Down Town Allen shoots for fourth straight Sadie Hawkins win

The $50,000 Sadie Hawkins Stakes at Charles Town on Saturday night has the look of a one-sided affair – just as it did in 2013 and 2012. But in recent years, that has been the case whenever Down Town Allen has raced at Charles Town.

In her last 11 starts at Charles Town, Down Town Allen hasn’t been higher than 11-10 in the betting. Little wonder, she has won every time.

The Sadie Hawkins, a seven-furlong race for West Virginia-bred fillies and mares, also had an odds-on favorite in 2011, but it turned out to be the wrong horse. The Maryland-based Aspenglow came into the race off a second in the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie Handicap and a six-month layoff. She faded to fifth as, you guessed it, Down Town Allen won by five lengths. If you bet her that night, you received $13.40 to win, which should be on the shortlist of stories to tell your grandkids.

When Down Town Allen, 7, seeks her fourth straight Sadie Hawkins win Saturday, she will go to the gate with 22 wins from 38 starts and $872,000 in earnings. She is 21 for 34 at Charles Town, 1 for 3 at Mountaineer, and 0 for 1 at Penn National. In her most recent start, she won the Fancy Buckles Stakes for the fourth straight year.

Down Town Allen was bred and is owned and trained by John A. Casey. In addition to training, Casey manages his family’s Taylor Mountain Farm, which stands four stallions, including the sire of Down Town Allen, Windsor Castle. Casey can point out a number of attributes that make Down Town Allen special, but at the end of the day, it’s just that she can do things other West Virginia-bred fillies and mares can’t.

“We’d all be rich if we knew what makes one horse better than another,” he said. “Horses like her are what keep everyone going. Everyone wants to breed and race one like her.”

Casey, 53, said Down Town Allen is big, has a strong shoulder, and likes to race.

“As she has gotten older, she has gotten better. Not many horses are like that,” he said. “She has a big stride. Jockeys I know who have ridden against her say their horses were running but that they were taking two strides to every one our horse was taking.”

The dam of Down Town Allen, Like Down Town, resides at Taylor Mountain Farm but has not produced anything remotely close in ability. Her other five foals to race have earned a combined $86,000.

“Down Town Allen just looks better than them all,” Casey said.

The same can be said about her rivals Saturday.