Mountaineer Racing Summed Up In One Word: Bias

By Chris Longshot

Looking back on the 2008 version of Mountaineer racing, I cannot help but think I could sum it up in one simple word: bias. Obviously, not surprising to most Mountaineer enthusiasts, since most would agree Mountaineer has generally been a speed dominant track. Of course there were nights where stalkers and closers would do well but on most nights, short priced chalk were wiring fields with half of the field in their own race 20 lengths back. Towards the end of the year, it became quite apparent that if a speed bias was not in effect, an inside post bias/path bias was. This type a bias did not favor speed, stalkers or closers, just the inside posts, specifically posts 1-6 and specifically in the stretch. A path bias soon developed at Mountaineer and as a result playing outside horses(7-10)especially ones who had no speed was a recipe for disaster and for your bankroll. For a lot of longshot enthusiasts, this was not good news. Many of Mountaineer's longshots, who had a sudden reversal of forms have come from wide closers sweeping by the field late in the stretch or by certain track conditions waking them up. Days of longshots going to the top and wiring fields were long gone, these days they run for a half and quit. In the past, a wide bias was much more pronounced but not in the year 2008. In the last few months alone, I have witnessed numerous higher priced closers, who were just about on even terms or a couple lengths back from their counterparts entering the stretch and inexplicably hung or looked like they were running in quicksand, making up no further ground. A great example of this was back on December 29th. The horse in question was the #7 horse, Creative Edge at 33-1 in Mnr's 5th, look at the replay to get a better understanding of my point. Creative Edge raced wide the whole race began to make a big move nearing the turn, thought Davila should have stayed closer to the rail or dipped in further to the rail, it was open but I guess he didn't know a bias was in play for months. So they come around the far turn, of course a couple of the short priced inside horses are battling up front, appear to be tiring but the #7 Creative Edge appears to be coming best of all out wide, for some reason Davila continues to bring the horse out yet another path, the horse then is making no further impression and the speeds on the inside are continuing on easily. Now no doubt the winner was legit, being the post time favorite anyway, the second horse ran an unbelievable race at 87-1 from the #8 post no less but did flash speed unlike the #7. My overall point is that on a non biased track IMO, the #7 horse goes right by the tiring leaders and wins at 33-1. Now I know most would suggest that the horse simply hung, after making up a lot ground around the turn but I don't believe that to be the case. Shortly after "flattening out" under the right handed whip the horse sways over to another path closer to the rail and suddenly now starts gaining again but unfortunately much to late to get to the leaders. This is just one example and there are many others of closers who have made big moves around the turn only to flatten out mid stretch while inside horses glide along easily. Its a big reason why more than a few have been frustrated with the short prices there lately. The closers/ mid pack horses have to run so big to win, especially entering the stretch wide. So one might say, I'll put the #7 Creative Edge on my stable alert and wait till he gets a more favorable post since he ran against the bit. He would run overlaid and I would be rewarded for my observations at a fat price. Strange thing is, looking at entries, miraculously a lot of the chalks have been drawn to the inside. Is this done by lottery or is it just a coincidence? I don't know, now that I think of it, I have never see 3 or 4 longshots in the first 3 or 4 posts at Mountaineer together as of late, I guess only when the track is outside bias I will see this. When you do see a longshot drawn towards the rail, there usually so hopeless that no bias would improve their performance. Guess we will get no help from the person that does the entries. There is also an a bias that is not as easily perceptible. Its when a horse is almost on even terms rounding the turn. Visually, he's 1 maybe 2 lengths behind, however, when they straighten, he's suddenly 4 to 5 lengths behind the field, watch it, its pretty cool, what happened? can a horse flatten out around a turn? Seems to me the inside horses get a nice slingshot around the turn, getting an extra boost I guess, while the outside horses stays where they were originally, unless they do go backwards and forward at the same time. So not to overbeat a point, the inside paths have been the place to be, everyone knows it, its amazing how many jocks from outside posts refuse to go to the rail and come up there late to be competitive, I can assure you its open at some point. It's really the their only chance of winning, if they can't get the lead clearly and get over to the rail. Yes they will be prominent early if they have speed or can at least stalk but won't be around late I can assure you. Sometimes I find it hilarious how many jocks can't figure out a bias, especially at a bias track at Mountaineer. The top guys can but usually the jocks piloting longshots cannot or are scared by the rail. So what do we have took look forward to in 2009 you might ask? Probably more chalks drawn to the inside, more longshots to the outer posts. Seems Mountaineer no longer likes chaos aspect of a few years ago, they much prefer the chalk to keep rolling in. Between the anti wide bias, supertrainers, elimination of Dale's stock and sharper betting public, its no wonder the chalk players were thriving in 2008, while the longshot players were puking in there soup as mentioned in a previous blog. But there is yet another reason for the short prices, non competitive fields and decreased quality of racing, explained in detail sometime this week before the racing resumes, part 3: synthetic surfaces. Lastly, feel free to comment on the blog, agree, disagree or offer some insight yourself on you experiences with the biases there, I will admit I'm not great at tracking biases, just wanted to pass along the little I could.

