Maggie's Girl Grinds Out Narrow Fancy Buckles Stakes Victory

Maggie's Girl kept her name on the short list of Charles Town stakes horses that refuse to fade. The 6-year-old West Virginia-bred mare survived a fierce 4 1/2-furlong scramble in the Fancy Buckles Stakes at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, getting her nose down first by a head in 52.58 seconds after a hard late fight on a fast dirt track.

The $75,000 added race, run as Race 8 at 10:41 p.m. on April 11, turned into the kind of bare-knuckle sprint Charles Town so often produces. Maggie's Girl, carrying 126 pounds, held off Party Time for Me, who finished second and 2 1/4 lengths clear of Golden Circles. The rest of the field followed in order as Thelastsay, Edy's Flame, Redhotchiliphilly, Priority One and Stryda completed the finish. Dixie Yodeler and That's Just Peachy were scratched.

Larry C. Reynolds rode Maggie's Girl for trainer Timothy C. Grams, and the win paid $5.00, with a $3.40 place return and $2.80 show return. The exacta with Party Time for Me returned $17.40, the trifecta with Golden Circles paid $401.80, and the superfecta with Thelastsay fourth came back $1,972.20. Maggie's Girl earned the winner's share of $47,250 and was the 9/4 favorite, so she delivered for the market even while making her backers sweat through the final strides.

What makes the performance stand out is not just the margin, but the mileage behind it. Maggie's Girl is by Uncle Lino out of Maginot Line, owned by Grams Racing Stable LLC and bred by Tim Grams and Judy Grams. After Saturday night, her record stood at 29 starts, 15 wins, 6 seconds and 4 thirds, with earnings of $420,106. That is the profile of a mare that has outlasted the usual freshness curve and kept producing stakes-caliber efforts across multiple seasons.

Her resume already included placings in the Autumn Stakes and the West Virginia Department of Tourism Breeders’ Classic at 3, a second in this same Fancy Buckles at 4, and a victory in the 2025 West Virginia 1/ST BET Breeders Classic Stakes. Saturday’s result only sharpened the case that she remains a benchmark for this Charles Town niche: a proven, durable runner who can absorb pressure, answer a pace battle, and still finish when the race comes down to the last few jumps.