Two-year-olds take center stage in a pair of state-bred stakes at Charles Town Races this weekend, with fillies set to tangle in Friday’s John McKee Memorial – formerly the Rachel’s Turn – and the boys to do battle in the Henry Mercer Memorial on Saturday.

In Saturday’s Mercer Memorial, the Jeff Runco-trained Annapolis Road is an overwhelming 3-5 morning line favorite. The Outwork gelding, a homebred for Runco and his wife Susan’s Coleswood Farm operation, was a flashy debut winner Sept. 13. Under jockey Arnaldo Bocachica, Annapolis Road sped right to the front and widened from there, winning by seven lengths, with runner-up Bold Rock five lengths ahead of the show horse, Bold Desert.

Bocachica has the return mount, and the duo, which left from the rail on debut, will leave from the outer post of eight.

Three other logical players in the Mercer Memorial are This Juice B Loose (4-1), Juba’s Heart (5-1), and Im the Director (6-1).

This Juice B Loose won at first asking for trainer Anthony Lucas before trying his luck in a pair of races at Colonial Downs. There, he finished sixth in the state restricted Hickory Tree and then fourth in an allowance. He will be reunited with jockey Maximo Chilo, who rode him to that debut victory.

Juba’s Heart won at second asking for trainer Anthony Farrior after having finished second in his initial start. But with Bocachica riding the favorite here, he will get a new pilot in Angel Cruz.

Cynthia McKee, the widow of John McKee, doesn’t have a runner in the McKee Memorial but does have one in the Mercer in the form of Im the Director, a full brother to the talented Direct the Cat. This one’s still officially a maiden after winning by a pole last out in a two-turn contest but being disqualified for putting a rival in dangerously tight on the first turn.

Im the Director has the look of a horse who may be more dangerous next month in the 6 ½-furlong West Virginia Breeders Classics two-year-old contest. Marshall Mendez is named.

Friday’s McKee Memorial could be renamed the Anthony Farrior Invitational. The trainer has three of the eight runners entered, including the favorite and second choice on the morning line.

Two of Farrior’s runners, morning line favorite Diakonissa (8-5) and fourth choice Audible the Play (5-1), exit the same contest. Both ran in an allowance/optional claimer at Timonium August 31, finishing third and fifth, respectively, with Audible the Play just a length behind Diakonissa and both well off winner Great Andrei.

Diakonissa, by Preservationist, has one win from three career outings and will have Bocachica in the irons. Audible the Play, by Audible, will have Reshawn Latchman. She has a win from four starts.

Farrior’s other runner in the McKee Memorial also ran at Timonium. Flying to Neptune – a rare Maryland-bred by West Virginia sire Fiber Sonde – won nicely by 2 ¼ lengths at first asking in a maiden special weight event September 1. She is 9-2 on the morning line and will have J. D. Acosta up.

The McKee Memorial is Friday’s seventh race, and the Mercer Memorial is the seventh on Saturday. Both have a projected post time of 10:02 p.m.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST OFF TO THE RACES RADIO!