Although the race did not attract the very best West Virginia-bred older male in training, the latest edition of the $75,000-added Randy Funkhouser Memorial for state-bred older runners had numerous story lines.

Grade 3-winning millionaire Coastal Mission is prepping for the Grade 2 Cigar Mile December 7, so owner-trainer Jeff Runco opted to pass on the Funkhouser.

But that left plenty of hopefuls to vie for the money.

Recent West Virginia Breeders Classic hero Runaldo, with Arnaldo Bocachica up, was made the solid 3-2 favorite for trainer Runco from post nine, while Runco’s other entrant, Muad’dib (Angel Cruz), a two-time prior winner of this event when it was contested as the A Huevo Stakes, was seeking to become the sport’s newest millionaire with a first- or second-place finish.

Defending champion No Change (Marshall Mendez), fresh off his win in the $75,000 Onion Juice last month, hoped for a repeat in the nine-furlong affair, while Teachintherelease (Orlando Bocachica), a sharp allowance winner 10 days earlier and prior hero of the Frank Gall Memorial, was actually made the 2-1 second choice although scheduled rider Jevian Toledo opted not to make the trip from Maryland.

Additionally, two horses that sported the colors of O’Sullivan Farms, Jungle Beast and Royal Pain, were also looking to forge genuine upsets for their respective trainers, Javier Contreras and Jamey Johnson, in the race named for O’Sullivan’s late patriarch. 

When the gates opened, longshot Paymengold, restless in the starting gate briefly, broke best of all to gain command initially but quickly yielded the advantage to Teachintherlease. Teachintherelease easily cleared to the front entering the stretch the first time and then was permitted to control the tempo as Runaldo, No Change and Muad’dib took up tactical spots just off the pace.

But the early stages of the Randy Funkhouser Memorial would go a long way toward determining the outcome as Teachintherelease was permitted to set modest fractions of 24.20, 48.85 and 1:14.10 through the first three calls, all while holding a lead of three lengths.

That left him plenty in reserve, and he then held safe the late inside bid of Muad’dib for a 1 1/4-length score while stopping the timer in 1:53.53.

A four-year-old Windsor Castle gelding trained by Stephen Murdock for owner Robert Cole, Jr., Teachintherelease recorded his sixth win in 12 seasonal outings and now sports a 10-9-1 slate and over $304,000 banked from 27 career tries. Three months earlier, Teachintherelease provided Murdock with his first stakes win as a trainer, and on Saturday night he notched his second as the Windsor Castle gelding prevailed in the Funkhouser.

“It’s really all about the horse,” Murdock said. “He ran a huge race here 10 days ago and I told Mr. Cole that I thought he deserved a chance in the stakes if he showed me that he was doing everything right. I thought he came into this race perfect. When he made the lead and no one went with him, I knew he was going to be tough to beat.”

“Really the plan was to just let [Paymengold] go early and then sit off of him and make the front as soon as I could,” said Bocachica, a past Grade 1-winning rider who made good use of the pickup mount. “He just did it so easily. When no one came after me, I just let him cruise on the lead. Turning for home, I had plenty of horse left.”

“These races up here are all about speed, and when you draw outside it’s all about using the early leverage to get the lead,” Cole said. “Right now, we’ve only got five horses in training and Stephen basically does everything on his own. He has no help – he’s trainer and groom. When he won here 10 days ago, I thought he ran a huge race. He beat a really good field of horses by eight or nine lengths and he did it in fast time. But I’m so happy to win this stakes – I don’t think I had ever won this one before.”

Although he has yielded his status as the top West Virginia-bred in training to his esteemed stablemate Coastal Mission, Muad’dib rallied from well off the pace to finish second in a very good effort for Runco and owner David Raim. That put the Fiber Sonde gelding just over $1 million in career purse earnings; he’s now at $1,000,149. Trainer Runco intimated that the Fiber Sonde gelding would return for the races again next season.

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