland Select here last fall; and Fern Circle Stables and Three Chimneys Farm's King Fury, winner of the Grade 3 Stonestreet Lexington this spring and recent 13-length winner of the Bourbon Trail at Churchill Downs.

Closing day of the Keeneland meet will feature two other stakes: the 17th running of the $150,000 Bryan Station for 3-year-olds going a mile on the turf and the new $150,000 Bowman Mill for 2-year-olds going 6 furlongs on the main track.

Homewrecker Racing's Point Me By, winner of the Grade 1 Bruce D. Stakes at Arlington Park on Aug. 14, tops a list of 38 nominees to the Bryan Station. Eddie Kenneally trains Point Me By.

Other nominees of note are Madaket Stables and Ecurie Ades-Hazen's Grade 3 Virginia Derby winner Wootton Asset (FR), trained by Graham Motion, and trainer Rusty Arnold's duo of Calumet Farm's Cellist, third in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby, and Ashbrook Farm's Ginsburned, who was third in the Bruce D.

Robert and Lawana Low's My Prankster, fourth in the Grade 1 Champagne in his most recent start for trainer Todd Pletcher, tops the list of 20 nominations for the Bowman Mill.

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Art Collector Takes Charles Town Classic As Solid Favorite

Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector validated his status as the 1.30-1 favorite by overcoming a stubborn defending champion in Sleepy Eyes Todd and taking down the top prize in the $800,000 Charles Town Classic (G2) at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia on Friday night. Ridden by Luis Saez, the son of Bernardini became the first favorite to win the Charles Town Classic since Game on Dude in 2013.

Sleepy Eyes Todd – trying to become the first repeat Classic winner since Researcher in 2010 – was sent to the lead and carved out opening fractions of 23.80 and 47.90 for the first quarter and half mile under rider Ry Eikleberry, with Art Collector glued to his flank for much of the early running. With Saez and Art Collector seizing the lead, they appeared poised to draw off for a convincing win but were fought every step of the way by the world traveling Sleepy Eyes Todd before prevailing by a length and a half at the wire.

“I thought I had him [Sleepy Eyes Todd] turning for home,” said Saez. “He looked like he was going pretty well and that's why I tried to attack pretty early. Art Collector gave me that kick but he was fighting in the stretch. It was just a great finish.”

In winning the Classic, Art Collector gave his Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott his first victory at the West Virginia oval.

California shipper Rushie finished 5 1/2 lengths back of Art Collector in third with another west coast presence in Restrainedvengence rounding out the superfecta.

On the wagering front, the $7,179,783 wagered on Friday night's Charles Town Classic card established a new single card handle record for the track, shattering the previous mark of $5,720,375 set on the 2019 Classic card.

“We couldn't be happier with the way the night unfolded, the way our horseplayers and fans responded and the record handle that resulted,” said Charles Town's Vice President of Racing and Sports Operations Erich Zimny. “It's a testament to the job that our Director of Racing, Charlie McIntosh, and the racing office staff did in putting such a deep and competitive card together that we can't wait to expand upon in 2022.”

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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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Fonner Files: Fonner Park Rides The Wave Of Success As Meet Closes

Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak shares slices of life from the Grand Island, Neb., racetrack throughout the 2021 meet in the Fonner Files.

Riding the wave of an unprecedented 2020 extended season of Thoroughbred horse racing, Fonner Park concluded the 2021 season with over $4.65 million in on-track mutuel handle.

Comparing numbers to 2019, rather than the 2020 season (when Fonner Park was closed to the public after the first four weeks due to the pandemic), Fonner was up 19 percent in parimutuel handle of Fonner Park guests betting on Fonner Park races.

The handle for out-of-state wagers on Fonner Park in 2021 was roughly $15.5 million, an increase of 447 percent compared to $2.8 million in 2019. The overall national horse racing industry handle was up approximately 12 percent for March and April, but Fonner Park was up 19 percent on-track.

“This year I spent extra on marketing to the horseplayers across the nation who got exposed to Fonner Park last year during the pandemic. I wanted to remind them that we were back and still a good bet,” said Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak. “In 2021 average field size bumped to 7.9 from 7.3 in 2020 and large fields are always a draw to the bettor regardless of quality.”

Sleepy Eyes Todd went on to win three stakes races after his 2020 Bosselman/Gus Fonner Stakes win. Remarkably, he returned to defend his title off three multi-million-dollar, G1 races in three previous months. As a 2-5 favorite, he was beaten by 9-2 second-choice Mo Mosa, ridden by Armando Martinez and trained by Michael Maker.

Mo Mosa was named 2021 Horse of the Meet and First Alternate was the unanimous choice for champion older filly or mare after winning three stakes races in as many starts for trainer Stetson Mitchell.

“She's a blessing to me and my family and the special kind of horse horsemen pray for,” said Mitchell said.

By winning the final race of the year, Jake Olesiak won his sixth title as champion jockey, with a total of 46 wins, one more win than Armando Martinez.

David C. Anderson won his 15th champion trainer award at Fonner Park, with 36 wins from 169 starts. D and L Farms (Darcy and Lee Burghardt) won 15 races from 39 starts and earned leading owner honors.

The 2021 Feat of the Meet award was voted as Fonner Park's presence on the national stage with 2021 export handle five-times greater than 2019.

“I am convinced that the success and future of Fonner Park is directly attributed to our passionate community of staff, horsemen and race fans. Without our strong community support we could not survive,” Kotulak remarked.

Fonner Park

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