After a few days at The Spa, we head to the mountains. Well, Mountaineer Park to be exact as we will look at today’s eighth race there, which is the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby. This mile and an eighth race will be at 8:15 pm Eastern time.
This race will have a couple of names which we saw on the Kentucky Derby trail this spring as well as some new shooters here. That seems to be the theme with these state named derby races around the United States, and the West Virginia Derby here at Mountaineer is no exception.
We had nine horses entered in today’s race, but it appears that six will run tonight. The 1 Baxley was cross entered into the opening race at Hawthorne today and his connections chose to run there. The 5 Mugatu will run in the Bald Eagle Derby at Laurel Park today. Those defections were announced by Dan Illman of the Daily Racing Form.
Also the 4 Next Level is scratched as well. Unlike the other two horses mentioned, Next Level was not cross entered from what I know. These were three outsiders in this race but the top talent entered in this race are still in for today.
Mountaineer Park – West Virginia Derby
The 3 Dragoon Guard (9/5 ML) is favored in the West Virginia Derby here at Mountaineer after winning the Indiana Derby at Horseshoe Indianapolis last month. In his short four-race career, he was gone for the front each time and I would be shocked if he does anything else. He is lone speed here and could wire this field.
But I expect Dragoon Guard to be off the rail a couple of lanes. Mountaineer is notorious for having a dead rail and the jockeys that are very familiar with the track know the best place to run is the three or four-path and further out. So don’t be surprised if you see all the horses running wide throughout.
The 9 Henro (3/1 ML) comes into tonight’s race at Mountaineer after winning the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows last month. He passed his first test closing in the Iowa Derby in his first test around two turns as he will try graded stakes company here for the first time tonight.
The 8 Society Man (9/2 ML) won the Matt Winn at Churchill in June and will look to add another Grade 3 win to his resume. He is another closer who has run well going two turns.
The 2 Dimatic (6/1 ML) won finished fourth in the Iowa Derby with a belated move. I think he could be a little closer to the pace after assuming the rail after the defection of Baxley.
The 5 Agate Road (5/1 ML) will return to the dirt here at Mountaineer after a couple of tries on the Churchill Downs turf. He did finish second in the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs in February, so he could flash some of that effort tonight.
Finally. The 7 McQueen (30/1 ML) broke his maiden at Hawthorne five weeks ago, and it would be an absolute shocker that he wins here. But is he fast enough to at the very least disrupt the favorite here? I think not.
This race has a distinct front-running horse that I think will enjoy not being pressured around the track. I’ll take the favorite Dragoon Guard here. Keep an eye on how the main track plays starting with the fourth race (first three races are on the turf). We can see if the track plays like it usually does with horses usually running a few lanes off the rail or the rail area is friendlier than what I remember.
But no matter how the track is playing, I’m not ignoring the favorite having a potentially each run here on the front end. I’ll call this 3-9-6-8 and my play is $20 to win on the 3. Good luck everyone!
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