Fulsome rolls to West Virginia Governor’s Cup triumph

Odds-on favorite Fulsome made it three wins Saturday on the Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort card for trainer Brad Cox and jockey Paco Lopez, winning the Grade 3, $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s Cup by 1 1/4 lengths.

Derby House, who had been claimed for $30,000 four starts ago, winning three in a row by wide margins for his new connections, stayed on well to finish second.

The stewards briefly lit the inquiry sign because Fulsome had edged left in deep stretch after passing Derby House, but the race quickly went official.

Silver Prospector finished third as Fulsome ($3.40) clocked 1:43.48 for 1 1/16 miles over a sloppy dirt track and earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure.

Earlier on the card, Cox and Lopez swept two $75,000 turf-route races that were rained onto dirt. Price Talk ($2.80) was more than five lengths best in the House of Delegates, with Adventuring ($4.20) home by more than two lengths in the Senate Presidents Cup.

Longshot Likeable set a moderate pace as the Governor’s Cup field bunched on the backstretch and the race turned messy. After a half-mile in 47.62, Derby House wound up caught four paths wide into the far turn as Fulsome, racing mid-pack between horses down the backstretch, came under a ride from Lopez as he was shuffled back to seventh of eight. Lopez took Fulsome to the far outside coming to the five-sixteenths pole and got an immediate response from his mount, who had passed all save Derby House turning for home. Derby House fought on, but Fulsome was overwhelmingly favored for good reason and pushed clear to victory.

Four-year-old Fulsome is a Juddmonte Farms homebred by Into Mischief out of Flourish, by Distorted Humor. He won a pair of Grade 3s last year and now has three wins from four starts this season to run his career mark to 14-8-1-1.

Mr. Wireless and Promise Keeper were scratched.

*** The filly Command Strike outdid older horse Special Reserve, clocking 1:08.77 for six furlongs in winning the $75,000 West Virginia Secretary of State. The time was .17 seconds faster than Special Reserve’s winning time in the $75,000 Senator Robert Byrd Memorial a few races later.

Command Strike, trained by James Jackson for Elkhorn Oaks, now has a 5-4-1-0 record at Mountaineer. Under T D Houghton, she paid $7.20 to win.

Special Reserve ($4.40) rebounded from a seventh-place finish in his only previous start this season winning by 3 1/2 lengths over Baytown Bear. Ricardo Santana rode the winner for trainer Mike Maker and owners Paradise Farms and David Staudacher.

*** Hollis was beaten a head in the 2021 West Virginia Legislature Chairman’s Cup but proved much the best in this year’s renewal, winning the 4 1/2-furlong dash by 2 1/2 lengths under Ricardo Santana. The game 7-year-old gelding now is a 12-time winner from 28 starts. He was timed in 50.50 and paid $3.20 to win. John Ortiz trains for WSS Racing and 4G Racing.