Two horses who have not lost on the six-furlong oval at Charles Town face off Friday night in the $1 million Charles Town Classic. They could hardly be more different. Art Collector is 1 for 1 at Charles Town, having captured the Grade 2, $1 million fixture last summer. He ended his 2021 campaign in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and started his 2022 season in the $20 million Saudi Cup. Both those ventures ended poorly, but Art Collector is back to his old self again and will be favored in the 1 1/8-mile Classic. Muad’dib is 10 for 10 at Charles Town, but that is the only track at which he’s raced. He easily won his two starts at 1 1/8 miles, and his trainer, Jeff Runco, won the Classic with Researcher in 2009 and 2010. Muad’dib has mainly knocked around West Virginia-breds, and he’ll be a longshot to stay unbeaten Friday. :: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now! “Researcher won everywhere, and he ran against some real, serious horses,” Runco said. “So, he had already been tested. This is going to be the test for Muad’dib. He has the hometown advantage.” The hometown advantage can mean a lot. Many horses struggle to adapt to the tight turns and the rhythm of races on an oval this small. The Charles Town homestretch is a mere 660-feet long; if a horse doesn’t corner to the wire with momentum, he’s not getting up in time. Art Collector adapted with aplomb. Among the better 3-year-olds of 2020, Art Collector hit a new level last summer after joining the Bill Mott barn, winning the restricted Alydar Stakes at Saratoga before pulling a perfect pace-pressing trip at Charles Town to beat 2020 Classic winner Sleepy Eyes Todd by 1 1/2 lengths. Art Collector came back five weeks later to win the Grade 1 Woodward, but faded to a distant sixth in the BC Classic and never ran a step in the Saudi Cup. Art Collector got several months off following his Middle East trip, returning to action in the Aug. 4 Alydar, which he won by two lengths over the capable Masqueparade. He earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure, comparable to his 103 in the 2021 renewal. “It looked like he did everything effortlessly,” Mott said. “There’s no reason to think he’s not coming into the race as well this year as he was last year.” Art Collector did do everything effortlessly. He made the Alydar lead with his ears pricked, ran the far turn athletically, and jockey Luis Saez, aboard in the 2021 Classic and again Friday night, hand rode Art Collector to the wire. An Art Collector repeat is the most likely Classic outcome, but Mind Control could have a major say. Mind Control never has raced beyond 1 1/16 miles and went that far only once, but trainer Todd Pletcher said shortly after Mind Control won the two-turn Salvator Mile over Hot Rod Charlie on June 18 that he believed Mind Control could get 1 1/8 miles under the right conditions. At the time, Pletcher was thinking about the Monmouth Cup on July 23, but a couple weeks before that race, he decided to target the Classic. Mainly campaigned in sprints, Mind Control in his two-turn start before the Salvator beat multiple graded stakes winner Silver State in the Parx Mile. He breaks from post 2 under John Velazquez and looked sharp in a video of a half-mile team workout Aug. 19 at Saratoga for Pletcher, who won this race in 2012 with Caixa Eletronica and in 2016 with Stanford. Jalen Journey could prove a pace factor, but he, Plot the Dots, and Treasure Trove have done little to suggest they could finish in the top two. Last Samurai’s best race would make him a second-tier contender, but he has always been more of a grinding sort who doesn’t seem likely to fit the Charles Town dynamic. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. Officiating rates a better chance as a sometime sprinter who was stretched out to 1 1/8 miles last month and won the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker. Officiating has some pace and is handy enough. But he got a prefect trip in Iowa sitting just off a solid pace, and Mind Control and Art Collector are at least a full cut above anything Officiating beat there. The Classic goes as race 12 on a 13-race card starting at 5 p.m. Eastern. Post time for the feature, which immediately follows the Grade 3, $500,000 Charles Town Oaks, is 10:18 p.m. There’s a slight chance of showers early Friday evening, and the temperature is forecast to be 70 degrees.