US Racing Track Guide: Mountaineer Park

Betfair now offers Exchange markets on a whole host of tracks in the United States. In his latest in-depth guide, US racing handicapper Dean Keppler takes a look at Moutaineer Park...

Track Website

What kind of racecourse is it?

• A main oval dirt track that's 1-1/8 miles long. The turf course is 1-mile long.

Tell me something I don't know about this track

• Mountaineer became the first racetrack in the United States to get slot machines and become a "racino."

When do they race?

Mainly Sunday through Wednesday & Saturday evenings April Through November - starting at 10:00 p.m. GMT

Best Ever Race

Grade 2 West Virginia Derby August 5, 2009. Soul Warrior ran down Big Drama (who had been leading the entire trip), and managed to outlast Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird to win the 40th edition of the West Virginia Derby. Soul Warrior paid $48.00 to win.

Most Popular Jockeys

Parker, Deshawn L.
Quinones, Luis M.
Barbaran, Erik
Most Popular Trainers
Clouston, Edward
Bernardini, Jay P.
Baird, Michael J.

How to find winners at Mountaineer Park...

Know your trainers and jockeys. Most times there are certain jockeys and/or trainers who stand out above the others and simply win more races. Make sure you look closely at the trainer and jockey's standings, and then adjust your wagers accordingly. Here are just few examples of trainers and jockey combos to watch out for at Mountaineer: Edward Clouston/Deshawn L Parker--Burton K Sipp/Alex Cruz; Bart Baird/Luis Rivera; Donald Blankenship/Eddie Jurado; Brent Angelle/Megan Fadlovich.

Draw Positions

The inside draw is the most favorable in main track sprint races, but most of the other slots are very formidable and very close to each other in percentage results. Post 10 is the worst draw percentage-wise, but also has the fewest starts. In dirt route races, each post produces their fair share of evenly distributed winners. Post 1 does very well on the turf as well, but post 9 and 10 produce the weakest results.

Running Styles

The key is to identify short-term track biases, running styles that dominate certain types of races, and other specific and track-specific nuances that can be profitable. Early speed is key in both sprints and routes at Mountaineer. Over 35% of the races at 5.5 furlongs are won by early speed-types. Class dropdowns that have shown solid early foot are always dangerous and noteworthy since most of the competition is relatively close to each other on pure ability. A dropdown from a $5,000 Claimer to $3,500 is much more significant than it appears.

When betting Mountaineer Park look out for... speed-types; horses ridden by DeShawn Parker or Luis Quinones.