8/7/06

FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE
CONTACT: TAMARA CRONIN
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
304-387-8335 (OFFICE) 304-479-8097 (CELL)

CHESTER, WV — GUIDRY POISED FOR HISTORIC DAY AT MOUNTAINEER by Bill Mooney

Mark Guidry is going to attempt to do something on Sunday that only two jockeys have ever done before - win consecutive runnings of state's richest and most prominent horse race, the Grade 3, $750,000 West Virginia Derby.

Guidry was victorious last year with a 7-1 shot named Real Dandy, who was last in the 11-horse field through the opening half-mile, but who drove powerfully through the stretch to prevail by 1 ¼ lengths.

This year, Guidry's West Virginia Derby mount is Bright One, who has drawn the number two post and is the second choice at 4-1 in the Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort's morning line for the 1 1/8-mile event.

Bright One, who is trained by Dale Romans, has only made three career starts. But he annihilated his opponents in his two most recent efforts, winning by 9 ½ and 7 ¼ lengths at his home track, Churchill Downs.

Back in 1963-'66, when Mountaineer was known as Waterford Park, a local jockey named Floyd Green won four consecutive runnings of the West Virginia Derby, aboard a quartet of horses named Etimota, Peter Le Grand, Pantuity and Kerensa.

And in 1972-'73, Mickey Solomone registered back-to-back scores in the West Virginia Derby with Family Table and Blue Chip Dan. (Solomone had also won the race in 1969 with Roman Partner.)

No other jockey has ever achieved multiple West Virginia Derby victories, in consecutive years or otherwise. On Sunday, Guidry is bidding to become the third to accomplish the feat.

While Guidry's name is not widely known to the sporting public, he is undeniably one of the most successful race riders of the past three decades. He is celebrating his 47th birthday on West Virginia Derby Day. He has been riding pari-mutuel races since 1977, and has achieved 4,835 career wins.

Guidry is from Lafayette, Louisiana, which is smack in the middle of that state's thoroughbred breeding industry. He was riding at Louisiana's bush tracks at the age of nine, and recorded his first win at a pari-mutuel track at the age of 16 at Delta Downs, which is in southwestern Louisiana, near the Texas border.

The Louisiana tracks constituted Guidry's base of operations until 1986, when he relocated to Fairmount Park in Illinois, and subsequently to the Chicago-area tracks.

In the ensuing years, Guidry has twice been the leading jockey at Arlington Park. He has led the rider standings at Hawthorne Race Course seven times, and topped the standings at the now-defunct Sportsman's Park during nine seasons.

Back in 1992, Guidry thrice won six races on a single Sportsman's card. All told, he won 296 races that season, which remained his career high for a single year until he won 310 in 1997.

He is not a member of racing's Hall of Fame. Neither has Guidry ever won an Eclipse Award. A strong argument can be made, though, that he is one of the finest riders - perhaps the finest - never to be accorded either of these honors. His career statistics easily put him among the top one percent of those who have ever ridden thoroughbred racehorses for a living.

Guidry's career mounts have earned purses totaling $92.8 million. He has won 232 stakes, 65 of which have been graded. Guidry has never won a Triple Crown or a Breeders' Cup race, but he has won stakes at 31 different tracks. His recent major victories include the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby with Buzzards Bay in 2005, and the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs with Lemons Forever on May 5 of this year.

On last year's West Virginia Derby card, Guidry actually won a trio of stakes. In addition to his victory with Real Dandy, he registered a seven-length score with M B Sea in the $125,000 West Virginia Governor's Stakes. And, at odds of 18-1, he guided Wild Tale to a 1 ¼-length score in the $85,000 Harvey Arneault Memorial Breeders' Cup Handicap.

Wild Tale, who is owned by John Orecchio and trained by Michael Dini, is back for an encore try is this year's 'Harvey Arneault. He's 8-1 in the morning line, and Guidry will again ride him.

And, Real Dandy's back for an encore - he's running in the $125,000 'Governor's Stakes. There has been precedent in past years for a West Virginia Derby winner to make a return trip to Mountaineer, but never in a stakes on the West Virginia Derby undercard.

And Real Dandy will be ridden once more by Guidry. Owned by Cathy and Bob Zollars, Real Dandy is second choice at 4-1 in the morning line for the Governor's Stakes. He hasn't won a stakes since last year's West Virginia Derby. But he hasn't had Guidry aboard him this year, either, and reuniting the two may make a huge difference.

Guidry will also be riding the 8-5 morning line favorite, Hot Storm, in the $85,000 West Virginia Secretary of State Stakes on Sunday. And, he'll be aboard the 3-1 morning line favorite, Radiant Avie, in the $125,000 West Virginia Senate President's Breeders' Cup.

It all adds up to five mounts in five stakes on what bettors refer to as "five live horses," including last year's West Virginia Derby winner and the 4-1 morning line second choice in the 37th running of the 'Derby.

This is the sort of stuff that could make for one of the greatest days for an individual performer in the history of West Virginia racing. And Mark Guidry is the jockey who could make it happen.