Charles Town: Tup Take' Please holds on in Frank Gall Memorial

Tup Take’ Please recovered from an awkward start and turned back challenges in deep stretch from both defending champion Black Belt and odds-on favorite Russell Road to win Saturday night’s $50,000 Frank Gall Memorial Stakes for West Virginia-breds at Charles Town.

The seven-furlong Gall served as a local prep for horses being pointed to the $500,000 West Virginia Breeders’ Classic at 1 1/8 miles and the $85,000 Onion Juice at seven furlongs on Oct. 15.

The 5-year-old Tup Take’ Please ($10.60), ridden by Al Cortez, bobbled coming out of the gate and broke next to last in a field of seven, but recovered quickly and rushed up to set the pace in the seven-furlong Gall. Tup Take’ Please, second against open company in the Charles Town Dash in June, owned a comfortable two-length lead with a furlong remaining, but had to deal with late moves on either side of him from Black Belt and Russell Road inside the sixteenth pole.

Tup Take’ Please held off Black Belt by a neck. Russell Road, the 1-5 favorite, hung late and had to settle for third, 1 ¼ lengths behind Black Belt.

Owned and trained by Carlos McDaniel, Tup Take’ Please has now won 8 of 15 starts lifetime. He had been second to Russell Road in the Charles Town Dash and third behind Russell Road in the seven-furlong Confucius Say in April.