Warrior’s Charge Will Target Tinsel Stakes At Oaklawn

Millionaire multiple Grade 3 winner Warrior's Charge is targeting the inaugural $200,000 Tinsel Stakes Dec. 18 at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs, Ark., for his next start, Liz Crow, racing manager for the horse's co-owner, Ten Strike Racing, said Thursday afternoon.

Warrior's Charge, who is trained by Brad Cox, has recorded two workouts this season at Oaklawn, including a five-furlong drill in 1:00 over a fast track Saturday morning. The Tinsel, for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles, is among four stakes created to accommodate Oaklawn opening in December for the first time in its 117-year history.

“That's the initial goal of the season, just to get him started down there,” Crow said.

Warrior's Charge has made eight starts at Oaklawn, recording powerful maiden special weights and first-level allowance scores as a 3-year-old in 2019 before finishing fourth in the Preakness. He won Oaklawn's $500,000 G3 Razorback Handicap for older horses in 2020.

A son of Munnings, Warrior's Charge has bankrolled $1,045,690 off a 5-4-4 record from 19 lifetime starts. Although winless in seven starts this year, Warrior's Charge ran fifth in the $1 million G2 Oaklawn Handicap last April at Oaklawn, second in the $600,000 G2 Stephen Foster Stakes June 26 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and third in the $200,000 Parx Dirt Mile Stakes Sept. 25 at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Penn. Warrior's Charge ran second in an Oct. 24 allowance race at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., in his last start.

“We've thought about it (retirement), but I think we're going to run him through 2022, probably, unless we're able to put something together,” Crow said. “But this is a racing partnership that loves Oaklawn, and they aim for Oaklawn every year and so I don't think they want to retire him with some of these lucrative purses that they can aim for this season. Obviously, if the right deal came along, we'd probably consider it.”

Ten Strike (Marshall Gramm and Arkansas native Clay Sanders) won 10 races, solely or in partnership, during the 2021 Oaklawn meeting that ended last May. Ten Strike campaigns Warrior's Charge with Madaket Stables (Sol Kumin).

Ten Strike, which offers fractional ownership to partners, has 20-25 horses at Oaklawn with five trainers, Crow said. In addition to Cox, Ten Strike also has horses with Jason Barkley, Bentley Combs, Randy Matthews, and Lindsay Schultz. A former assistant under Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, Schultz recently went out on her own and had her first two career Oaklawn starters (Pepper Pike and Capture the Glory) Saturday. Both were for Ten Strike.

“Oaklawn's always a main priority for Ten Strike,” Crow said. “We call ourselves like an Oaklawn-based racing partnership, so certainly always the goal is to win at Oaklawn and run at Oaklawn. I think Marshall and Clay like supporting these young trainers and we pushed Lindsay to Oaklawn to start her career, just because we thought that we be another great outlet to have horses there.”

Ten Strike also races several horses with prominent Arkansas businessman Frank Fletcher, including G3 winner Lady Rocket and unbeaten 2-year-old Rocket Dawg, who is by 2017 Arkansas Derby winner and champion Classic Empire. Lady Rocket was the first starter and first winner for the partnership, breaking her maiden in her August 2020 debut at Saratoga.

Cox also trains Lady Rocket and Rocket Dawg, a $375,000 Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Sale purchase and sharp Nov. 19 debut winner at Churchill Downs.

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“Hopefully, he'll make some starts at Oaklawn,” Crow said. “Really hope he can run in some of those races like the Smarty Jones and stuff, so we'll see. I think that we have some exciting horses that are pointing toward Oaklawn this year.”

Lady Rocket, who ran in two allowances races at the 2021 Oaklawn meeting, was a nine-length winner of the $250,000 G3 Go for Wand Handicap Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y. Rocket Dawg, who broke his maiden by 5 ½ lengths at seven furlongs, returned to the work tab Saturday at Churchill Downs, breezing a half-mile in :49.60.

Lady Rocket is the first stakes winner and graded stakes winner for the Ten Strike/Fletcher union.

“It's gone well so far,” Crow said. “It's kind of a limited number of horses so far. They have only had like six horses together, but it looks like we have two good ones. Fingers crossed about Rocket Dawg. I don't want to jinx him. I want him to stay sound, but we're pretty excited about him. He ran some big numbers. He ran like an 11 Rag and a 3 ½ Thoro-Graph. He looks like he could be a really nice horse.”

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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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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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Maxfield the One to Beat in Stephen Foster

The talented Maxfield (Street Sense) headlines a field of nine slated for Saturday's GII Stephen Foster S. at Churchill Downs, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

After suffering his first career defeat finishing third in the GI Santa Anita H. Mar. 6, the Godolphin homebred got back on track with a strong performance in Churchill's GII Alysheba S. on the GI Kentucky Oaks undercard. It was 3 1/4 lengths back to Twinspires Kentucky Cup Classic S. winner Visitant (Ghostzapper) in second that day and another 4 1/4 lengths back to Chess Chief (Into Mischief) in third.

“We shipped him up from Keeneland last week and worked an easy half-mile [in :48 4/5 at Churchill Downs June 19],” trainer Brendan Walsh said of the 4-5 morning-line favorite. “He did most of his work at Keeneland prior to the Foster. He's a fit and happy horse. We're ready to go and excited to get this race underway.”

Maxfield's six-career victories include a win in the 2019 GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland.

Warrior's Charge (Munnings), winner of the 2020 GIII Razorback H. and GIII Philip Iselin S. via disqualification, looks to right the ship following a disappointing beginning to his 5-year-old campaign. He was sixth after a slow start in a sloppy renewal of the GIII Steve Sexton Mile S. at Lone Star last time May 31.

The 7-year-old gelding Silver Dust (Tapit), third in this race last year, enters off a win in the GIII Ben Ali in the Keeneland slop Apr. 10.

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