Bullets Fever remains unbeaten in eight starts by taking West Virginia Lottery
Bullets Fever kept his career unbeaten streak alive winning the $67,500 West Virginia Lottery Breeders’ Classic by 1 1/4 lengths on Saturday night at Charles Town.
The 3-year-old Bullets Fever, bred by John McKee, owned by David Raim, and trained by Jeff Runco, now has raced eight times and won eight times. He went 3 for 3 as a 2-year-old and now has won all six of his races at age 3. Bullets Fever has won six times at Charles Town but also has triumphed at Pimlico and Mountaineer; twice he has won open races, and six times he has defeated West Virginia-breds.
Bullets Fever and jockey Arnaldo Bocachica got a perfect trip pressing two wide outside pacesetting longshot Cat Come Home, taking the lead before the top of the stretch and holding firm to the wire. Bullets Fever ($3) ran seven furlongs on a sloppy track in 1:25.69. Allen’s Castle finished second and Ellie’s Lil Man was third. Bullets Fever is by Fiber Sonde out of the Indian Charlie mare Ghost Canyon.
◗ Follow the Notion won his stakes debut in the $72,000 Onion Juice Breeders’ Classic, skimming the fence around both turns under Jose Montano before coming out for a decisive stretch move. Bred, owned, and trained by Gary Williams, Follow the Notion beat Help a Brother by a half-length, with odds-on favorite In the Fairway another half-length behind in third. A 5-year-old gelding by Great Notion, Follow the Notion paid $14.40 to win and was timed in 1:25.38 for seven furlongs on a sloppy track.
◗ Spa Creek, beaten a head in this same race last year, left no doubt of her superiority this year in the $75,000 West Virginia Breeders’ Distaff. Spa Creek, trained by Jeff Runco and ridden by Christian Hiraldo, took command of the 1 1/8-mile race about three furlongs out and ran by herself to the wire. The 6-year-old Spa Creek, a daughter of Smoke Glacken, paid $6.60 to win.
◗ Runnin’toluvya, making an early move to the lead on the backstretch, won the $67,500 Vincent Moscarelli Memorial by one length over Anywhere But Here. The favored Unrideabull pressed the pace but had no response when the winner moved and faded to fifth. Runnin’toluvya, a 2-year-old by Fiber Sonde trained and owned by Timothy Grams, paid $9 and ran 6 1/2 furlongs on a sloppy track in 1:19.62.
◗ Greenway Court ($6.40) won the $54,000 Dash for Cash for the second year in a row, closing stoutly the final half-furlong to win by a half-length.