Mountaineer Racing: Too Cold to Care

Ralph the Cat

Although a racing card awaits us, I couldn't care any less. We underwent one of the coldest nights in years. The temperatures were below zero most of the night and barely creeped above zero throughout the day today. The chances of us running a card in the next couple days is as likely as the Green Monkey winning the Classic this year. It's way too cold to care.

Who's Man Enough? Ride Hard or Die Trying

by Ralph the Cat

Some jockeys live by it. They lay everything on the line just to win a race. At this up and coming winter meet at Mountaineer expect to see a jockey colony that's motivated more than ever, something we haven't seen for some time. The 2nd winningest rider in the Nation, Deshawn Parker, is set for the Oaklawn meet and Rex Stokes is busy at Turfway Park. An amazing opportunity has arose for jockeys that have been taking the backseats to Parker and Rex the past few years. I don't know what Whitney has in store, but he hasn't been putting the time in at Mountaineer like in years past. The 34 year old Trinidad native with a wicked right handed stick is among the favorites to sit atop the Mountain standings, you may know him as Oswald Pereira, who recently hit the 1,000 win mark. The 36 year old Vietnamese native, Tho Nguyen hopes to take control of the meet with some of the top ship-in trainers at his side.

Ironically, I found these 2 riders to be the most dependable in the slop. It will be a battle in the slop for sure this winter, with riders like Perez, Barria, Rivera and plenty more capable riders to challenge. With Oswald Pereira's grit in these type of conditions its going to have to take some pretty stupid trainers not to replace the Parker mounts with Ozzie mounts. The agents of Tho and Ozzie are going to decide the outcome of this 3 month race. My money's on Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie, Oy,Oy,Oy.

A Solution That Will Never Be Used

by Ralph the Cat

What was Mountaineers best racing season for bettors and horsemen? Was it 2002? maybe 2003? or even 2004? Those couple of years would be my answer. The claiming game was RED hot and the bettors had wide open fields. What has changed besides the obvious? The death of Dale, the opening of PID, I could go on and on. One problem strikes me more than anything, it has become a growing concern of mine and I feel its being majorly overlooked by management. Here's the problem, try and answer me this, why is it that there are horses that are only worth $500 running in $5k claiming races? Why does the claiming races for lifetime horses skip from $5k to $10k to $15k? and then the wide open races only go from $5k to $7.5k to $10k to $15k etc.?

Before you get the wrong idea and say, look, Mountaineer management cant control the stock that's entered in their races, hear me out. Mountaineer management can fix the problem, but that would require extra time and work, so managements simple answer to the question is its what the horsemen want. It's not. Hear me out, it's not! Maybe 5 years ago it was in the best interest to give Mountaineer a new image of a "bigger and better" track by having the lowest claiming race a $5k race. But by golly Churchill Downs bottom claimer is $5k, we aren't Churchill Downs people! We are the mountain located in a little town called Chester! Great, we gained Grade II status for our WV Derby but does that mean putting the proper tag on our claiming horses is a crime? Would it make it a Grade III again because we run $4k claiming races? Very, very successful and big name tracks still run bottom races of $4k, but Mountaineer chooses not to.

