Climb the Mountain for a Share of 1-Million Points

An all-stakes, nine-race card with over $1.5 million in purse money, highlighted by the G2 $750,000 West Virginia Derby, takes place this Saturday at Mountaineer Park. 

To celebrate the big day at Mountaineer, we are giving Players a chance to take on the all-stakes West Virginia Derby Day card and earn a share of the 1,000,000 TSC Elite Points prize. 

First post a Mountaineer Park on Saturday is set for 2pm ET/10am PT.

Official Results Announced - Click Here

How to earn a share of 1,000,000 TSC Elite Points
 

• Players may participate in the contest by placing a $5 Win and a $5 Show wager on each contest race. 
• Combination Win/Show or Win/Place/Show wagers are not eligible for contest play.
• Only a Player's first $5 Win wager on a single horse or entry in the designated contest races will qualify.

• Only a Player's first $5 Show wager on a single horse or entry in the designated contest races will qualify.

• Scratches must be re-bet; there will be no favorite replacements for scratched horses.

• Qualifying Players may win only one (1) share of the prize.

Contest Scoring

• A winning $5 Win wager is worth 2 points.
• A winning $5 Show wager is worth 1 point.
• All Players who earn 10 or more points will automatically earn a share of 1,000,000 TSC Elite Points.  
• All nine races at Mountaineer Park on Saturday, August 3 are eligible for the contest.

Winners will be posted here Tuesday, August 6.

Handicapping West Virginia Derby Day

Selections Special Highlights West Virginia Derby Day

Brisnet.com is ready for the big day to with a special Daily Selections full-card analysis with best bets sheet for Saturday, August 3, at Mountaineer, and to make this report even more accessible to our users, we’re offering it FREE when you purchase any other Daily Selections product.

That’s right, buy any Daily Selections product for Saturday, August 3, and receive full-card analysis with best bets for the West Virginia Derby day card at Mountaineer absolutely free (or look at it as buy Mountaineer for August 3 and get any other Daily Selections product that day FREE).
 

West Virginia Derby News

Overanalyze, Departing square off in West Virginia Derby
by The Handicappers' Edge

Overanalyze and Departing, both of whom won Triple Crown prep races but failed to contend in the classics themselves, will return from extended layoffs Saturday in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer.

The 1 1/8-mile West Virginia Derby is the highlight of a nine-race, all-stakes program, which commences with a special afternoon post time of 2 p.m. (EDT).

One of several classic prospects in the Todd Pletcher juggernaut, Overanalyze entered the season with a pair of Grade 2 wins at two in the Remsen and the Futurity. A disappointing fifth following a wide trip in the Gotham in his sophomore bow, he rebounded to take a slowly-run renewal of the Arkansas Derby by more than four lengths.

Overanalyze ran in two of the Triple Crown events, but was never close in either one. Eleventh in the Kentucky Derby, 13 1/2 lengths behind the victorious Orb, he was a nondescript seventh in the Belmont Stakes next out, 8 1/2 lengths behind stablemate Palace Malice.

The son of Dixie Union will get a new rider, Rosie Napravnik, for the West Virginia Derby, and will race with blinkers for the first time.

Departing, a homebred War Front gelding who races for Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, was never seriously considered for the Kentucky Derby despite winning a minor stakes at Sam Houston and finishing third in the Louisiana Derby in his first two black type appearances. However, he did contest the Preakness following a strong 3 1/4-length tally in the Illinois Derby at Hawthorne, but never got untracked at Old Hilltop, finishing sixth, 10 lengths behind the winning Oxbow.

Departing will also get a new rider Saturday. Robby Albarado substitutes for Brian Hernandez Jr., who stays at Saratoga to ride Fort Larned in the Whitney Handicap.

The other leading contenders in the West Virginia Derby are Betweenhereandcool, a neck second in the Iowa Derby last time for trainer Steve Asmussen, and the the late-developing California shipper Say Ow, a two-length winner against first-level allowance foes at Hollywood Park most recently. Grass stakes winner Ruler of Love, third in the Derby Trial at Churchill Downs earlier in the year, is also in the mix for a minor share.

The most lucrative of the undercard stakes is the $200,000 West Virginia Governor's, a 1 1/16-mile test for older horses. The most prominent contenders are all front runners: multiple stakes winner and Pimlico Special runner-up Eighttofasttocatch; Oaklawn Handicap and Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap runner-up Taptowne; and the stakes-winning Brooklyn Handicap runner-up Percussion. The latter is trained by Todd Pletcher, who has also entered Mordi's Miracle, who finished second in the Excelsior at Aqueduct in late March.

