Dancing Roy scores in Leavitt Stakes

Dancing Roy improved his record to four wins in five starts Saturday night at Charles Town by scoring a clear-cut victory in the Robert G. Leavitt Stakes.

The field for the Leavitt was reduced to eight by the scratch of favored Amherst Street, the top West Virginia-bred in training in the U.S. Giovanni Boldini, based in Ireland with Aidan O’Brien, also is a West Virginia-bred.

Dancing Roy was making his stakes debut in the Leavitt following a second-level statebred allowance score. He prompted the early pace outside 10-1 shot Chasin Rush, took over nearing the stretch and drew off to win by 2 1/2 lengths under jockey Oscar Flores. Pin High, never far back while saving ground, split horses entering the stretch and went on to be second at 10-1, finishing 1 1/4 lengths before Little Big Sime, who rallied wide from last place.

Dancing Roy, trained by Timothy Grams, paid $9 to win as the second choice in the race. He covered seven furlongs around Charles Town’s two-turn layout in 1:26.01.

High N Dry, the 11-10 favorite, was brushed at the start and never seriously threatened.