Maggie’s Girl has one pretty obvious hole in her otherwise stellar resume. The four-year-old Uncle Lino filly has won seven of her nine starts, usually with ease – but she’s been defeated in her only two stakes tries.

Maggie’s Girl, a homebred for trainer Tim Grams and wife Judy, will try to rectify that Saturday at Charles Town Races in the $75,000 Original Gold Stakes for West Virginia-bred fillies and mares. A full gate of 10 is signed on to contest the seven-furlong event.

Making her debut midway through her three-year-old season, Maggie’s Girl hit the ground running, winning her first three starts by a combined 20 lengths. But she then met defeat when second in the 4 ½-furlong Autumn Stakes August 25 and again two races later in the WV Dept. of Tourism Breeders’ Classic when third behind Jubaslilballerina.

She’s won three straight since, all with ease. Most recently she took a one-turn allowance dash by almost three lengths as the 1-2 favorite and arrives here as the 8-5 morning line favorite.

Grams’s go-to rider of late, veteran Larry Reynolds, will ride.

Among her top challengers might be The Sky Is Falling (8-1), who enters in perhaps only middling form after finishing behind two of her rivals last out. But the Jeff Runco trainee certainly has better form to run back to, having won four stakes at two and three, and will have Arnaldo Bocachica in the irons.

The two that bested The Sky Is Falling last out both are here. Those are Lightnin Runner (3-1) and Moonlit Shadow (10-1).

Lightnin Runner won that contest by 2 ½ lengths for her fourth win in seven outings since Ronney Brown took over training duties. She has plenty of early speed in what should be a quick early pace, as Moonlit Shadow also has early zip. The four-year-old Lightnin Runner won last year’s It’s Binn Too Long Stakes for her only stakes score and overall has eight wins from 16 starts.

Moonlit Shadow is a full sister to 14-race winner Moonlit Song, whose five stakes wins included the 2017 Cavada. Unlike older sis, though, this six-year-old mare remains in search of her first stakes win. She was a well-beaten third in this event a year ago.

Since Reynolds has gone to Maggie’s Girl, Denis Araujo will ride Moonlit Shadow. 

One other runner of note is Azzurra (6-1). The eight-year-old Capo Bastone mare seems to have sipped from the Fountain of Youth, having won three of four starts this year, including wins over Moonlit Shadow and The Sky Is Falling. She’s another in search of her first stakes win and will try to give trainer Donald Barber, having a terrific season with 10 wins from 24 starts, his first stakes win as a trainer since 2004.

The Original Gold is the seventh on an eight-race program. Post time for the card is 7:00 p.m., with the Original Gold slated to go off at just after 10:00.

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