Jeff Runco’s 16-year run as leading trainer came to an end in 2022, with conditioner Anthony Farrior claiming the top spot with 140 wins, 22 more than runner-up Ronney Brown. Apprentice Marshall Mendez’s 143 victories were enough to claim the runner-up spot on the list with Carlos Lopez, Reshawn Latchman and Christian Hiraldo rounding out the top five. In the richest race for fillies and mares on the Breeders’ Classics card, Hessica scored a mild upset in the West Virginia Cavada Breeders’ Classic.įor the fifth time in his career, Bocachica topped the annual jockey standing at Charles Town in both wins and earnings. Winning at a 28% rate in 2022, Bocachica’s 175 winners from 618 starts allowed him to bank $4,231,973 in earnings over the course of the year. The son of top West Virginia stallion Fiber Sonde is owned by David Raim, trained by trainer Jeff Runco, and ridden by Arnaldo Bocachica. West Virginia Breeders’ Classics XXXVI took place on October 8, and the aforementioned Muad’dib pulled off a repeat of his own, taking his second consecutive Sam Huff West Virginia Breeders’ Classic, a race bearing the name of Breeders’ Classics co-founder, late NFL Hall of Famer Sam Huff, for the first time.
