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Another Fabulous West Virginia Breeders Classic
Another Fabulous West Virginia Breeders Classic
By Bill Cauley
The West Virginia Breeders’ Classic’s 37th edition, held on Saturday, Oct. 14, at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, brought another strong crowd, as well as a display of some of the finest horse racing in the region.
This year’s race, won by Coastal Mission, trained by Jeff Runco, carried a purse of $300,000.
From it’s beginnings in 1987, the Classic, spearheaded by long-time Middleburg resides, the late Sam Huff and his partner, Carol Holden, has grown over the many years. The desire, in the beginning, was to strengthen the horse racing industry in West Virginia.
At a time when it seemed as if the larger, high-end, race tracks across the country were trying to push middle-level race tracks out of the horse-racing market, the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic continues to thrive.
“I’m very happy to see a full house,” said Holden, president of the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic, said during the WVBA’s gala Dinner-Dance, held at the Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, on Oct. 13. “It’s great to be inside for this event this year, instead of being on the outside.”
Several hundred people attended the fete, including owners, association members, major financial backers and members of the West Virginia State Legislature.
Jerry Olsen, a member of the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic’s board of directors, who coordinated the annual golf tournament on Oct. 13, at Locust Hill Golf Course in Charles Town, recalled when Huff ask him to join the board.
“Sam asked me to come on board because I needed to learn more about horses,” Olsen said. “I said: ‘no, I don’t,’ so I ended up with the golf tournament. It was a lot of fun. We had 124 golfers. We tried to honor the memory of Sam Huff. I think we did.”
Holden said the golf tournament and the dinner-dance were all a part of what Huff, a pro football Hall of Fame linebacker who played for the New York Giants and Washington Redskins (now Commanders), had hoped it would become a significant facet of the Breeders’ Classic weekend.
“The combination, including the horsemen, community, golf tournament, service to everybody involved, part of that is to promote and showcase thoroughbred racing,” Holden said. “I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that over the last 37 years.”
More than $3 million in purses has been put into most of West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, thanks to the efforts of horsemen, breeders, local businesses, Holden said.
“All have benefited because of Sam’s vision,” she added. “I think he’d be pretty proud of that.” Five percent of the sponsorship money is donated to several charities in the area, Holden said. “This benefits the local community, and the thoroughbred industry as well.”
Ken Lowe, chairman of the West Virginia Racing Commission, read a letter from U. S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) at the dinner-dance. In the letter, Manchin said for many, the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic has become a treasured attraction across the nation, and continues to garner significant recognition, funding and publicity, positively impacting various charitable organizations.
