Dance to Bristol, Robert Hilton Memorial top Charles Town undercard

They aren’t the richest races, but the eight undercard stakes on the Charles Town Classic card have come up remarkably well this year and feature a number of intriguing matchups.

The $100,000 Dance to Bristol, a seven-furlong race for fillies and mares, and the $85,000 Robert Hilton Memorial, a seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds, are the lead supporting stakes. A $100,000 guaranteed all-stakes pick four begins in race 8, the Down Town Allen, and concludes with the $1.2 million Classic.

The Dance to Bristol, formerly named the Sugar Maple, immediately precedes the Classic and is the first leg of a Cross Country Pick 4, which includes the Classic and races 8 and 9 from Aqueduct.

The entire Charles Town card, which begins at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, will be streamed live on DRF.com.

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Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. seems set for a successful afternoon. In addition to riding Charles Town Classic favorite Diversify, he also is named aboard Shaft of Light and Delta Bluesman in races 5 and 6 for trainer Jorge Navarro; Midnight Poker in race 7 for John Servis; and Frosty Margarita in race 10 for Rudy Rodriguez.

Favoritism is up for grabs in the Hilton Memorial, which has a field of seven.

Navy Commander comes into the race off two runaway wins at Parx Racing for trainer Butch Reid. Navy Commander, who was gelded between his 2- and 3-year-old seasons, won a $30,000 starter allowance race by 7 1/4 lengths in February, and on March 27 pulled away to win a first-level allowance by 10 3/4 lengths.

“He’s really kind of the poster boy for what castrating a horse can do,” Reid said. “We thought he had talent, but he wasn’t showing it.”

Navy Commander’s allowance win came in a two-turn mile, and Reid is optimistic he’ll be able to handle the tighter turns at Charles Town.

“I’ve run a bunch of horses there and never come up with an exact formula for who will handle the turns,” Reid said. “But he’s a little on the small side and athletic. I don’t think the turns will be a problem.”

Navy Commander is cross-entered in the Federico Tesio at Laurel Park, but Reid said Thursday he was in all likelihood going to start at Charles Town.

Other contenders in the Hilton include Midnight Poker, who is 3 for 4, and Whereshetoldmetogo, who won the restricted American Fabius Stakes and finished a close second in the Smooth Air at Gulfstream Park this winter for Anthony Pecoraro.

The Dance for Bristol has a deep field of eight. Ascertain, who is coming off a first-level optional-claiming win at Gulfstream for Todd Pletcher, may be favored under jockey Javier Castellano.

She will face Frosty Margarita, who broke a five-race losing streak in a second-level optional claimer at Laurel last time out, and three capable Maryland shippers: Angel At War, Keep Your Distance, and In the Navy Now.

The field also includes Inspeightof you, who enters off three straight wins at Delta Downs for Tom Amoss.

The $50,000 Russell Road, at seven furlongs, has attracted Struth, who has been competitive with the talented runners Lewisfield and Favorite Tale in his recent starts. He will face Shaft of Light, who won this race a year ago for Navarro and is coming off a 8 1/4-length optional-claiming win at Gulfstream.

The 4 1/2-furlong Caixa Eletronica will pit the speedburners Strong Like Bull and Roman Officer against 8-year-old multiple stakes winner Delta Bluesman.

Although Delta Bluesman has been showing speed in six-furlong races in Florida for Navarro, it will be interesting to see if he has the gas to keep up at this abbreviated distance.

The four stakes for West Virginia-breds on the card have attracted some household names for those who follow Charles Town racing.

The seven-furlong Lucy’s Bob Boy will rematch Charitable Annuity and North Atlantic, who were separated by a nose at the finish of last fall’s $315,000 West Virginia Breeders’ Classic. Although Charitable Annuity came out on top that evening going 1 1/8 miles, North Atlantic has more speed at this shorter trip.

North Atlantic defeated 15-time winner Charitable Annuity in a seven-furlong no-conditions allowance on March 31. Charitable Annuity, making the first start of his 6-year-old campaign, closed from 10 lengths back to be beaten 1 1/2 lengths.

The 6 1/2-furlong Down Town Allen features Moonlit Song, a winner of 10 of 14 starts, all for trainer Timothy Grams. Moonlit Song went 8 for 11 last year at 3, and capped her season with a victory in the West Virginia Cavada Breeders’ Classic over older rivals.

She won her season debut by 3 3/4 lengths going 4 1/2 furlongs at Charles Town in an April 4 allowance.

Trainer James W. Casey has a strong hand in the two 4 1/2-furlong races for statebred 3-year-olds.

Casey will send out favored William and Mary in the Coin Collector and the filly Bound to Windsor in the Its Binn Too Long, which is named for the four-time stakes winner he trained from 1999 to 2001.

William and Mary was 4 for 6 and won two stakes last year. He will be making his first start at 3 in the Coin Collector.

Bound to Windsor won 4 of 5 starts last year and beat males in the West Virginia Futurity. She will need to have her running shoes on for her seasonal debut when she meets expected favorite Late Night Pow Wow, who is 2 for 2, both for trainer Javier Contreras, and coming off a seven-length allowance win.