In the middle of 2004 management changed the condition book to the present racing structure. Before that we had open races of 4k,5k,6.5k,10k,12.5k etc... it was a great structure. We had both 4k and 5k condition races as well. Please! Lets go back! By utilizing this racing structure you create more competitive fields. Guys with red hot horse used to drop into $5k races and avoid the $4k level, it wasn't a guarantee but more often than none the $5k races proved to be tougher than the $4k races. It separated these cheaper horse, because a trainer would be plan stupid to think he could compete in a $5k race if his horse didn't run good for $4k last time out. Every horse that was entered in for $5k seemed like a decent horse, while the #4k races seemed to draw the lowest quality animals like it intended. If we have 20+ horse entered in a MDN $5k race or 2 Lifetime race, why don't we offer a lower and higher tag? why should we run races where there are 2 horses in a race that will run 20 lengths apart?

Am I the only one here that thinks the current $5k to $10k lifetime jump is insane too? So my horse wins an impressive $5k race for non winners of two lifetime and now I have to go to $10k if I think my horse will get claimed next time out? Charlestown has a fantastic claiming structures that makes each and every field a bit more exciting than Mountaineers fields. But why do I even waste my time, convincing Mountaineer management and the top horsemen alike of this would be like convincing God himself that he didn't create the world that we know of.

Longshot Players Take it on The Chin in 2008

by Chris Longshot

Looking back on 2008, there are three things I thought I would never be alive to see, one, was a black president, two was the Phillies winning the World Series and three, most shockingly, the “chalkiness” of Mountaineer racing in 2008!! If I was playing Texas Hold Em Poker I would have went “all in” and lost all my chips on the prospect of Mountaineer turning into a “favorite track”. Have to admit I didn't see it coming, still in denial actually, refusing to accept this reversal of fortune. But the statistics don’t lie, in 2008, favorites won at a near 40% clip, higher than the national average, the favorite was ITM at over 70% and we saw the rebirth of the “supertrainer” almost overnight at the mountain. After months and months of less competitive racing, short chalks, wire jobs and strung out fields, it would be safe to say that 2008 at the mountain was longshot players Waterloo!!! The “mad bomber” and his cronies had a banner year, where they were marching through the streets of Chester as chalk after chalk after chalk paraded in, while longshot players were left gasping for air, or better yet their horses were. So what is going to be the outlook for 2009? I’m afraid not much is going to change but I have hope, my mom always told me the first thing you do in solving a problem is to identify what has caused this trend to develop in the first place, so let’s indulge in one of the 3 causes and feel free to comment, whether you agree or disagree.

The unfortunate and untimely death of Waterford’s finest; Dale Baird, sent shockwaves throughout the whole racing industry. Despite, his harshest critics, who would have put an asterisk next to Baird’s unprecedented win total, most would admit that Baird’s loss was monumental. However, many could easily conclude that racing at Mountaineer would never be the same without the “Wizard”. The impact would be great but to what extent?? Secondly, what would happen to Baird’s horses?? Initially, Penny Mathias, Baird’s assistant trainer, took over the training and had some moderate success. A few months later Baird’s son, Bart had taken over a few of his dad’s horses with little success. While Baird’s death was untimely, the impact and the elimination of his runners from the MNR ‘gene pool” has affected Mountaineer racing greatly. Many of Baird’s horses filtered down to lower percentage outfits and though most did not improve off Baird, many of Baird’s horses brought home paychecks for their claimants.

