Charles Town sprint lures Piratesonthelake

Three older sprinters coming off lengthy layoffs, including a pair of stakes winners, are part of an intriguing lineup in Tuesday night’s $32,000 no-conditions allowance feature at Charles Town.

The 4 1/2-furlong sprint, which goes as race 8, features Piratesonthelake, a Grade 3 stakes winner making his first start off a $25,000 claim two months ago; the 9-year-old Chasin Tiger, a stakes winner in 2008 who is unraced since November 2009; and the Maryland-based Halton, who makes his first start since winning a similar 4 1/2-furlong event locally last May.

The most interesting prospect among the trio is the 7-year-old Piratesonthelake, who won the Grade 3 Kentucky Cup Sprint on Polytrack at Turfway Park in 2007 and was still good enough to finish a close second in last summer’s $75,000 Dale Baird Memorial at Mountaineer. Formerly with Scott Lake, Piratesonthelake was claimed by high-percentage trainer Brandon Kulp out of a fourth-place finish at Penn National on Jan. 3. Piratesonthelake is winless in his last seven starts, but in each of those races he was either in front or within a head of the lead at the half-mile call.

Chasin Tiger, winner of the six-furlong Chesapeake at Colonial Downs in August 2008, has been idle for 15 months, but he is a consistent sprinter with 11 wins in 33 lifetime starts. His trainer, Dane Kobiskie, is 7 for 32 (22 percent) with sprinters returning from a break of more than 180 days.

The 6-year-old Halton has not been worse than second in three previous starts at Charles Town, all at 4 1/2 furlongs. Second in the 2009 Panhandle Handicap at Mountaineer, Halton races for Howard Wolfendale, a 20 percent trainer in 2010 who is 0 for 6 shipping into Charles Town this year.