Three horses were in the photo in the October 12 West Virginia Triple Crown Nutrition Breeders’ Classic. All three will reconvene in Saturday’s $75,000 James and Eleanor Casey Memorial Stakes for state-bred two-year-old fillies Saturday at Charles Town Races.

Diakonissa won the Triple Crown Nutrition by a neck over Summon the Glam, who nosed out Over the Bull for the place. The same trio – plus fourth-place finisher Zip Start and fifth-place runner Boss Lady K P – will do it all over again in Saturday’s seven-furlong contest.

Diakonissa, trained by Anthony Farrior for Ultra Championship Racing, will likely go off the favorite as she goes postward in search of her third consecutive stakes victory. Her two prior stakes wins were the by a neck and, in the John McKee Memorial, by a head. Arnaldo Bocachica, aboard for all five of her starts to date, is named.

Summon the Glam, wide on the far turn and in the lane, rallied from the rear of the field for a near-miss second in the Triple Crown Nutrition. Trained by Kristy Petty, she had broken her maiden in her prior start and took another big step forward in her stakes bow. Gustavo Larrosa will ride.

Over the Bull was a 32-1 outsider in the Triple Crown Nutrition for owner-trainer-breeder Michael Sterling but nearly pulled a stunner. Wesley Ho has the return mount.

Boss Lady K P led early in the Triple Crown Nutrition and dueled with Diakonissa stubbornly before giving way late to finish fifth, while Zip Start gets blinkers on after a wide journey left her a non-threatening fourth in that contest, which was her stakes bow.

COASTAL MISSION LOOKING LIKE A MILLION BUCKS

A four-wide journey was no problem for Coastal Mission in the Grade 3 Forty Niner Stakes October 26 at the Belmont at the Big A meet at Aqueduct.

Under jockey Arnaldo Bocachica, the five-year-old Great Notion gelding stalked the pace from mid-flight, bid to the lead in mid-stretch, and won by a length as the 9-2 third choice in a field of eight older runners. It was Coastal Mission’s second consecutive win and first victory in graded company.

The winner’s share pushed the West Virginia-bred Coastal Mission’s bankroll beyond $1 million. He has 14 wins from 25 career outings for owner-trainer-breeder Jeff Runco, who, with wife Susan, races as Coleswood Farm. It was just the second graded win – and first since 2008 – for Runco, a winner of nearly 4,800 races as a trainer.

It also validated his decision to skip the October 12 Sam Huff West Virginia Breeders’ Classic, in which Coastal would have been a strong favorite. Runco and Bocachica won that race, too, with Runaldo.

“We skipped a race three weeks ago back home to come here,” Runco said. “We wanted to give him a shot up here at the flat mile so we can look forward to the Cigar Mile in December.”

WVRC CHAIRMAN KEN LOWE PASSES

West Virginia Racing Commission chairman Ken Lowe passed away September 3. He was 75.

Lowe was a lifelong resident of the state’s Eastern Panhandle and was involved with Thoroughbred racing for most of his adult life, beginning by working in mutuels at Charles Town Races during his teens and early twenties.

Lowe subsequently went into – and became very successful in – real estate and development. But he remained a “racing guy” to the end. Lowe was both a breeder and owner, and he served as president of the Charles Town Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) and on the board of the West Virginia Breeders’ Classics.

At the time of his passing, Lowe was chairman of the state’s Racing Commission.

Lowe was an outspoken advocate for maintaining the rural character of eastern West Virginia and believed that preserving a vibrant state horse breeding industry was critical to that mission, often saying that without horse farms, the area was in danger of becoming another cookiecutter suburb of Washington, DC.

Lowe is survived by his wife, Mary Battista Lowe, two sons, and two granddaughters.

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