mountaineer turf racing

[leveeguy]

Can anyone shed some light on the turf racing at Mountaineer?

What kind of shape is the turf course usually in?

Do they card a fair number of races?

What is the average distance of the longer races?

What level do they run at? Primarily $15,000 and up, or do they have a decent number of races for horses running at a lower level (say a $7,500 or $10,000 tag)?

Thanks for your help.

[ageecee]

i want to say they run 5K claimers on the turf also. Maybe even NW-2 for 5K on the turf.

[wilf]

They run all kinds to suit any trainer/owner. Many folks knock the turf course there but I like it and it's better than Colonial after a month's use and much more level than Delaware's course. Open races go from $5000 and up, nw2 and nw3 and nw4 go for $15,000 or more ,maidens run from $10,000 to Special weight. Long races go from 7 furls to mile and a sixteenth and they have a distance series for starter eligible horses going up to twice around the course ,ie about a mile and three quarters. I don't think that they run on fridays on turf but they do the next 4 days weather permitting. It's a shame that they quit on Labour Day as usually they have a nice October and the turf course looks very inviting.

[bdw0617]

i always thought mountaineer had one of the most underrated turf courses in the country. its' relatively lush and it's pretty fair.

[oakorchard]

I want to qualify my input as an owner who has only had a couple of opportunities to run on the Mountaineer turf. In my experience, the turf races fill and can be tough to get into, especially if you are not at Mountaineer (shipping in). My horse handles the turf surface there very well (tended to be very firm (hard)) when we ran there on two separate occasions - 2 years apart. My current trainer- who shipped in for last season's start - felt that the Mountaineer turf was rough and not well-maintained and vowed to never race a horse there on that turf again. I would run my horse there on that turf again because he handles that particular surface so well, but I will say that each of our races had some calamity. First time a jockey was unseated and the riderless horse veered and almost ran into my horse and knocking into the horse to our outside, unseating that jockey as well. Second time on that turf, a horse that shipped in with us and was in our race, took a bad step and fractured his shoulder - had to be euthanized a few days later. The trainer of that horse said that he stepped in a hole (rut)on the course.

[bdw0617]

that sounds pretty much like your regular tuesday night in november at mountaineer park (unfortunately)

[karenkarenn]

That's so sad. Please keep us posted Oakorchard.

[leveeguy]

Thanks for the feedback, everybody. Much appreciated!