Throughout history, there have been numerous instances were other people have taken advantage of others peoples misfortune. This is no more evident then the rise of the “supertrainer” at the mountain. Let me explain, many in the industry respected Dale’s stock and knew if they expected to win at the mountain they had to come strong or not at all. Most did come well represented but generally still left the mountain without the winner’s portion of the purse. Some trainers were scared away, despite the increased purses and extra incentive to come. But as good as Baird was, his reputation proceeded himself. His horses often took “dumb money” from less polished newbie’s. This created nice juicy overlays for the longshot players, willing to shoot against Baird’s horses. When Baird died, many trainers started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Trainers like Shaneyfelt and Englehart to name a few, began to make the trip to the Northern Pan Handle but this time stocked with more runners. The question soon was, who would be the next trainer to dominate the Mountain? Most MNR followers would have place their bets that it would be Jeff Radosevich, who won a trainer title from Baird a few years back. However, he had an extremely difficult year at the mountain in 2008. The two mentioned above, along with another Baird family member, MJ Baird, have been at the top of the standings for most of the year. The surprise is not that these trainers have been successful, they are all well respected but it’s the degree at which it has been achieved. Doug Shaneyfelt was a 50% trainer at one point, Englehart a cut below but with almost equal percentage. Scooter Davis, had a sudden rebirth, reverting back to when he was a dominant trainer at the mountain. The greatest impact has been felt in the allowance ranks, where horses trained by these guys have the fields at their mercy on most nights. Even in the condition claimers their presence is felt, their horses are going to post at 3/5, 4/5 and 90% of the time, they have not disappointed their followers. In my opinion, the rise of these supertainers, the elimination of Dale and his stock, and a sharper betting public has contributed to the longshot player’s worst nightmare, Broke Back Mountain!!! Longshot players have suffered, lower percentage outfits have suffered, the quality of racing has suffered, while chalk players have strived and handle has gone up generally. It seems more players are more comfortable with the more “formful” mountain then the indecipherable mess of the past few years. Lastly, longshot players need to forget 2008 and look forward to 2009 because as many players who religiously follow the mountain know, things are known to change unexpectedly, 50% trainer this year, 15% trainer next year, will the march of favorites continue or will the longshot players get the last laugh, only time will tell but the unfortunate loss of Dale Baird and his stock even in death has flipped Mountaineer racing upside down for the good for some and the bad and the ugly for others. Next blog next week will be cause two, a follow up on another reason that longshot players were puking in their soup in 2008: track bias.

2008: The Year of Changes

by Ralph the Cat

2008 was a strange year for me and many others. We didn't have Dale Baird leveling the playing field with tough claimers and solid contenders in most races like we're used to seeing. It seemed like I watched the Super Trainers win races by 10 lengths or more one too many times. We saw Parker have the best meet of his life and finished an amazing 2nd place in total wins in North America. We watched Rex Stokes III put it dull efforts on bottom claimers and bettors questioning rides from guys like him and Whitney more than ever. Just when Mountaineer racing seemed like a year-round same ole same ole type of track, we ran into one of the most unusual years in its history. Throw in Presque Isle Downs meet pulling some horses and trainers away as well and you got some unusual looking overnighters coming from Mountaineer. Did I enjoy it? Yes, but I'm a sick, sick man and can't wait for 2009. Saturday January 17th, 2009, the most underrated opening day in our sport. From 7:00pm to 10:20pm there will be $2 million in handle on an old dirt oval in the back woods of some town called Chester.

"No Player, No Cry"

by Ralph the Cat

I remember when we used to sit,
In the paddock area in Chester,
Oba - obaserving the 'ypocrites,
As they would mingle with the good people we meet.
Good races we won, oh, good races we've lost
Along the way.
In this great track, you can't forget your past;
So dry your tears, I seh.
No, player, no cry;

No, player, no cry.
'Ere, little darlin', The mountain will open soon,
So dry your tears, I seh.
No, player, no cry.

Its hard to believe a reggae song written more than 35 years ago is still played on the radio today. Bob Marley's hit song"No Women, No Cry" from 1975 was playing on the local radio station the moment I clicked to view this Saturdays overnighter. Unfortunately, it hit me hard when there was no overnighter for Saturday and I remembered there wouldn't be any MNR races this weekend. There's mountaineer players all over the world walking around with their heads down and a little less spunk in their step this week. Its going to be tough, but I'm here if any one needs to talk about it. All I can say is... "No player, No Cry"... because this Saturday afternoon you can pull up past performances for December 27ths card already. So don't shed no tears, you have work to do.

