WEST VIRGINIA DERBY NOMINEES HAVE QUANTITY AND QUALITY

By Bill Mooney

Seventy is a number that has lots of meaning to Rose Mary Williams, director of racing at The Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort. That's how many horses have been nominated to this year's Grade 3, $750,000 West Virginia Derby, which will be run at 1 1/8 miles on Saturday afternoon, August 4.

"We've never had that many nominees before, and we've never had such quality among the nominees," Williams said. "This will be the tenth running since Mountaineer President Ted Arneault brought back the race. In 1998, the West Virginia Derby had a $200,000 purse. Now, it ranks among the richest 3-year-old stakes in North America."

Among the entrants considered definite for the West Virginia Derby this year is Slew's Tizzy, who won the Grade 2 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on April 21 and the Grade 3 Lone Star Derby at Lone Star Park on May 12. Both triumphs were accomplished under jockey Robbie Albarado, who also won this year's Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of the Triple Crown, aboard Curlin.

Bred and owned by Joseph Lacombe and trained by Gregory Fox, Slew's Tizzy is one of several graded stakes winners who is West Virginia Derby-bound. Another is Chelokee, who in his most recent start on June 16 won the Grade 3 Northern Dancer Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Chelokee is owned by Centennial Farms and trained by Michael R. Matz, who also conditioned the ill-fated Barbaro, winner of the 2006 Kentucky Derby. Fittingly, on-May 19 of this year, Chelokee was a 4 ¾-length winner of the Barbaro Stakes at Pimlico Race Course.

Both of Chelokee's stakes victories came with jockey Ramon Dominquez in the saddle. Dominguez is no mystery to Mountaineer race goers - he guided Soto to a track-record clocking of 1:46.29 in the 2003 West Virginia Derby.

Xchanger, who won a Grade 3 stakes also named in honor of Barbaro at Delaware Park on July 15, is scheduled to ship to Mountaineer for the West Virginia Derby as well. Owned by a partnership that includes trainer Mark Shuman, Xchanger already has a trio of stakes triumphs on his resume.

In September of last year, Xchanger won the Grade 3 Sapling Stakes at Monmouth Park. And this past April 23, he was a 4 ¾-length winner of the Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico.

One of the horses considered by Williams as "a strong possibility" for the West Virginia Derby is Delightful Kiss, who won the Grade 2 Ohio Derby at Thistledown on June 2, and followed that effort with a victory in the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows on June 29.

A homebred who campaigns for Hobeau Farm, Delightful Kiss is trained by Pete Anderson, a former jockey whose mounts included one of the greatest handicap horses in racing history, Forego.

Last year's West Virginia Derby lured 59 nominees. The winner, Bright One, was sent off as an even-money favorite. He led wire-to-wire, cruising to a 5 ¾-length victory under jockey Mark Guidry, who was victorious in the West Virginia Derby for the second consecutive year.

The West Virginia Derby dates back to 1923, when it was run for a $2,265 purse at the Tri-State Fair Grounds on the outskirts of Barboursville, which is about nine miles east of Huntington.

In 1926, the Tri-State grandstand was razed by a fire and the track went out of business. A 32-year hiatus for the West Virginia Derby ensued before it was renewed at Wheeling Downs in 1958.

Five years later, the West Virginia Derby was moved to Mountaineer (then known as Waterford Park). As with its earlier runnings, the race continued to have a sporadic history. But when Arneault took the reins at Mountaineer in the 1990's, one of his goals was to bring back the West Virginia Derby and make it am important fixture on the national racing calendar.

Major trainers have taken serious notice. Todd A. Pletcher, who has received the Eclipse Award each of the past three years as North America's leading thoroughbred conditioner, has nominated six horses to this year's edition of the race.

Among Pletcher's nominees are Any Given Saturday, who won the Grade 2 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park on July 4; and Pavarotti, who won the Round Table Stakes at Arlington Park on July 14.

Pletcher has yet to list a West Virginia Derby victory among his accomplishments. But he has twice knocked hard on the door, finishing second with Pollard's Vision in 2004 and second again with Magna Graduate in 2005.

Steve Asmussen, who trains Preakness winner Curlin, and who set a single-season North American record with 555 wins in 2004, has nominated seven horses to this year's West Virginia Derby. One of them is Zanjero, who has placed five times in graded stakes.

In 2005, Asmussen won the West Virginia Derby with Real Dandy, who was last in an 11-horse field through the opening half-mile, but closed through the stretch run powerfully under Guidry to prevail by 1 ¼ lengths. Zanjero is also blessed with what horsemen call "late foot," and the West Virginia Derby could be a perfect spot for him.

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas has nominated three horses to the West Virginia Derby. One on them is Starbase, who was the runner-up to Slew's Tizzy in the Lexington Stakes.

And fellow Hall of Famer Nicholas P. Zito has a trio of West Virginia Derby nominees in his barn. One of them, C P West, has twice placed in graded stakes and finished fourth in the Preakness.

Zito won the West Virginia Derby in 2004 with Sir Shackleton, who was the 6-5 favorite that year. C P West would be more of a long shot. But he is another of those horses who closes well, and if some sort of speed duel develops in front of C P West in the early going, a repeat West Virginia Derby triumph could be in the offing for Zito.

"There are many talented horses on our list of nominees," said Williams. "This promises to be a very exciting race."