Stonestreet Stables, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith’s Stanford heads a field of eight runners as he attempts to defend his title in the $1,250,000 Charles Town Classic (G2) this Saturday at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. The 1 1/8 mile Charles Town Classic will be the eleventh race on the 13 race program that gets underway at 12:45 P.M. EST. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Stanford took a slightly different route to West Virginia’s eastern panhandle for his title defense than he took in 2016. Last year, the WinStar bred son of Malibu Moon came into the Charles Town Classic off of consecutive runner-up efforts at Gulfstream in the Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2) and Fred Hooper (G3) – both one-turn events.
However, in 2017, Stanford comes into the three-turn Charles Town Classic off three consecutive two-turn races down in Florida. After a six month break following the Met Mile (G1), Stanford lead every step of the way in taking the Harlan’s Holiday (G3) over Keen Ice and subsequently came up a head short against Imperative – a horse he’ll meet again this Saturday – in the $400,000 Poseidon at Gulfstream. In his most recent outing, Stanford blitzed on overmatched group of opponents in the $100,000 Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and stopped the clock in a track record time for the 1 1/16 mile event.
In that victory in the Challenger, Stanford was equipped with blinkers for the first time in his career, a change his trainer thinks can move his colt up even further. “The main objective with putting the blinkers on was keeping him focused throughout the race,” said the winner of seven Eclipse Awards as the country’s top trainer. “He lost his focus a couple of times, and both times we think it cost him the race. Sometimes it can be difficult to make an equipment change on a horse you’ve had so much success with, but it had been in the back of my mind to try it with him.
The Charles Town Classic...
