Charles Town: Immortal Eyes, Fearsome meet again Jefferson County Commission Handicap

Based on his dominant victory in last month’s $350,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park, in which he surpassed $1 million in earnings and produced a career-best 108 Beyer Speed Figure, the 8-year-old sprinter Immortal Eyes has to be favored when he returns to one of his favorite tracks for Friday night’s $50,000 Jefferson County Commission Handicap at Charles Town.

But the presence of Fearsome means that Immortal Eyes isn’t a cinch in the 4 1/2-furlong sprint, one of three overnight stakes on a card preceding Saturday’s West Virginia Breeders’ Classics showcase.

The 4-year-old Fearsome is 4 for 4 locally, including a three-length victory over Immortal Eyes when they met in the Charles Town Dash in April.

Of course, Immortal Eyes’s supporters will point out that the Maryland-based gelding got away slowly from the gate in the Dash, was last at the first call, and had to check before making a six-wide bid into the stretch to do well to finish second.

Skeptics, however, will look at the last-race big Beyer, the best number Immortal Eyes has posted in 47 career starts, and wonder whether the old-timer is now due to regress following such a huge effort.

Immortal Eyes, who trains at Bowie for Damon Dilodovico, is 9 for 11 at Charles Town, including a win in the 2012 running of the Jefferson County by three-quarters of a length as the even-money favorite.

Travis Dunkelberger, who was aboard both Fearsome and Immortal Eyes in their most recent victories, has accepted the mount on Immortal Eyes in Friday’s seventh race.

The six-horse field also includes Brooklyn Cowboy, winner of the $100,000 West Virginia Chairman’s Cup at Mountaineer in August, and The Hunk, a former Monmouth Park sprinter who will be making his first start since joining the barn of Charles Town’s leading trainer, Jeff Runco.

◗ Wardelle, upset winner of the Pink Ribbon two starts ago, comes back six days after a dull stakes effort at Parx Racing when she starts in the $50,000 Municipalities Mayors Handicap, a seven-furlong race for fillies and mares. Her opponents include Strike the Moon, runner-up as the 6-5 favorite in the Pink Ribbon.

◗ Managed Account, who is a neck shy of owning a four-race winning streak, faces defending race winner Twenty Hawks in the $50,000 Governor’s Cup Handicap at 1 1/8 miles. Managed Account most recently won the Governor’s Day at Delaware Park. Twenty Hawks seeks to snap a five-race losing streak.