MORGANTOWN, W.Va (WDTV) – In front of a crowd of educators and state officials, Governor Jim Justice and First Lady Cathy Justice expressed their support for the ‘Communities in Schools West Virginia’ program (CIS WV). The program provides schools with the tools to supply food, therapy and further educational or personal resources to students at risk of dropping out. Since CIS made its way to the mountain state in 2017, the effort has impacted more than 114,000 students and is only getting stronger. The First Lady’s initiative ‘Friends with Paws’ has provided nearly 30 therapy dogs to schools around the state, adding to efforts in the program’s mission. She and her husband touched on how important Communities in Schools is to West Virginia.

“There’s so many children who feel like they’ll never get to do what they want in life,” said First Lady Justice. “They don’t have the ambition, courage or support to go and do what they want. We are here to make that happen.”

“Never has Jim Justice seen a program that works like this,” said Governor Justice. “The only way it works is you (educators). Not only do you change that life and make things so much better, but you’re doing something that affects all the other kids in the class, the school, the community and so on. You should be really proud.”

Bill Milliken founded CIS over 45 years ago for schools in New York City. Since then, more than 25 states have jumped on board, but Milliken admits that connecting with rural states had been a struggle…until the Justices came along.

“You can’t do that without the backing of the Governor and First Lady, Milliken said. “They’ve transformed our national movement.”

Earlier this year, CIS WV achieved First Lady Justice’s goal of providing the program statewide, becoming the first CIS program in the nation to do so.

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Trainer Danny Gargan, enjoying a career-best year with two grade 1 wins from Dornoch  and stable earnings of more than $3.2 million, can pad that tally when Society Man  races Aug. 4 in the $500,000 West Virginia Derby (G3) at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort.

The Matt Winn Stakes (G3) winner and Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) runner-up battles Indiana Derby (G3) victor Dragoon Guard , Iowa Derby winner Henro , and six other 3-year-olds in the 1 1/8-mile dirt race. 

Besides being trained by Gargan, Society Man shares other similarities with Dornoch. Both are sons of Good Magic  , though Dornoch is a colt and Society Man a gelding. West Paces Racing is a co-owner in both horses.

Society Man races for Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, West Paces Racing, GMP Stables, and Carl and Yurie Pascarella. West Paces Racing is also an owner in Dornoch, along with R. A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Two Eight Racing, and Pine Racing Stables.

Gargan nominated Society Man to the July 27 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course but passed on the race, which reigning 2-year-old male champion Fierceness  won over Kentucky Derby (G1) runner-up Sierra Leone . He told New York Racing Association publicity that he thinks Society Man “fits better in the West Virginia Derby.”

“I like how the timing sets up. If he could win the West Virginia Derby, we could see him back at Parx,” he said of the Sept. 21 Pennsylvania Derby (G1). “I have him on that route.

“Look, he is a gelding, and he is going to be around for a long time. We are just trying to map out the best route for him to keep him doing well.”

Society Man is 2-1-1 in seven starts with earnings of $437,230. Corey Lanerie, aboard in the Matt Winn, travels to Mountaineer for the return mount Sunday.

Juddmonte’s Dragoon Guard, a winner of three straight after a debut second last September at Churchill Downs, appears a formidable foe following front-running 2 1/2-length victory in the July 6 Indiana Derby (G3) at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Florent Geroux comes in for the ride on the Brad Cox-trained Dragoon Guard, a homebred son of Arrogate. Along with Society Man, Dragoon Guard is co-high weight in the field at 120 lbs.

JD Thoroughbreds and Joey Keith Davis’ Henro upset Dragoon Guard’s Cox-trained stablemate Just a Touch  in capturing the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows the same day as the Indiana Derby. Routing for the first time, Henro, a Collected   gelding, sat closer than usual to the early pace and came on late to score after tracking the leaders.

Rafael Bejarano returns in the irons for trainer Chris Hartman aboard the diminutive chestnut, who is 3-1-0 in seven starts.

All nine entrants in the West Virginia Derby race with the diuretic Lasix, which is not permitted in graded stakes races across the United States but can be used in West Virginia, which is not operating under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. The state won a preliminary injunction two years ago in one of the numerous lawsuits that are contesting HISA’s constitutionality.

Sunday’s card is a twilight racing program with first post at 5 p.m. ET. The West Virginia Derby is scheduled for 8:15 p.m.

CHARLESTON, W.V.a. — The Charleston Dirty Birds will soon be hosting its fifth straight installment of African American Heritage Night at GoMart Ballpark.

The Dirty Birds will host the celebration next Monday, August 5, and Tuesday, August 6. The two-day event will feature a Monday reception where Roberto Clemente Jr., son of Major League Baseball Hall of Fame member Roberto Clemente, will speak. The Monday portion of the event will be sponsored by the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau, and James Beard Award-winning Chef Paul Smith will do the cooking.

Tuesday will highlight a nationally known dancer as Kida the Great will perform before the Dirty Birds welcome the Lexington Legends into town. Gates will open on Tuesday at 5 o’clock, and a pre-game showtime is set for 5:30, with a number of performers taking the field before Kida the Great begins.

Charleston Dirty Birds owner Andy Shea says this will be a big two days, but the planning process for the event spanned across the year.

“These two days are a gigantic celebration, and kind of an explanation point, but it is 365 days, on the field, off the field, in the community, pertaining to baseball, not baseball, so it is a gigantic mission of ours,” Shea said Monday afternoon.

In addition to the performances and speeches, several Dirty Birds players and manager P.J. Phillips will be leading a baseball clinic to introduce the game to the youth of Charleston. The YWCA Charleston will sponsor the clinic and is purchasing a baseball glove for each participant.

Shea says he loves that kids will get introduced to the game and see how people have made a living in baseball.

“I love that people and kids get a chance to see these guys that are playing professional baseball, that have played in the big leagues, that have played in AAA, that have made a great career and living from it, that they did it through baseball,” Shea said.

Shea also said that he had spent a multitude of years in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and in that time, he saw a couple of reasons why some youth in the African American community didn’t fall in love with the game of baseball.

“I think that accessibility and introduction to it was certainly part of it, but I also think a gigantic part of it was that the guy next to them wasn’t playing,” Shea said. “The older cousin didn’t play, the older brother didn’t play, so then they didn’t play.”

Shea said that Charleston took a big step forward in bringing kids across the city to the knowledge of baseball with nice, accessible fields.

“I think as a community, we took a major step forward, in terms of all the artificial turf fields that are within Charleston now because accessibility is a giant one,” Shea said. “Being able to have these artificial turf fields that are very accessible and that are useable pretty much 24/7, 365, that is a gigantic step.”

Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin was on hand for the conference announcing the 5th African American Heritage Night and says the team’s outreach for the youth in the community is why she always supports these events.

“Every single thing that this ballpark is now doing is centered around children,” Goodwin said. “That’s why I’m always in.”

Jennifer Pharr, a Charleston City Council member and early supporter of the team’s African American Hertiage Night, says baseball is for everybody.

“Baseball is important to everyone,” Pharr said. ‘It doesn’t matter if you’re red, green, purple, black, or with pink polka dots. It matters to everybody.”