Everything's gonna be all right!
I said, everything's gonna be all right-a!
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right, now!
Everything's gonna be all right!

Fort Erie Trainers: A Continued Presence at the Mountain

by Chris Longshot

Most would agree that one of the most difficult aspects of handicapping races at Mountaineer is the daily and continued presence of shippers from other circuits. While it has been well chronicled by Mountaineer enthusiasts, the importance of Kentucky horses showing up in MSW races at the mountain and their overall high hit rate, one cannot look at a Mountain card these days and not see multiple runners who’s last race was in Canada, specifically, Fort Erie Racetrack in Ontario. This has created a perplexing situation for many handicappers who are trying to decipher which ones are here begging to be claimed and which ones are well spotted by their trainers. What makes it increasingly difficult is that most of these FE trainers have been very successful in their home circuit, boasting very respectable percentages. Thus, the million dollar question that is left to be answered: How does the Fort Erie form translate to the Mountaineer form? In my opinion, one of the best ways to assess these trainers is to assess their past successes at Mountaineer because most, if not all who follow the Mountain, know it’s what they do at the Mountain that counts, not Fort Erie.

In 2007, was when the flux of FE trainers was most prominent. The most notable FE trainers during the 2007 racing year at Mountaineer were Robert Johnston (21%), Kevin Buttigieg (26%), Mark Fournier (30%), Stacy Cooper (34%) and the most successful trainer at the 2007 meet was Don MacRae at a whopping (37%). Most interesting, of the five trainers mentioned above, four of them hit for a higher rate at the mountain than at Fort Erie and the fifth was just a few percentage points behind. Obviously, starts would have to be taken into consideration but one could then conclude that Fort Erie horses would improve and run well at the mountain now and in the future. The overall win rate for FE shippers that year was 21%, a resounding 50% were in the money yet a negative return of investment of .58.

As the 2007 meet ended at Mountaineer, and 2008 racing year approached, many of these trainers went back to Fort Erie and continued their success. This time however, a new faced emerged out of the pack, trainer Michael Newell, scored his first ever trainer title at FE, saddling 36 winners. After the FE meet ended in October, many of these trainers, with the exception of Fournier, who had sold off his horses to Jeff Radosevich, have made their annual trek back to the Mountain. Based on their past success, one might conclude there horses would be “live” and well meant. In the meantime, a new FE invader, Paula Loescher, had come to try her trade here at the mountain but has had little success, hitting at a lowly 4% hit rate. At the current Mountaineer meet, Robert Johnston is hitting at (20%), Kevin Buttigieg (28%) and Stacy Cooper is down from last year, hitting at a 22% rate. The Mountaineer super trainer, Don MacRae has stayed in Canada, choosing to run his horses at Woodbine and to no surprise is having great success. Ironically, the leading trainer at FE this past year, Michael Newell is at a lousy 9% hit rate, proving once again that it matters only what they do here, not anywhere else. I’m sure Mr. Newell can’t wait for the next FE meet, though rumor has it they may not race there in 2009. That being said, if you have lost the rent money backing Newell horses at the mountain, don’t be all too upset, I can assure you that if he doesn't get on track here, he will at another track, he’s too good of a trainer and a streaky one at that. The best part, due to the dismal efforts of his horses at the mountain, his horses will leave the gate at boxcar prices! In my opinion, all his horses need is a change of scenery; it’s just a Mountaineer thing.

So what can us Mountaineer enthusiasts conclude about these Fort Erie trainers and horses. If the current percentages hold true, they will continue to run well and win races at the mountain but I would be cautious since some previous successful trainers are having slightly less successful meets than previously. Lastly, it should also be mentioned that the other track in Canada, Woodbine Racetrack, their horses tend not to fair so well, hitting at a 13% hit rate at the Mountain. I have an angle I like to play, it involves shooting against short price Woodbine horses. They will look unbeatable on Beyer’s and current form but I will only back them as long shots at the mountain. For some reason, the Woodbine horses do not like the “quirkiness” of the Mountaineer surface, I know we all feel their pain.

