Mr. Money Enters West Virginia Derby on a Roll

Mr. Money, who has won three consecutive graded stakes with authority, looms the 6-5 morning-line favorite for the Aug. 3 West Virginia Derby (G3) at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort.

The nine-furlong Derby for 3-year-olds attracted a field of 10. It is the eighth race on a nine-race program that has a special first post of 2 p.m. EDT. The Derby, set for 5:35 p.m., is one of seven stakes on the card.

Mr. Money, owned by Chester Thomas' Allied Racing Stable and trained by Bret Calhoun, drew post 9, will be ridden as usual by Gabriel Saez, and will carry 120 pounds.

After a couple of even efforts in a pair of grade 2 preps for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) in Louisiana, Mr. Money returned to Kentucky and racked up three consecutive victories, all of them grade 3 events. He won the one-turn Pat Day Mile Stakes Presented by LG and E and KU at Churchill Downs on the Derby undercard, the 1 1/16-mile Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill in June, and the 1 1/16-mile Indiana Derby July 13 at Indiana Grand Race Course by a combined 14 1/4 lengths.

In his only start at the West Virginia Derby trip, Mr. Money was an even fifth in the TwinSpires Louisiana Derby, which was won by his stablemate, Allied Racing's By My Standards. But Mr. Money, a colt by Goldencents , out of the Tiznow  mare Plenty O'Toole, has shown in recent outings the extra sixteenth of a mile shouldn't be a problem.

The Indiana Derby offered an unusual challenge for Mr. Money, who took the lead turning for home and ended up having to change paths while racing against a horse with no rider. Eskenforit stumbled at the start, unseating jockey Julien Leparoux, but continued to run with the rest of the field to the finish.

Mr. Money came out of the race no worse for wear. He worked a half-mile at Churchill July 26 in a fast :46 2/5, quicker than Calhoun had wanted. But Calhoun said Saez, who worked the colt, told him "it was like he was galloping."

"It seemed like it was pretty easy for him," Calhoun said. "He cooled out well and wasn't stressed about it."

The day after the work the colt's connections, who had considered waiting for the Aug. 24 Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, decided Mr. Money would make the trip to Mountaineer.

"I let Bret direct the course, but we pretty much made up our minds after the workout (last Friday)," said Thomas, who owns about 75 Thoroughbreds and won his first graded stakes this year. "He's certainly fresh enough, and the West Virginia Derby seemed the best path to do. We went back and forth with the pros and cons and decided the best course is to race (this weekend).

"The mile-and-an-eighth is a bump up in distance for him, but it seems like he can run all day. It's going to be a tough race, though. We've been picking our spots, and so far so good."

Mr. Money was bred in Kentucky by Mike and Natanya McMahon's Spruce Lane Farm. J. Stephens Bloodstock paid $130,000 for him at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from Woods Edge Farm, agent. He's earned $773,220—$598,820 of it in his last three efforts.

As a group 2 stakes winner, Imperial Racing's Plus Que Parfait, to be ridden by Corey Lanerie, will carry highweight of 122 pounds from post 4 in the West Virginia Derby. The Brendan Walsh trainee traveled to the United Arab Emirates and in late March won the UAE Derby Sponsored by Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group, which earned him a berth in the Kentucky Derby. The Point of Entry  ridgling finished an even ninth, placed-eighth, in the 19-horse Run for the Roses and in his last start finished an even sixth in the July 6 Belmont Derby Invitational (G1T)—a 1 1/2-mile turf race.

Math Wizard, third in the Indiana Derby, drew post 8 and will be ridden by Florent Geroux at 118 pounds. Owned by John Fanelli, Collarmele Vitelli Stables, Bassett Stables, Ioannis Zoumas, Wynwood Thoroughbreds, and trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., Math Wizard has made good on a modest investment.

The Algorithms  colt was claimed for $25,000 in late January at Gulfstream Park and has developed into a graded-stakes competitor. Before the Indiana Derby, Math Wizard finished second, beaten a half-length, in the Ohio Derby (G3); fourth in the Oaklawn Park Invitational Stakes in Arkansas; and fourth in the Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G2) in New York.

