11/9/06

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

CHESTER, WV —MOUNTAINEER MILE HANDICAP DRAWS STRONG FIELD by Bill Mooney

One of the strongest fields ever assembled in the history of West Virginia racing will go postward in the 34th running of the $125,000 Mountaineer Mile Handicap. The ‘Mountaineer Mile, an eight-furlong event for 3-year-olds and upwards, will be run this Saturday evening, November 11, at The Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort.

Eleven horses have drawn in for the race, which has a history that dates back to 1962 and is the most prominent stakes on Mountaineer’s fall racing schedule. Post time for the ten-race card will be 7 p.m. EST. The Mountaineer Mile will be run at approximately 10:20 p.m. EST.

Heading the field is Hi Time Scott, a 6-year-old gelding who has won four consecutive races, including the $100,000 Charles H. Hadry Stakes at Laurel Park in Maryland on September 9. Trained by William Downing and ridden by Joe Rocco Jr., Hi Time Scott was victorious by 6 ½ lengths in his most recent effort, a one-mile allowance race at Mountaineer on October 24.

Also included in the well-balanced field are Go Now, who was a half-length winner of the $75,000 Fall Stakes at Mountaineer on October 3; Tartlet, who finished second in a pair of recent stakes at Delaware Park, one of which was the $100,000 Owners Day Handicap on September 9; Forest Park, who won the $75,000 Icecapade Stakes at Delaware in 2005; and Confucius Say, who was a 9 ¼-length winner in the West Breeders Classics at Charles Town on October 14 of this year.

The Mountaineer Mile is a “listed stakes,” which means it is eligible for consideration for graded status by the North American Graded Stakes Committee. To date, the only race to ever attain this status in West Virginia history is the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby, which has a $750,000 purse and is annually run at Mountaineer in August.

Graded status is very difficult to achieve. There are approximately 54,000 thoroughbred horse races run in North America each year. Of these, approximately 1,900, or 3.5%, are stakes. And, of the stakes, 475 bear graded status in 2006.

In 2002, the West Virginia Derby was accorded graded status, and now ranks in the top one percent of all races annually contested on this continent. The Mountaineer Mile may be on the verge of attaining similar status – for horses the race has lured in recent years have constituted a highly accomplished group.

Docent, who won the 2002 renewal of the Mountaineer Mile, had already been a winner of the Maryland Million Classic that year, and had a career resume that included four other stakes victories as well.

Discreet Hero, the 2004 Mountaineer Mile winner, came into the race with a resume that already included a victory in the Grade 3 Round Table Stakes at Arlington Park near Chicago, along with placings in eight other stakes.

Presidentialaffair, who won the 2005 Mountaineer Mile by a record 16 ¾ lengths, came into the race having already set a track record in winning the Grade 3 Salvator Mile Handicap at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. His career resume further included a victory in the Grade 3 Stuyvesant Handicap at Aqueduct in New York.

Back in ’62, the Mountaineer Mile was initially run as the Waterford Mile Silver Plate. The race had a purse of $5,530, and was won by the 2-5 favorite, Gay’s Pal, who scored by nine lengths under a jockey Paul Herron.

Mountaineer Park was known as Waterford Park in those days, and remained so until 1987. The name of the Waterford Mile Silver Plate was shortened in 1968 to the Waterford Mile. And, accordingly, in ’87 it became the Mountaineer Mile.

There are gaps in the race’s heritage. It was not run in 1964, 1972, 1975 or from 1990-1997. But Mountaineer President Ted Arneault reinstituted it to the track’s stakes schedule in 1998. The Mountaineer Mile is now arguably the most prominent open stakes in West Virginia for older horses.

The fastest running of the Mountaineer (Waterford) Mile occurred in 1979, when a gelding named Cortan clocked a final time of 1:35. It was the first of two consecutive victories for Cortan in the race, as he was also victorious in 1980.

Gay’s Pal remains the shortest-priced winner of the race, returning $2.80 for a two-dollar win ticket in the inaugural running in ’62. The longest shot to achieve victory in the Mountaineer Mile is Craig’s Roll, who returned $99.60 for a two-dollar win ticket in 1988.

The only other horse to have registered dual victories in the Mountaineer Mile is Crimson Classic, who won consecutive renewals in ’98 and 1999. Locally-based jockey David McFadden rode him in both races.

William Gray, who won with Craig’s Roll in ’88 and also with Irish Fly in 1989, is the only other jockey to be twice triumphant in the Mountaineer Mile. McFadden will attempt to be the first three-time winner when he rides Guardianofthenorth on Saturday.

Major stakes contested at one mile are frequently run in Europe, where most events take place on the grass. However, one does not often see major one-mile stakes at North American tracks, where the vast majority of races are run on dirt surfaces.

Exceptions include the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct; and the Westchester Handicap at Belmont Park in New York, the Hanshin Cup Handicap at Arlington, the Memorial Day Handicap at Calder Race Course in South Florida and the Turfway Park Fall Championship, all of which bear Grade 3 status.

The Mountaineer Mile could be on the verge of joining this illustrious group. And what happens this Saturday evening promises to have a major impact.

Mountaineer Mile Notes: The races on Saturday evening’s card will have purses totaling $245,000.  .  . Calvin Borel, who won last Saturday’s $1.83-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile aboard Street Sense at Churchill Downs, is also the regular jockey for Go Now and will ride him in the Mountaineer Mile. . . Maryland-based jockey Mario Pino, who will ride Tartlet on Saturday, has over 5,800 career victories.

The Field for the $125,000 Mountaineer Mile Handicap