What is Wrong With You People?

by Ralph the Cat

Okay, so I often feel I'm allowed to complain about Mountaineer more than your average player. I may be wrong, but who cares, it is what it is. I often wonder what is wrong with you players that complain about a stewards decision when you only get a few blury head on shots on a computer monitor. Suddenly it becomes the "worst DQ you have ever seen", and in 2 months there will be another DQ that is the "worst DQ you have ever seen".

The third race Monday night I bet a horse called Milliondollarbaby and I also had it listed on my contest sheet that can clearly be seen at e-ponies.com. When they turned for home I said shit, the #4 Im Inuit ridden by Olaf Hernandez is going to get by my horse, then suddenly I screamed ..."that's it lean in on him a little, you got, you got it". As the horse crossed the line I said to myself, thank god this is at Mountaineer, because anywhere else that would be a DQ. So I log on to twinspires to check my account balance after the 6-1 shot wins it. My account balance doesn't reflect the win, I didn't have to look at the results, I knew right away that they must have brought that horse down and placed him second. Was I mad? no, because it was the right call. S0 what is wrong with you people? If you couldn't see that the lead horse affected the 2nd place finisher, I'm not so sure you are an intelligent race observer.

The only thing I can complain about with the stewards at Mountaineer is the lack of more DQs. There's not too much consistency at Mountaineer, but when they do make a DQ, its usually a pretty damn good decision. I think the reason why Mountaineer players get frustrated is because we see rough race riding at Mountaineer so many nights without DQs, so when there is a DQ, we just think its race riding.

Sun Shines Bright on Arizona

by Ralph the Cat

Although a career as a jockey for Arizona Miller seems like the best idea, he has other plans along the way. Arizona Miller will be hanging up his tack as a full-time dedicated jockey as he focuses on school and a wrestling championship. The 16 year old Junior who has put as many long shots in the winners circle as any this fall looks to focus on his last 2 years of high school before dedicating the rest of his life to horse racing. Miller, with 2 mounts left, sits with 11 wins from 224 mounts. Nothing spectacular, but for a 16 year old bug boy at Mountaineer, that's respectable. All you need to do is watch one race of his and you'll respect his desire to win in a jockey colony that's questionable at times.

Winning races is hard enough for any 16 year old bug buy, but trying to get "winning" mounts is an entirely different story at Mountaineer. In a jockey colony where leading rider Deshawn Parker sits 2nd in wins in the nation makes it hard for any rider to get "live" mounts. Then throw in Rex Stokes III and Dana Whitney who both finished in the top 10 last year in total wins in North America. Then you have guys like Scott Spieth grabbing mounts from plenty of shippers and Oswald Pereira dominating the mounts from the small local stables. I often wonder how any other jockey in the jocks room can even get a "live" mount. Then a 16 year old bug boy takes 11 winners into the winners circle between home work assignments in the jocks room. He's no Pat Day, he'll probably never win a grade I, but by golly its not everyday you can count on a jockey at Mountaineer to just try, to just try and win a damn race. Most Jockeys in his situation would quit school and race full-time, well, most of the jockeys he out-rides have already done that. I commend him for what he has accomplished and look forward to his return as a full-time jockey.

If You Had a Pulse

by Ralph the Cat

If you had a pulse during last nights card you should have realized at the 1/2 pole of the first race that the :49 and change was a bit odd for the $15k MDNs going 5.5F. Its moments like this when you just have to take everything you knew from last week and throw it out the window, sometimes a few drinks of rum and coke helps the process. Players have so much trouble with figuring out Mountaineers surface and its because the track crew tries to get the track in the best shape to run no matter what the process might be. Dropping some sand on the track to help dry it up and fill in the holes was what the track crew did for this weekends races. So the fast times and early speed bias could be thrown out the window, it was all about who's fit and who's not. Taking a horse like Mr. Flamboyant in the 8th race was a good example. If you didn't realize how much the track changed by the 8th race, you shouldn't even be betting horses, so I don't want to here any crap about my selection of Mr. Flamboyant 2 days before the race was run. Mr. Flamboyant had little if any shot to try and wire that field in the heavy sands of Mountaineer coming off such a long layoff. Another day, another dollar, he might reward those that bet him.

