Chunk of Gold takes West Virginia Derby; Hit Show prevails in Governor's Stakes
?q=100)
When front-running favorite East Avenue veered out of the gate, relinquishing a chance at the early lead in the Grade 3, $400,000 West Virginia Derby, Chunk of Gold was uniquely prepared to take advantage.
After a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby in June, trainer Ethan West gave his colt blinkers ahead of his trip to Mountaineer Park on Sunday and expected him to deliver a sharper performance. With an uncontested early lead through slow early fractions, Chunk of Gold could not have it any easier, cruising home to win by 4 1/4 lengths.
“We put the blinkers on there, not to show more speed, but just to get him a little more responsive and focused on the job at hand,” West said. “Obviously, he got put on the lead today because of the speed scenario falling apart at the break. It fell into our hands.”
West hoped that Chunk of Gold could chase the early leader and make a move around the turn, but jockey Jareth Loveberry didn’t need a second invitation when the field lost its likely pacesetter.
“When East Avenue didn’t jump out there on the lead, Jareth inherited it,” West said. “No one else had any kind of early pace.”
Without any resistance out in front early, Chunk of Gold completed the opening quarter-mile in 24.17 seconds while McAfee, a colt trained by Rick Dutrow, chased a length behind in second. The top two were in nearly identical formation after a half-mile in 48.23.
While several rivals began jockeying for position behind him on the backstretch and into the far turn, Chunk of Gold ran untouched out in front and kicked away to lead three lengths ahead in the stretch. He cruised home to win by 4 1/4 lengths, completing the 1 1/8-mile race in 1:50.97 and paying $6.80 to win.
McAfee briefly lost touch with the early leader, but rallied again in the stretch to regain second, finishing 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Brotha Kenny, an 11-1 shot who closed late to win a photo for third for trainer William Morey.
East Avenue, who has earned all three victories in his career on the front end, came up empty in the stretch and finished fifth. In May, he and Chunk of Gold were both victims in a Kentucky Derby field full of potential pacesetters. At Mountaineer on Sunday, East Avenue’s misfortune provided an immense opportunity to Chunk of Gold, who seized it for his first victory in a hard-knocking 3-year-old campaign.
“That week [of the Kentucky Derby] is exhausting for horse and human,” West said. “He was tired and we gave him the whole week off that next week, and it’s always a question for horses coming out of the Derby, whether they’re going to bounce back. He handled it very well, very professional. He’s one of those horses that only does what needs to be done.”
West Virginia Governor's Stakes
Theoretically, Hit Show should have had an easier time in the $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s Stakes at Mountaineer Park on Sunday, four months after closing late to win the $12 million Dubai World Cup. If anything, however, the trip to the United Arab Emirates was a dream by comparison, at least for trainer Brad Cox.
“Yeah, I don't know. I think you always want to win as easy as you can,” Cox said. “But look, he's got 20 starts under his belt now and he's won half of them. He’s a nice horse and he's earned a lot of money and we're going to try to put him in spots where he's going to be competitive.”
After traveling wide around both turns, Hit Show seemed certain to dust the West Virginia Governor’s field until early leader Not This Boy, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Doug Cowans, dug in on the rail and refused to give an inch in the stretch.
Fully extended under Florent Geroux, Hit Show poked a head in front in the late duel, and it took immense effort to maintain that advantage to the wire. He finished the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:43.63 and paid $4.80 to win.
“Our horse has a tendency, when he does hit the lead, to idle and wait for the other horse to come back on him a little bit,” Cox said. “But he knows how to keep his head in front.”
The most surprising development early in the race was on the tote board, as Not This Boy’s odds plummeted to 3-5 at the last tick. The gelding most notably finished second in the $260,000 Ellis Park Derby last year and recently won a conditioned allowance at Churchill Downs, making him a puzzling favorite over proven graded stakes winner Hit Show.
Five horses, including Hit Show, lined up across the track near the front entering the first turn, but Not This Boy got the best of it by far on the rail. He may not have figured as the favorite on paper, but Cowans’s gelding proved to be an immediate threat when he jumped out to a one-length lead through an opening quarter-mile in 23.96.
Not This Boy completed a similarly comfortable half-mile in 47.97 seconds, and Hit Show’s prolonged challenge to the wire was the only resistance he encountered in the race. The top two finished 7 1/2 lengths ahead of Jokestar, a 4-year-old gelding who closed to finish third at 28-1 odds for Morey, who later notched another third-place finish with Brotha Kenny in the West Virginia Derby.
Cox may have preferred an easier steppingstone at Mountaineer on Sunday, but Hit Show’s victory still sets him up for success going forward. Last year, the trainer used the West Virginia Governor’s as a prep for the Grade 2 Lukas Classic, a path he may take again in 2025.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.