Anne Marie Duff

CHARLESTOWN

11.05 Charles Town Classic Stakes (Grade 2) $1.5m 9 F

Tonight’s feature race is at Charlestown in West Virginia where eight rivals will line up against Shared Belief, the top older horse in North America, in the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic. (ATR 11.05).

Shared Belief is much the best horse; he’s three for three at the nine-furlong distance but on his first start outside California, the track may prove his biggest obstacle with three tight turns and the stretch just over a furlong in length. He easily won the Santa Anita Handicap on his previous start.

The only other runner to consistently race at the top level is Moreno, who gets 5lb from Shared Belief. Trained by Eric Guillot, Moreno finished second, over four lengths behind Shared Belief, in the Santa Anita Handicap, and in his last start was beaten a half-length in the New Orleans Handicap at Fair Grounds.

The five-year-old finished third in last year’s Charles Town Classic behind Imperative and Game On Dude. Moreno’s two biggest wins have come in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga last summer and the Grade 2 Dwyer at Belmont in 2013, both from the front.

His runner-up efforts include the Travers, Woodward, Suburban, and Pennsylvania Derby. Guillot believes his horse has a shot to defeat Shared Belief saying. “Three turns and a short stretch –that’s Moreno’s type of racetrack.”

Imperative, who won last year’s Charles Town Classic from off the pace at 26/1, is back again. He hasn’t won since this race last year, though he did finish third in two Grade 1 stakes races in California. He was well behind in the Santa Anita Handicap.

General A Rod was among the top three-year-olds last season winning the Gulfstream Derby. Contesting all three Triple Crown races he finished fourth in the Preakness. He won last time out at Tampa Bay.

Also in the US, Hawthorne holds the Grade 3 Illinois Derby although it awards no points in the Kentucky Derby qualifying. The race has a clear-cut favourite in a field of nine in California contender Cross The Line, who was fifth in the Grade I Santa Anita Derby for Jerry Hollendorfer. Also supported is Bob Baffert’s maiden winner Whiskey Ticket.

At Keeneland, Royal Ascot and Breeders Cup winner Hootenanny returns in a five and a half furlong allowance race (7.38pm). Dynamic Sky is favourite for the Grade 2 Diana Elkhorn Stakes.