Giant Game, Skippylongstocking Top Charles Town Classic

Absent the star power of two-time Charles Town Classic (G2) winner Art Collector, who tragically succumbed to laminitis last week, a full field of 10 lesser-name runners and one also-eligible have been entered for the $1 million race to take place the evening of Aug. 25.

The 1 1/8-mile contest, West Virginia's richest race, features three of the top four finishers from this summer's Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (G3)—victorious Giant Game , runner-up Skippylongstocking , and fourth-place Call Me Fast —plus grade 1 winner Doppelganger  and O'Connor , a graded placed runner who won a group 1 in Chile before he was imported to the United States.

The Charles Town Classic is a three-turn race around the six-furlong dirt track at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races.

Dropping in class after a fifth-place finish in the Aug. 5 Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, West Point Thoroughbreds and Albaugh Family Stables' speedy Giant Game is slightly favored over Daniel Alonso's Skippylongstocking, with the former 5-2 odds and the latter 3-1.

Piloted by Luis Saez in the Whitney, Giant Game is reunited Friday night with jockey Martin Garcia, who rode him to victory in the Cornhusker. Trainer Dale Romans trains the 4-year-old son of Giant's Causeway.

Tyler Gaffalione picks up the ride on Skippylongstocking, a 4-year-old son of Exaggerator  who, in contrast to Giant Game, has not raced since the July 8 Cornhusker. The Classic will mark his 11th consecutive start in graded stakes company.

"He's a hard-knocking horse that tries really hard every time," trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. "He danced in a lot of the big dances as a 3-year-old, you know, the Preakness (G1), the Belmont (G1), and then the West Virginia Derby (G3). So we know he likes it in West Virginia and hopefully he can pull off the double with the Charles Town Classic." 

Joseph will also start Fernando Vine Ode and and Michael and Jules Iavarone's O'Connor, a last-out third in the West Virginia Governor's Stakes (G3) at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort Aug. 6. Previously, he had been second in the Ghostzapper Stakes (G3) four months earlier in the spring at Gulfstream Park.

"O'Connor was coming off a layoff last time out and he missed some training, so he probably needed that one," Joseph said of the Trevor McCarthy-ridden son of Boboman . "We think he's coming into this one in much better shape and I think we'll see an improved effort." 

Trainer Brittany Russell will send out Doppelganger, winner of a soft renewal of the Carter Handicap (G1) at Aqueduct Racetrack in April. Most recently, following a ninth-place finish in the Metropolitan Handicap (G1), the 4-year-old son of Into Mischief   scored a class-dropping victory in the July 8 Battery Park Stakes at Delaware Park. 

Jevian Toledo rides the colt for the large partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Bob Masterson, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, Golconda Stable, and Siena Farm.

Adding blinkers for Friday's race is Giddyup Stables and Tom Lambro's Call Me Fast, with trainer Mike Puhich hoping the equipment change will encourage his trainee to sit closer to the pace. He has raced without blinkers over his last three races.

The Charles Town Classic is among nine stakes at the track Friday night, with the $750,000 Charles Town Oaks (G3) being the other graded race on the nighttime card. The Charles Town Classic is 11th on the program with a post time of 10:25 ET.