The showdown between defending Sam Huff West Virginia Breeders’ Classic winner Coastal Mission and the up-and-coming 3-year-old Jubawithatwist will have to wait for another day. Trainer Jeff Runco opted to point Coastal Mission to the Grade 3 Forty Niner Stakes in New York.

So, the stage will belong to Kristy Petty’s Jubawithatwist, as the talented son of Juba headlines a full field of ten with four alternates in this year’s renewal of the richest race for West Virginia-breds on the 38th annual West Virginia Breeders’ Classics card.

The ten-race program features nine WVBC events along with one other West Virginia-restricted stakes race, with over $1 million in purses up for grabs Saturday evening. The night will also feature a mandatory distribution of the Charles Town 6-12 jackpot that currently sits at $42,146, along with an early and late Pick 5, with the former covering the first five races on the card, and the latter covering the final five contests.

Jubawithatwist returns to state-bred competition after a respectable fourth in the Robert Hilton Memorial on Charles Town Classic and Oaks night against open competition. Petty says her charge exited that race in good order, and is ready to roll on Saturday night.

“He came out of that race well and he’s been whinnying and really feeling himself in the mornings, so he’s coming into the race great,” said Petty. “He’s just all racehorse.”

The Sam Huff will not be Jubawithatwist’s first time around three turns at Charles Town. He passed his first test at the configuration with flying colors in a June 27 allowance race, a race that gives Petty plenty of confidence going into Saturday’s contest.

“That really has been nice to know that he shouldn’t have any issues with the distance. But I told him he’s still going to have to have his running shoes on.”

Jubawithatwist’s regular pilot Gustavo Larrosa has the call on the 3/5 morning line favorite.

While Runco will be leaving the defending champion West Virginia-bred in the barn, he will still be represented by the second and third choices on the morning line in Runaldo and two-time Breeders’ Classic winner Muad’dib. Runaldo is coming off a career best 88 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form in his most recent effort on Aug. 17th. He will have the services of Arnaldo Bocachica.

Muad’dib famously started his career winning his first ten races and twelve of his first 13, but has just four wins from his last 13 starts. The son of perennial top West Virginia stallion Fiber Sonde has kept top company, and will be ridden by Grade 1-winning jockey Angel Cruz.

I’m the Money Man, Lieutenant Brown, Juba’s Notion, Espresso, Remys Showtime, Late in the Game, and Sargent Kobe round out the remainder of the body of the field from the rail out, with Summoning Denis, Jungle Beast, Bad Lineage, and Moon Fall the four runners on the also-eligible list should there be any defections from the body of the race. The Classic will go as race 8 on the 10-race program, with a post time of 10:32 p.m. EDT.

Post	Silks	Horse / Sire	Rating	Trainer / Jockey	Last Start / Next Start	HRN
1		I’m the Money Man Windsor Castle	0.00	Ronald Sigler Denis Araujo	1st, MNR ALW (08/13/2024-R4)	15-1
Last Race		1st, MNR ALW (08/13/2024-R4)
2		Lieutenant Brown Mikimoto’s Mojo	0.00	Michael E. Jones Jr. Carlos Eduardo Lopez	4th, CT ALW (09/14/2024-R8)	30-1
Last Race		4th, CT ALW (09/14/2024-R8)
3		Muad’dib Fiber Sonde	5.92	Jeff C. Runco Angel Cruz	2nd, CT ALW (09/19/2024-R7)	6-1
Last Race		2nd, CT ALW (09/19/2024-R7)
4		Juba’s Notion Juba	4.12	John A. Casey Reshawn Latchman	3rd, CT ALW (09/19/2024-R7)	15-1
Last Race		3rd, CT ALW (09/19/2024-R7)
5		Espresso Juba	0.00	Keith A. Brown Victor Rodriguez	9th, CT ALW (07/19/2024-R5)	12-1
Last Race		9th, CT ALW (07/19/2024-R5)
6		Remys Showtime Fiber Sonde	0.00	Armonte Craig Keimar Trotman	4th, CT AOC (08/24/2024-R4)	30-1
Last Race		4th, CT AOC (08/24/2024-R4)
7		Jubawithatwist Juba	0.00	Kristy Petty Gustavo Larrosa	4th, Robert Hilton Memorial S.	3-5
Last Race		4th, Robert Hilton Memorial S.
8		Runaldo Creative Cause	0.00	Jeff C. Runco Arnaldo Bocachica	1st, CT AOC (08/17/2024-R7)	5-1
Last Race		1st, CT AOC (08/17/2024-R7)
9		Late In The Game Denis Of Cork	3.79	Ronald Sigler Antonio Lopez	1st, CT ALW (09/19/2024-R7)	10-1
Last Race		1st, CT ALW (09/19/2024-R7)
10		Sargent Kobe Kobe’s Back	0.00	Michael E. Jones Jr. Fredy Peltroche	2nd, CT CLM (09/21/2024-R9)	50-1
Last Race		2nd, CT CLM (09/21/2024-R9)
11		Summoning Denis Denis Of Cork	0.00	Kristy Petty Wilfredo Santiago	6th, CT AOC (08/17/2024-R7)	30-1
Last Race		6th, CT AOC (08/17/2024-R7)
12		Jungle Beast Golden Years	4.45	Javier Contreras Juan M. Nunez	6th, CT AOC (09/19/2024-R6)	15-1
Last Race		6th, CT AOC (09/19/2024-R6)
13		Bad Lineage Juba	0.00	Lawrence Perry Jr. Fredy Peltroche	2nd, CT ALW (09/27/2024-R7)	30-1
Last Race		2nd, CT ALW (09/27/2024-R7)
14		Moon Fall Tapwrit	0.00	Michael E. Jones Jr. Christian Maldonado	2nd, CT CLM (09/26/2024-R8)	50-1
Last Race		2nd, CT CLM (09/26/2024-R8)