Jeff Runco, the all-time leading trainer at Charles Town, will once again have a big say on West Virginia Breeders’ Classic night this Saturday. Runco will send out defending champ Runaldo and millionaire Muad’dib in the featured $300,000 Sam Huff Breeders Classic and a barn full of contenders on the undercard. Runco ranks 11th all-time in North America with 4,873 wins heading into the weekend. Here’s a look at the late pick 4, which joins the late pick 5 with special $2,500 Hit & Split promotions when you bet with 1/ST BET and Xpressbet:

CT 7th race (10:02 p.m. EST) -- Defending champ NO CHANGE figures tough to beat in the $75,000 Onion Juice, named after the first WV Breeders Classic champion in 1987. He’s 18-for-45 and a $599k earner, racing exclusively at the 3/4-mile Charles Town oval. He prepped smartly in the 7F Frank Gall Memorial, taking back to last from difficult post 10 and making an eye-catching 4-wide rally on the second turn. He couldn’t reach pace-controlling favorite Teachintherelease – the favorite in tonight’s Classic – but he galloped out in front. He is a solo play to start the Pick 4.

CT 8th race (10:32 p.m. EST) -- OVERNIGHT POW WOW takes an interesting path into her title defense in the $125,000 Cavada Breeders Classic for trainer Cynthia McKee, who also trains No Change in the 7th race. The 8-5 morning-line favorite ran 4-1/2F in four starts this year after she went wire-to-wire in all six two-turn sprints last season. THE SKY IS FALLING tailed off late last year, but Runco has the 5-year-old back in top form, as evidenced by her last-to-first move in the Sadie Hawkins Stakes. She benefited from a lively pace duel but blew past trip-sitter PARTY PERFECT to improve to 10-for-18 at tonight’s 7F distance. JUBA’S PARADE dueled inside of the 1-to-2 favorite from the outset and did well to hold third in the Sadie Hawkins. She is a must use on the ticket at a good price.

CT 9th race (11:02 p.m. EST) -- Owner Robert Cole Jr. is as sharp as anyone when claiming horses. TEACHINTHERELEASE, one of Cole’s latest finds, is 7-for-10 with two stakes wins and three 90-plus Beyers since a $20,000 claim last summer. His game is speed and he carried it to win the Randy Funkhouser Memorial last November in his only try at tonight’s Classic distance of 1-1/8 miles. Defending champ RUNALDO can be excused for a troubled trip against TEACHINTHERELEASE in the 7f Frank Gall Memorial last month. He earned his top speed figure in a 7-1 Classic upset last year, arriving off an allowance win as he is this year. His stablemate, MUAD’DIB, starts from post 7 after he sustained a 5-wide rally in his final prep but failed to win as the 2-to-5 favorite. He doesn’t appear the same horse that compiled two wins, a second and a third in the last four Classics, but he can’t be discounted.

CT 10th race (11:32 p.m. EST) -- In the 1/ST BET Blue and Gold WVBC, STRYDA has speed, a 12-for-23 record at 4-1/2F and, most importantly, is reunited with trainer Anthony Farrior, who is 54-for-190 off the claim the last two years. PARTY TIME FOR ME upstaged a string of productive allowance runs with a 19-1 upset in her first stakes attempt. She was unhurried tracking a three-way duel and fast fractions, but sustained a 4-wide rally, nonetheless, to nip favored Overnight Pow Wow (see 8th race) at the wire. She draws inside in the $75,000 Blue And Gold Breeders Classic and can repeat with a clean run. MAGGIE’S GIRL was in better form when she won this race last year than she is this time around. But she got locked in a hard-duel around two turns when she tired last out and her :47 bullet workout since then is encouraging. CANDY TRICKS packs late kick and is worth using as a price play after winning 3 of her last 4 starts in allowance company.

Suggested 50-Cent Ticket
CT 7th race: 2
CT 8th Race: 3, 4, 7
CT 9th Race: 7, 8, 10
CT 10th Race: 1, 2, 4, 6
Cost: $36