Ghostly Thunder tough

Ghostly Thunder appears extremely hard to beat as he goes after his fourth win in five starts in restricted stakes races in the $50,000 Robert G. Leavitt Memorial for 3-year-old West Virginia-breds at Charles Town.

Ghostly Thunder was 2 for 2 in restricted stakes last year, and won the $50,000 Salerno for statebreds by 4 1/2 lengths at Charles Town on May 31. That race was at seven furlongs and Saturday's is at a mile, but as a son of Deputy Minister, Ghostly Thunder should stretch out just fine.

Only two of the 10 Leavitt entrants ever have run a Beyer over 77 - Ghostly Thunder, who has done it in 6 of his last 8 starts, and Working for Peace, who has done it once.

Working for Peace is an interesting alternative to the top choice based on his last start, a 16 1/4-length romp in a statebred third-level allowance with an 89 Beyer.

It was Working for Peace's first start since he was claimed on May 30 by Scooter Davis for Scarlet Stable, and he topped his previous Beyer top of 64 by 25 points - a huge jump for a horse making his 16th start. If he bounces, Sheik Shalom looks next most likely to complete the exacta.