Region’s Best

FIRST STAR: TEACHINTHERELEASE. Rising West Virginia-bred star Teachintherelease had no problem bouncing back off a 10-day layoff on Saturday at Charles Town. He made the lead from post 10 and held off the late challenge of Muad’dib to win the Randy Funkhouser Memorial Stakes for West Virginia-breds. The 4-year-old gelded son of Windsor Castle, bred by John Casey, has now won six times in 12 starts this year, including win in the Frank Gall Memorial Stakes on August 23. He also finished second in the Onion Juice WVBC on October 12. He’s owned by Robert Cole, trained by Stephen Murdock, and ridden by Orlando Bocachica.

SECOND STAR: SPEEDYNESS. Earlier this year, Jamie Ness homebred Speedyness won the Miracle Wood Stakes in gate-to-wire style, and followed it up with in-the-money finishes in the Private Terms Stakes and the Federico Tesio Stakes. He made his first start off a six-month layoff on Friday in a third-level route at Laurel Park. Sent off as the 2-1 second choice in the six-horse field, he got to the front early from the rail, opened up in the stretch, and held on to win by 1 1/2 lengths. He’s now 3-for-6 on the year and 6for-13 lifetime. Morris Kernan Jr. co-owns, while Jaime Rodriguez was in the saddle.

THIRD STAR: JAMIE NESS. Ness also had a big day at Parx on Wednesday. He saddled three winners, taking race 2 with Harp’s Hot Corner, race 4 with Sister Supream, and the 6th race with Arrow Speed. He also sent out race 6 runner-up Striking Sparks, and finished second in race 7 with Tiz Race Day. Mychel Sanchez rode his first two winners, while Paco Lopez helped him complete the hat trick. Ness has enjoyed great success at Parx this year, with 136 wins from 496 starters.

Laurel Park

FIRST STAR: SPEEDYNESS. His big win set him up nicely for a potentially big 2025.

SECOND STAR: BELLA BETTINA. Rallied wide and got up to win a second-level route on Friday in a mild 8-1 upset.

THIRD STAR: TOO MANY KISSES. Conniver Stakes champion made her third start off the layoff a winning one, taking a Maryland-restricted allowance contest on Sunday.

Charles Town Races

FIRST STAR: TEACHINTHERELEASE. If there was a 2025 Sam Huff WVBC future book, this guy would probably be the favorite.

SECOND STAR: RESTLESS. Made it three wins in a row with a sharp first-level victory earlier on the Saturday program.

THIRD STAR: SARAH’S CANDY CAMP. Extended her own winning streak to four in a row with a gate-to-wire win over allowance foes on Friday.

Parx Racing

FIRST STAR: JAMIE NESS. Another big day for the leading trainer at Parx.

SECOND STAR: WINNING TIME. Pewter Stable homebred led for every step to take a first-level sprint on Monday, in his second start off a nine-month break.

THIRD STAR: WHISKEYROMEOSIERRA. Fought off consistent challenges to beat Pennsylvania-bred allowance rivals later on the Monday program.