Gentlemen's Bet, who upset Delaunay in the Iowa Sprint Handicap in late June, will be an overwhelming favorite in the six-furlong, $100,000 Senator Robert C. Byrd Memorial if his connections choose to bypass Sunday's Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga, for which he has also been mentioned as a possible starter.

In Gentlemen's Bet's absence, favoritism would likely fall on either Aristides runner-up Jasizzle or local hopeful Russell Road, who captured the one-mile Independence Day at Mountaineer on July 2.

The $100,000 West Virginia Secretary of State, a six-furlong dash for fillies and mares, features the three-year-old Fusaichiswonderful. A star in Puerto Rico as a juvenile, the chestnut won a minor Gulfstream stakes in March for Todd Pletcher before placing in a pair of Grade 3s -- the Eight Belles and the Victory Ride -- in her last two. She has since been privately purchased and will debut Saturday for trainer Tevis McCauley.

Others of note are Barbara Fritchie Handicap winner Funnys Approval, multiple Grade 2-placed stakes winner Amie's Dini, and the three-year-old Flattering Bea.

The 100,000 West Virginia House of Representatives Speaker's Cup, for older horses at one mile and 70 yards on the turf, includes Hammers Terror, a multiple stakes winner on grass at Canterbury; Grade 3 veteran Derby Kitten; multiple turf stakes winner Global Power; and the stakes-placed pair of Saint Pierre and Easy Crossing. The $100,000 West Virginia Senate President's Cup, for fillies and mares at one mile and 70 yards on turf, will have as its favorites Ask Me Anything, Soft Whisper and Prissy.

The lightly-raced five-year-old Back Forty, a 6 1/4-length allowance winner at Oaklawn when last seen in April, returns to action in the $100,000 West Virginia Legislature Chairman's Cup. Favorably drawn on the inside in the 4 1/2-furlong blitz are Regal Revenge, Comiskey's Humor, and Bet Seattle.

Indiana Downs maiden winners Joedini and Bisque figure to take most of the betting action in the $100,000 Mountaineer Juvenile over six furlongs. The filly counterpart, the $100,000 Mountaineer Juvenile Fillies at six furlongs, features Lady Red Di, a last-out Indiana Downs maiden winner, and Silver Valley, a debut winner at Lone Star who failed to threaten in either the Debutante at Churchill or the Schuylerville at Saratoga in two subsequent outings.

Bet on the West Virginia Derby and Mountaineer Park horse racing online and watch it live on TwinSpiresTV!

West Virginia Derby TV Coverage

Via Fox Sports Networks, the 44th running of the Grade 2, $750,000 West Virginia Derby will be televised live throughout most of the United States. The 1 1/8-mile event
will be run this Saturday, August 3, at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort, and will be featured on a one-hour telecast beginning at 5 p.m. EDT.

The telecast will also be carried live by several Fox affiliates: Root Sports in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Rocky Mountain regions; MSG Plus in the east; and on a
delayed basis by Prime Ticket in the west. Fox Sports and Root Sports will repeat the telecast one or more times during the following week.

The West Virginia Derby and all the races from Mountaineer can be watched live right here on TwinSpires.com and TwinSpiresTV starting at 2pm ET/11am PT.

About the West Virginia Derby

It was back in 1786 when Colonel Charles Washington, the brother of George Washington, organized what's believed to be the first organized horse racing event in what eventually became West Virginia. The purse was "40 pounds," a good deal less than what the Grade 2, $750,000 West Virginia Derby will offer on Saturday, August 6, at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort.

Charles Washington provided the foundation for West Virginia's racing heritage. And, more than any other event, the West Virginia Derby annually fortifies that heritage. Ample evidence of this was provided last year when Mine That Bird, victorious in the Kentucky Derby, became the first winner of any Triple Crown event to race at a West Virginia track.

Other West Virginia Derby Notes

West Virginia Derby was run at Tri State Park in Huntington, West Virginia, in 1923, 1924 and 1926, and at Wheeling Downs in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1958, 1959 and 1961. Distance of race was 1 1/16 miles in 1926, and 1 1/8 miles in all other runnings. West Virginia Derby was run in two divisions in 1972 and 1981. Captain Nash actually finished first in the 1970 running of the race, but was disqualified and placed second for causing interference during the stretch run. Prior to 1998, the West Virginia Derby was timed to one-fifth of a second. Since then, the race has been timed to one-hundredth of a second.

Run at Wheeling Downs prior to 1963.
Not run in 1925, 1927, 1957, 1960, 1962, 1982-1987, 1991-1997.
Captain Nash finished first in 1970 but was disqualified and placed second.
Run in two divisions in 1972 and 1981.
Track record 2003 Soto 1:46:29
*(All Races 1 1/8, Except 1926: 1 1/16)
Grade III 2002-2008
Grade II 2009-Present