Four Gifts caps perfect night for Albarado, Asmussen

Jockey Robby Albarado and trainer Steve Asmussen went 3 for 3 on Saturday night's lucrative stakes card at Charles Town.

Four Gifts, a two-time Grade 3 stakes winner, gave Albarado and Asmussen their third consecutive stakes on the six-stakes program when she held off a late charge by Florida shipper Royal Card to win the $250,000 Charles Town Oaks.

Albarado and Asmussen also teamed up to sweep a pair of $100,000 stakes for 2-year-olds, winning the Charles Town Juvenile with Western Smoke and the Miss Shenandoah with Kinsolving. All three of the winners for Albarado and Asmussen were heavy favorites.

Four Gifts ($3.60) got an ideal trip, sitting just off a contested pace set by the locally based star filly Beware of the Bop, who had won six straight, and the Monmouth Park-based Love That Dance. Four Gifts took command turning for home in the two-turn, seven-furlong race and had enough energy left to prevail by three-quarters of a length over Royal Card, the third-place finisher in last month's Grade 3 Azalea.

Four Gifts, winner of the Eight Belles at Churchill Downs in May and the Delta Princess at Delta Downs last December, covered the distance in 1:24.82.

In the other stakes on the card:

* Kinsolving ($4) ran down 21-1 pacesetterDown Town Allen to take the 4 1/2-furlong Miss Shenandoah by 1 1/4 lengths. Kinsolving, winning for the first time since her career debut in April, had been no better than third in her three previous starts, all against Grade 3 competition.

* Western Smoke ($3.20) cruised to a 12 1/2-length win in the Charles Town Juvenile, a seven-furlong race for 2-year-olds. It was the second straight stakes victory for Western Smoke, who dominated last month's Prairie Gold Juvenile in Iowa. His coupled stablemate, Grand Slam Andre, was scratched.

* Ju Jitsu Jax ($3.40), who had been flashing high speed and fading in longer races, loved the cut back to 4 1/2 furlongs in the $100,000 West Virginia Sprint Derby for 3-year-olds.

Ridden by J.D. Acosta for trainer Scott Lake, Ju Jitsu Jax came from third to cruise to a 5 1/2-length win over Pilanesberg.

It was the first stakes victory for Ju Jitsu Jax, who is now 5 for 10 lifetime. In two previous stakes tries locally, both going seven furlongs, he had finished third in the $100,000 Blue N Gold and fifth in the $250,000 Red Legend.

* Sweet Goodbye ($4.40), making her first start since December, led wire to wire to defeat All Night Labor by a half-length in the $75,000 Pink Ribbon, a seven-furlong race for fillies and mares. It was the sixth win in eight lifetime starts for the 4-year-old Sweet Goodbye, who was ridden by Acosta for trainer Chris Grove.

* The 3-year-old Jolie Ange ($12), facing older West Virginia-bred fillies and mares for the first time, rolled to a 4 1/4-length win over 4-5 favorite Saxtet Heights in the $50,000 Sadie Hawkins at seven furlongs.