Trainer Beattie a two-track leader

It doesn't seem to matter whether Stephanie Beattie runs her horses at Charles Town or Penn National. She's the hottest trainer at both Mid-Atlantic tracks.

Through Monday, Beattie led the trainer standings at Charles Town, with a 26-24 lead over second-place Jeff Runco, and at Penn National, where her five wins in the first two weeks of the meet put her one ahead of runners-up Mike Salvaggio and Dave Geist.

Overall, Beattie is 31 for 86 in 2008, which computes to a sizzling 36 percent.

Beattie has been white hot at Charles Town, winning at a 42 percent clip. Since Feb. 1, her Charles Town runners are 10 for 26, producing a return on investment of $2.56 for $2.

She's ahead of Runco despite the fact her 62 starters are fewer than half his 131 starters.

Beattie's go-to riders have been J.D. Acosta and Brandon Whitacre. Acosta is 19 for 48 (39 percent) with a $2.21 ROI riding for Beattie so far this year. Whitacre, who was aboard two of Beattie's three winners on the Feb. 19 card at Penn National, is 9 for 19 (47 percent) with a $2.76 ROI for Beattie in 2008.

Beattie has been most successful with owner Robert Cole Jr., winning with 23 of 59 starters (38 percent) for him this season.

One thing many of Beattie's winners have in common is they dramatically improve upon coming under her care.

Recent examples include:

* Butler, beaten 24 lengths when claimed out of a 1 1/8-mile race at Charles Town for $6,000 on Jan. 3, has won his first two starts for Beattie by a combined margin of 10o1/2 lengths.

* Scubai Dubai, beaten 54 lengths going 1 1/8 miles in maiden special weight company at Charles Town, was switched to Beattie's barn and wired $10,000 maiden claimers by 7o1/2 lengths at Penn National on Feb. 19.

* Eastmont, beaten a total of 37 lengths in his first two starts off the claim for the powerhouse stable of Scott Lake, is 2 for 2 at Charles Town for Beattie, winning by a combined margin of 11 lengths.