Art Collector Lands $1M Charles Town Classic

As Yogi Berra said, it was déjà vu all over again Aug. 26 in the $1 million Charles Town Classic (G2) as Art Collector  shook off a stiff challenge to sprint away to an easy, 4 1/4-length victory.

It was a repeat of 2021, when Art Collector arrived in West Virginia off a win in the Alydar Stakes at Saratoga Racecourse and battled to a victory in the Charles Town Classic, getting the better of a long duel with Sleepy Eyes Todd  .

This time around, it was Muad'dib , a locally trained West Virginia-bred gelding, defending a 10-for-10 record, who provided the challenge for Art Collector at Hollywoood Casno at Charles Town Races. The two hooked up early in the 1 1/8-mile, three-turn event and ran basically side by side.

Muad'dib appeared to actually put a nose in front of Art Collector, the 1-2 favorite, as the field came across the finish line for the first time. Rounding the second turn, Art Collector and jockey Luis Saez reasserted their class and held a slim lead the second time down the backstretch.

Entering the final turn, Art Collector began to edge away and was a clear winner through the final furlong. Muad'dib, a 5-year-old by Fiber Sonde , upheld the local honor by hanging around for second, a neck in front of Mind Control , with Officiating  fourth.

The shape of the race changed at the start as Mind Control stumbled out of the gate and was never near the pace, leaving only Muad'dib to keep Art Collector honest up front. Not pressured through the final furlong, he finished in 1:51.30, some two seconds slower than last year's effort.

"I was almost a little surprised that Art Collector was on the lead," said trainer Bill Mott. "I mean, he broke like a rocket tonight and he was there, so Luis took advantage of it. We thought it was a good possibility that two horses inside of us would show speed, and it was the hometown horse that showed all the speed.

"Actually, I'll give a lot of credit to him. He was very game. He hung in there with us and finished up the race very well. So it was a good race for him. He was 10-for-10 coming into the race. If you win 10 in a row, you're a good horse. And we were able to beat him tonight."

Art Collector's start in the Alydar was his first since a fading 12th-place finish in the Saudi Cup (G1) Feb. 26. After that race, he and several other horses were stranded in Riyadh for nearly a month because of transportation issues and lost that training time. Winning owner Bruce Lunsford noted that difficulty.

"We recovered from a tough trip earlier and we took that on and Bill has great patience, the best I've ever seen," Lunsford said. "This turned out to be a horse that's kinda sexy. I like the horse, you know? He's just special."

After the 2021 Charles Town race, Art Collector went on to win the Woodward Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park, but Mott would not confirm a plan for the rest of this year.

"Well, we've got to talk about that," he said. "I mean, we've got several options. You think about the races that are in the next sequence of things. You've got the Clark Stakes (G1). You've got the Woodward. You've got the Breeders' Cup. So those are all things that we're going to have the enjoyment of talking about. That's the fun of it, trying to make the right move."

Art Collector, a 5-year-old son of Bernardini , won for the 10th time in 19 starts and pushed his earnings past the $2 million mark. Bred by his owner, he is out of the Distorted Humor  mare Distorted Legacy .

Video: Charles Town Classic S. (G2)