Germaniac. Photo by Jim McCue, Maryland Jockey Club.
NOTE: THE RACING CARD TO WHICH THIS ARTICLE REFERS — CHARLES TOWN’S JANUARY 7, 2015 CARD — HAS BEEN CANCELED.
Lucy’s Bob Boy, who’s made a career out of winning races at Charles Town — 21 of them in all — is the 2-5 morning line favorite in this evening’s Blue Ridge Handicap for four-year-olds and up. But he’ll face a solid group of runners that includes a handful of runners capable of making an impact.
The six-year-old son of Flatter, who enters off a second-place finish in a Laurel allowance race, will reach $1 million in career earnings with another productive season. He’s earned over $875,000 to date, with 21 wins from 32 career starts. What’s more, he’s won 10 times in 12 tries at the event’s 7 furlong distance, with just one finish worse than second.
Germaniac (10-1) won the Frank Whiteley Stakes at Laurel a year ago and promptly embarked on a dismal seven-race losing streak. Dropped into $25,000 claiming company, he responded with a win and his highest BRIS speed figure since the stake victory. Trainer Tim Tullock liked what he saw enough to give the son of Henny Hughes another black-type try.
In the Fairway (8-1) has failed twice in a row at odds-on — 7-10 last out and 3-10 in the race prior. But the son of Posse, trained by local leader Jeff Runco, owns a couple of stakes victories on the page and a solid record of four wins from 10 starts at the distance. Xavier Perez ships in to ride. The bad news: he’s been comprehensively beaten by Lucy’s Bob Boy three times at 6 1/2 or 7 furlongs.
Ollie Figgins trainee Allegheny Jack (6-1), a son of Reparations, has finished behind Lucy’s Bob Boy in each of his last five starts. That doesn’t offer much to hang your hat on, but he’s a solid runner who always seems to try hard.
Perhaps the most intriguing horse not named Lucy’s Bob Boy is Cuco Trejo (12-1), who ships in from Mountaineer for this event. The son of Shaniko, trained by Matthew Chappell, lost the first 10 races of his career before finding the range. But he’s now won each of his last three, by a combined total of 21 lengths — without having been the favorite in any of them. Jockey Daniel Benavides, his regular rider, makes the cross-state trek to climb aboard. It’s a significant step up in class from never-three allowance horses to this, but it should be interesting to see if he can make it.
One other oddity: 20-1 My Jordan would be working on a 16-race losing streak — except that he was put up from second to first via disqualification not once but twice in 2014.
The $35,000 Blue Ridge Handicap is scheduled as race 8 with an approximate post time of 10:11 p.m.
