Charles Town Races: Picks for Charles Town Classic night, 8/28/2026

Key Takeaways:

• The Charles Town Classic card is packed with nine stakes races, including two graded-stakes events, making Friday night one of the biggest cards of the meet.
• The two-turn configurations on the Charles Town card could make pace and tactical positioning especially important, so checking scratches and any changes to the projected race shapes will be key before betting.
• Foie Gras brings strong graded-stakes form into the Pink Ribbon and should benefit from the class drop, while Irish Maxima’s record at seven furlongs makes her a major threat up front.
• Ryan’s Run is undefeated at Charles Town and has already handled the two-turn seven-furlong configuration, while Solitude Dude brings stronger overall class and the tactical speed to adapt to the track.
• Little Miss Curlin offers upside at 12-1 as she stretches out, while Luv Your Neighbor brings the class edge and a recent stakes win into the Charles Town Oaks.

All eyes turn to West Virginia on Friday night for the Grade 2, $1 million Charles Town Classic, the flagship event of Charles Town’s Thoroughbred racing meet. The feature race is the 11th on a blockbuster 13-race card, and it drew major runners like two-time winner Skippylongstocking, last year’s winner Banishing, and serious challengers like Barbadian Runner, Willy D’s, and Dragoon Guard.

However, the Classic is not the only big action happening Friday night. The card features nine stakes races, including another graded-stakes event, the Grade 2 Charles Town Oaks, a $750,000 race for sophomore fillies. Live racing gets underway at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. You can watch all the action at FanDuel TV and bet every race at FanDuel!

Don’t forget to check the weather and the scratches before placing your bets. It should be partly cloudy and perfectly temperate Friday evening in Charles Town, but the weather forecast can change as race day approaches. And, even if the weather remains beautiful, scratches can happen for any reason, so don’t get caught out by something that affects the pace or class balance!

Horse Racing: Charles Town Picks

These are three best bets for the undercard of Friday night’s Charles Town Classic card:

Race 8: Pink Ribbon Stakes, seven furlongs on the dirt - Foie Gras, Irish Maxima

FanDuel odds: 5-2 and 2-1

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The Pink Ribbon should shape up as an interesting betting race because Mystic Lake, a horse who won this last year and won the Charles Town Oaks (G2) the year before, does not come into the race in nearly as good a form as she had in either of those two seasons – and she faces some runners who bring some very good form.

Foie Gras (5-2) should be able to show good tactical speed from the outside gate. She has freshened up since a close second in the Chicago Stakes (G2) on June 20 behind Eclatant, who came into that race out of a Grade 1 win. In her previous start, she was third in a blanket finish in the Winning Colors (G3) behind Usha and Zeitlos, another pair of serious graded-quality sprint mares. In short, she should benefit from the class drop, and should be a major factor with a clean, tactical trip.

Irish Maxima (2-1) may be the one she has to catch. She probably won’t make the top with Anakarina drawn just outside of her, but even though she usually makes the lead, she proved last out at Delaware Park that she does not need to make the front – even in a field of just four, she stalked the early pace and ran on to win by a length. She could be even sharper second off that freshening. The two-turn configuration is the question, but seven furlongs is no issue at all – she is six-for-seven at that distance at a range of different tracks, with much of that form coming with regular rider Frankie Pennington in the saddle.

Race 9: Robert Hilton Memorial, seven furlongs on the dirt - Ryan’s Run, Solitude Dude

FanDuel odds: 10-1 and 1-1

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The two-turn seven-furlong configuration makes this an interesting test – there are a lot of horses in here who are either untested at two turns or who are effective at one turn but haven’t turned in their best work going two. That composition makes it an interesting spot for the one Charles Town local in the field: Ryan’s Run (10-1), for high-percentage local connections, trainer Jeff Runco and jockey Arnoldo Bocachica. Ryan’s Run is undefeated in four starts at Charles Town, including three starts at 4 ½ furlongs and one going the two-turn seven furlongs. Class is a question, as this will be Ryan’s Run’s first try against horses bred outside of West Virginia. But, his breeding is all Kentucky (by Runhappy out of a multiple stakes-placed Any Given Saturday mare). And, in terms of pace, he showed tactical speed on the stretch out last time and has also shown the ability to duel and draw away.

Solitude Dude (1-1) has yet to win at two turns, but his only try wasn’t actually bad: he was facing serious Kentucky Derby contenders in the Fountain of Youth (G2) and finished third behind Commandment and Chief Wallabee. Though he threw in an uncharacteristic clunker in the Woody Stephens (G1) two back, he bounced back nicely in the Amsterdam (G2), finishing second by a head after a stalk-and-pounce trip. He can be very fast early but also tactical if he needs to be, and Saffie Joseph, Jr. shippers are always forces to be reckoned with. Charles Town may just fit Solitude Dude like a glove.

Race 10: Charles Town Oaks (G2), seven furlongs on the dirt - Little Miss Curlin, Luv Your Neighbor

FanDuel odds: 12-1 and 8-5

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Patrick Devereux trainee Little Miss Curlin (12-1) is getting a pair of new challenges – she stretches out to seven furlongs for the first time and tries a two-turn configuration for the first time. However, being by Charlatan out of a Curlin mare, she has every reason to improve with a bit more distance, and this is a sensible next step up as far as distance. Though she was a well-beaten third in the Miss Preakness (G3), her only try in a graded-stakes race so far, she got embroiled in a speed duel that day. However, her more typical style is a stalking shape, and jockey Jareth Loveberry was able to win that way with her at both Fair Grounds and Oaklawn. She beat older at Evangeline last out, she should be even better second off the layoff, and she has the perfect blend of class, tactical versatility, and upside to be a price play in this spot.

The class of the field is Luv Your Neighbor (8-5), who ships in for trainer Mike Stidham and has freshened up since a win in the Delaware Oaks (G3) in June. Like Little Miss Curlin, she is another runner with well-proven tactical speed, something that should serve her well since there are several Charles Town Oaks runners with a lot of early pace, making a speed duel a strong possibility. Her regular rider Luis Saez gets back in the irons, and though she was beginning to look like a horse with some second-itis, that Delaware Oaks showed that she could, in fact, remember how to win, and this is just the right level to make her a big threat to win right back.

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