Top Line Growth, a Maryland homebred for Stuart Grant's The Elkstone Group, drew post 7 with regular rider Julian Pimentel named at 118 pounds. The Kelly Rubley-trained gelding now has three wins in four starts—the last having come July 5 in the $250,000 Iowa Derby, in which he finished second but was placed first after the disqualification of Winning Number for interference with another horse in the stretch.

Top Line Growth won his first start in late April at Laurel Park by 9 1/2 lengths in a 1 1/16-mile maiden race. His sire, Tapizar , won the 2012 West Virginia Governor's Stakes at Mountaineer at the same distance.

Steve Asmussen, the West Virginia Derby's all-time leading trainer by wins with five, has entered Stud TNT's Fluminense, who went from last to fourth in the Iowa Derby. Joe Bravo is named to ride at 118 pounds from post 6.

Also on the card is the $200,000 West Virginia Governor's Stakes (G3) where grade 3 winner Silver Dust is the 126-pound highweight in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and older that saw 13 horses entered, which includes also-eligible Apricot.

Tom Durant's Silver Dust won the Mineshaft Handicap (G3) in February and enters Saturday's race off a close runner-up finish in the Michael G. Schaefer Memorial Stakes July 13 at Indiana Grand. Trained by Bret Calhoun, the 5-year-old Tapit  gelding has finished first or second in seven of his past eight starts.

Entries: West Virginia Derby (G3)

Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort, Saturday, August 03, 2019, Race 8

• Grade III
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $500,000
• 3 yo
• 5:35 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Chess Chief (VA)	Miguel Mena	118	Dallas Stewart	20/1
2	2Grumps Little Tots (KY)	Reylu Gutierrez	118	Jason Servis	10/1
3	3Conative (KY)	Luis M. Quinones	118	Marat Kozhomzharov	50/1
4	4Plus Que Parfait (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	122	Brendan P. Walsh	7/2
5	5Cornstarch (KY)	Charle Oliveros	118	Marat Kozhomzharov	30/1
6	6Fluminense (KY)	Joe Bravo	118	Steven M. Asmussen	10/1
7	7Top Line Growth (MD)	Julian Pimentel	118	Kelly Rubley	8/1
8	8Math Wizard (KY)	Florent Geroux	118	Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.	5/1
9	9Mr. Money (KY)	Gabriel Saez	120	W. Bret Calhoun	6/5
10	10Chilly in Charge (PA)	Horacio Karamanos	118	Miguel Vera	15/1

Entries: West Virginia Governor's S. (G3)

Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort, Saturday, August 03, 2019, Race 7

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 4:55 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Reride (KY)	Horacio Karamanos	119	Ignacio Correas, IV	20/1
2	2Snapper Sinclair (KY)	Joe Bravo	124	Steven M. Asmussen	6/1
3	3Exclamation Point (KY)	Florent Geroux	124	Brad H. Cox	5/1
4	4Sky Promise (KY)	Orlando Mojica	124	Robertino Diodoro	12/1
5	5Sir Anthony (IL)	Pedro L. Cotto, Jr.	124	Anthony Mitchell	5/1
6	6Silver Dust (KY)	Jack Gilligan	126	W. Bret Calhoun	3/1
7	7Exulting (KY)	Luis M. Quinones	124	Michael J. Maker	8/1
8	8Rocking the Boat (KY)	David Cohen	121	Dale L. Romans	12/1
9	9Retirement Fund (KY)	Gabriel Saez	121	Steven M. Asmussen	15/1
10	10Imperative (KY)	Jose A. Bracho	119	Anthony T. Quartarolo	30/1
11	11Hawaakom (KY)	Miguel Mena	119	Wesley E. Hawley	15/1
12	12Kukulkan (MEX)	Corey J. Lanerie	124	Fausto Gutierrez	6/1
99	Apricot (KY)	Luis M. Quinones	119	Marat Kozhomzharov	-