Confucius Say much the best

Confucius Say turned what shaped up on paper as a great race into a complete rout.

Despite carrying 125 pounds, the highest assignment of his 34-race career, the 9-year-old Confucius Say ($6) cruised to a 12 1/2-length victory in Wednesday's $100,000 Charles Town Dash Invitational Handicap.

Content to prompt the pace while three-wide under jockey Larry Reynolds, Confucius Say moved easily to the lead, opened up on the turn, and was hand-ridden late en route to his 16th lifetime victory.

P. Kerney, the second choice at 9-5 n a field reduced to six by two scratches, briefly took a short lead down the backstretch but could not keep up with Confucius Say and had to settle for second, two lengths in front of Donald's Pride.

Owned by O'Sullivan Farms and trained by George Yetsook, Confucius Say covered seven furlongs in 1:24.20 and raised his career earnings to $711,357.