Mama I'm Coming Home

by Ralph the Cat

Saturdays 8th race:
Mr. Flamboyant, the 3 year old grey colt with an alarming pedigree comes back to Mountaineer after a 7 month layoff to sit at 3/1 in Mountaineers feature race on Saturday. Mr. Flamboyant remains winless when trying 3 different synthetic surfaces in his 2 and 3 year old campaign. His last win was at Mountaineer in November of 2007 win he drew away with authority to win by nearly 10 lengths in a 5.5F event for non-winners of 2 lifetime. His other win was a MSW score at Mountaineer in which he drew off by more than 7 lengths. The layoff is going to keep him at a respectable 5/2 or higher while the Clayton Hurt trainee, #4 Prince of Saltlake will be the heavy favorite and rightfully so. The main concern for the #4 Prince of Saltlake is the jockey switch from Ronald Allen to a less talented Nathan Vickers. While there is reason to talk down the favorite there is every bit the reason to talk up the second choice entry Mr. Flamboyant. Mr. Flamboyant along with trainer Sherman Mitchell finished both a 4th in a stake race and 2nd in a 3 in a lifetime race when coming off a layoff of more than 3 months. On top of that, he puts in 2 bullet works including an impressive 5F work in 1:01 flat. With 3 speed balls in the race, the race sets up well for a hard charging closers, but with the track favoring speed more than ever, Mr. Flamboyant has the best chance to take them gate to wire. Mr. Flamboyant, a grey colt that earned a 100 Brisnet Speed Figure last year, plays every bit the part.

Have You Ever Seen The Rain?

by Ralph the Cat

A great song written by John Fogerty in 1970, but Mountaineer players are more focused on "Who'll Stop The Rain" for Saturdays card. With no more Friday night racing for the next few months most Mountaineer players are going through withdrawal. The only thing we can think about throughout the week is if the weather is going to let us run. With several days of mixed snow and rain we cross our fingers in hopes of Saturday's 9 race card with 8 full fields including a full field of $30,000 claimers. "Who'll Stop The Rain" remains to be unanswered.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

by Ralph the Cat

Cancelling the race cards on Saturday and Sunday made it hard for the Mountaineer cult to accept, but watching the chalk wire the field in 10 of the 18 races held on Monday and Tuesday sent them into a dark and lonesome corner. The wire-to-wire winners paid from $2.40 to $8.80 and crippled the long-shot players. If the lead horse at the 3/8th pole didn't bringing home the bacon Monday and Tuesday nights, it seemed the horse tucked right behind the lead horse did.

Leave it to Super Trainer Louis Roberto Jr.'s runner to defy odds and come from a close stalking position to win at $11.40 in Tuesdays 5th and the hard hitting Oswald Pereira to close on a 4/1 shot in the 8th Tuesday night. Players found it hard to believe that getting a price included the name Louis Roberto. The biggest price of the week was bug boy Arizona Millers ride in the 5th Monday night bringing Broad Sweep to the wire in front at 18-1 and scoring his 7th win of the meet.

Parker showed why he is the best at the Mountain scoring 2 wins on the frozen track on Monday and 5 wins in the slop on Tuesday. Oswald Pereira put the triple together Tuesday after scoring one win on Monday. With just a few weeks left of racing, Parker stamped his ticket to another jockey title by cushioning his lead by nearly 30 wins.

The highlight of the week was Scooter Davis's claim in the 9th Monday night. The Super Trainer claimed Miss Diamondlegs who looked leg weary while trailing the field to a last place finish.