In addition to the Charles Town Oaks (G3), one other unrestricted stakes race on the Classic night undercard-the Robert Hilton Memorial for straight 3-year-olds-received a purse hike to $350,000. The Jeff Runco trainee will be pointed to the Charles Town Classic again in 2023, looking to improve on that second-place performance under Charles Town's reigning five-time leading rider, Arnaldo Bocachica. While unable to match the win of fellow West Virginia-bred Runnin'toluvya, David Raim's Muad'dib continued a trend of success for local runners in the Classic by finishing second last year before pulling off a repeat of his own in the Sam Huff West Virginia Breeders' Classic. The grade 1-winning Bill Mott trainee will look to add to his resume this Saturday in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park. For the first time since local hero Researcher won the first two editions of the Charles Town Classic, 2022 saw a repeat winner of the track's signature event, as Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector pulled off the feat in wire-to-wire fashion under Luis Saez.
