WINNER AGAIN — Hit Show (outside) races to a second-consectutive win in the West Virginia Governor’s Stakes on Sunday. - Coady Media

Hit Show, who earned $6.9 million earlier this year for winning the Group I Dubai World Cup, successfully defended his title in the $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s Cup Sunday at 1 1/16 miles in a field of seven, but it wasn’t easy.

Though the 5-year-old Candy Ride horse was the morning-line favorite, Not This Boy, fresh off an allowance victory at Churchill Downs, dropped to 3-5 as the pool closed versus 7-5 for Hit Show. The pair hooked up on the far turn of the 1 1/16-mile race and battled through the stretch, with Hit Show winning by a head in 1:43.63.

Brad Cox, trainer of Hit Show, won his fifth West Virginia Governor’s Stakes.

Wathnon Racing’s Hit

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