The WV Breeders Classic- $350.000 Purse
CT- For Three Year Olds and Upward Foaled in WV
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
October 14, 2017

Shortly before midnight, the WV Breeders Classic took place with its 11:20pm post time. Would it be worth staying up for? The five trainers who had a runner in the race were certainly hoping that it would be. In the end, it would be Defoe celebrating as his recent purchase, Moccasin Skin, from Australia Wide, for $100.000 just three weeks ago, pays off. Looking back, I probably did not give him enough credit in the preview for the race he had with Australia Wide, but the betting public certainly did to make him the favorite. He would jump out to the lead and never look back, wiring the field in comfortable fashion, giving the trainer and the jockey, F Pennington, their first wins in the WV Breeders Classic. The time of the win was 1:47.81, setting a new record for the stale. Congratulations! Let’s take a look at it!

(½ Mile- :48.01)- Moccasin Skin, from Defoe, breaks alertly from the start, and is able to clear the field by a length pretty quickly, allowing him to get to the rail in time for the opening turn. He handles that pretty easily, and cruises into the frontstretch the first time with his lead now up to two lengths. At the start finish line the first time, he is in very good shape. Running behind him is John Henry’s Rebel Force, who started well himself and looked like he might stalk Moccasin Skin a little closer before becoming content to sit just off the lead and run alongside third place longshot Dancing Officer, from Hambletonian. At the back, Blue Eight (Blushing Meadows) and Gentile Il Buono (Sc Lanciano) ran side by side, four and a half lengths out.

(3/4 Mile- 1:11.40)- At the front, Moccasin Skin is still in cruise control, with his lead still about two, to two and a half lengths. Rebel Force is keeping him in sight, and careful not to let him get away. The big mover during this portion of the race was Dancing Officer, but for the wrong reason, as he lost several lengths and began to look like a 272/1 shot. Blue Eight and Gentile Il Buono were making the pass of him as they hit this post.

(Top of stretch, 1F To Go)- As the field moved around the turn, Moccasin Skin looked like he may be about to run away with it, and the field let him get away too much. He handles the turn gracefully, and leads by two and a half as they hit the top of the stretch. Rebel Force still had not yet shown a sign of making a move on him. Gentile Il Buono was showing some good run on the outside, but he had a lot of ground to make up. The story was the same for Blue Eight, but his run was going to come from the rail and both seemed poised to pass Rebel Force. For the fans in the grandstands, it was just a matter of which of these two would complete the exacta. Dancing Officer dropped to the back.

(Finish- 1:47.81)- Running to the wire, Moccasin Skin would hang on to pick up the big win, although he heard louder hoofsteps in the background then he may have been expecting. Both Gentile Il Buono and Blue Eight battled each other hard for second, and in the process, got closer to Moccasin Skin then anticipated. The stewards could not separate them, and they get a dead heat for second, that both deserved. Rebel Force tried to hang with them, but that was all he would do, and Dancing Officer rounded out the field.

About The Winner: Moccasin Skin, trained by Defoe, and ridden by F Pennington, is a three year old colt by Soundofsilence and out of Moccasin. He was bred in West Virginia by Tinkey as a first quarter two year old, and acquired by Defoe via Australia Wide in private sales for $100.000 on September 20th. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fifth in ten starts, and his first stake win. His career earnings now sit at $280.280.

Track: Fast
Time: :48   1:11²  1:35¹  1:47⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 5 – 1 Paid 5.20, 5 – 3 Paid 10.30
$1 Trifecta: 5 – 1 – 3 Paid 13.80, 5 – 3 – 1 Paid 18.00

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded