Charles Town Classic Attracts 56 Nominees

In keeping with tradition, California-based horses again populate the list of nominees for the $1.25 million Charles Town Classic (gr. II), which this year will be run April 23.

The top two finishers in last year's 1 1/8-mile Charles Town Classic were Moreno and Imperative, who both shipped from the West Coast. According to officials at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, the top four finishers in the March 12 Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) are nominated this year.

Should Santa Anita Handicap winner Melatonin make the trip east, it would mark the fourth consecutive year, and fifth time in the race's last six editions, that the Big 'Cap winner made his next start at Charles Town. Other nominees from the $1 million stakes are runner-up and 2015 Gold Cup at Santa Anita (gr. I) victor Hard Aces; third-place finisher and 2014 Charles Town Classic winner Imperative; and Clark Handicap (gr. I) winner Effinex and Donworth, second choice behind Effinex.

Charles Town officials said 21 graded stakes winners are among the 56 nominees for the Classic. Maryland-based standout Page McKenney, who finished third in the three-turn race last year, is nominated and expected to be entered.

First post time for the 13-race Saturday program will be 12:45 p.m. EDT. The Classic, for 4-year-olds and up, will be the most prominent race that weekend; the $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap (gr. II) will be run a week before on April 16.

Nominations for a pair of undercard stakes—the $150,000 Sugar Maple presented by CANTER Mid-Atlantic for fillies and mares and the $100,000 Robert Hilton Memorial for 3-year-olds, both at seven furlongs—close April 9.