Charitable Annuity turns tables in A Huevo Stakes

Charitable Annuity wins it. Photo by Coady Photography.

by Frank Vespe

Just about a month ago, Slip the Cable slipped off to an easy lead and went on to post a seven-length win in the $500,000 West Virginia Breeders Classic Stakes.

That day, Charitable Annuity, the 6-5 favorite and defending champ in the race, rallied from well back to be second, comfortably clear of Start Line in third.

Last night, four of the runners from the Classic — the top pair, plus fourth place finisher Little Big Sime and Ello Govna, who was seventh — reconvened at Charles Town for the $50,000 A Huevo Stakes for West Virginia-breds three-years-old and up and contested at the same 1 1/8 mile distance.

But this time the result was different.

Once again Slip the Cable, under jockey Arnaldo Bocachica, grabbed the early lead.  But this time, Charitable Annuity — who was seven lengths back early in the Classic — took much closer attendance to the pace, moving to within a half-length after three quarters of a mile in 1:13.05.  And this time, he and rider Antonio Lopez weren’t letting their rival get away.

Despite steadying off of Slip the Cable’s inside flank near the quarter pole, Lopez was able to regroup, steer his mount outside the leader, and wear down Slip the Cable to win by 2 3/4 lengths.  Running time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:51.13.

Charitable Annuity returned a generous $6.00 to win as the second choice in the field of six.  Slip the Cable, off at 1-2 odds, held second, while longshot Follow the Notion was third.

Trained by James W. Casey, Charitable Annuity now has 12 wins from 20 career starts and earnings of $601,840.  He has done his best work at yesterday evening’s nine-furlong distance and now has won this event two straight years.

Charitable Annuity, by Charitable Man, was bred in West Virginia by Donald Duvall and is owned by Mark Russell.

The defeat snapped a modest two-race winning streak for Slip the Cable, who is trained by Jeff Runco.