Russell Road aims for record fourth West Virginia Breeders' Classic win
The 9-year-old Russell Road, closing in on $2 million in earnings, and his 6-year-old arch rival, Lucy’s Bob Boy, seeking to become a millionaire, clash for the 12th time during their highly successful careers in Saturday night’s $500,000 West Virginia Breeders’ Classic at Charles Town.
The 1 1/8-mile Classic, which goes as race 8 at 10:48 p.m. Eastern, is the richest of nine stakes worth nearly $1.1 million on the 29th annual program devoted to West Virginia-breds.
Russell Road already owns three Classic victories, including a half-length tally over Lucy’s Bob Boy last year. He prepped for Saturday’s race by easily winning the Roger Ramey Handicap on Sept. 19. His only subpar performance in four starts this season came when he had an excuse in the seven-furlong Frank Gall Memorial in August.
“We had two glue-on shoes on him in the Gall, and he lost both of them,” owner Mark Russell said. “Since that faux pas, we’ve nailed them back on, and there hasn’t been a problem. We don’t expect there to be any issue with that on Saturday.”
With a finish of third or better on Saturday night, Russell Road would become just the second West Virginia-bred to top $2 million in career earnings. A record fourth Classic victory would put him less than $125,000 behind Soul of the Matter for the earnings record by a West Virginia-bred.
Lucy’s Bob Boy, who won the 2012 Classic, is looking to rebound from an uncharacteristic seventh-place finish in the seven-furlong Wild and Wonderful last month. His head was turned when the gates opened, and he was extremely wide when he was rushed up to get into contention early.
“Yeah, I’m trying to forget everything about the Wild and Wonderful,” said trainer Sandra Dono. “The whole thing. He’s been fine, though, and we didn’t have to alter his training at all. We open-galloped him this distance a couple of times, and he should be ready to run his race.”
A second-place finish would enable Lucy’s Bob Boy to top the million-dollar milestone for owner Michael Furr.
The connections of Russell Road, owner Russell and trainer James W. Casey, are taking a second shot at the rich Classic purse with their 3-year-old Charitable Annuity. He has won his two most recent starts by wide margins and is 5 for 8 lifetime, but he will be racing beyond seven furlongs for the first time and must overcome post 10 in the three-turn race.
The other intriguing newcomer to the Classic is the 5-year-old Hidden Canyon. A front-runner, he is 9 for 13 lifetime, including a win in last fall’s seven-furlong West Virginia Lottery. He stretches out after a pair of runner-up finishes going seven furlongs, including a half-length defeat last time out to Pants On Fire in the Wild and Wonderful.