East Avenue should be comfortable up front in West Virginia Derby

Like students leaving school, horses exiting the Kentucky Derby each year fan out across the country, carrying on promising 3-year-old campaigns under all sorts of circumstances. Some become international superstars; others never win again. Trainer Brendan Walsh believes that East Avenue is one of the good ones, and he expects him to be good for a long time.

“He’s still a relatively lightly raced horse, so there’s still a few things to find out about him,” Walsh said. “Between it all, he should be set up for a very good 4-year-old year next year. Hopefully, he stays with us.”

After a four-month stay in Kentucky, East Avenue will take a short trip north for the Grade 3, $400,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park on Sunday. He is still looking for his first victory at 1 1/8 miles, but he should get things his way in the field of eight.

It doesn’t take superior handicapping ability to figure out East Avenue’s likely trip this weekend. The colt has earned all three of his career victories, as well as a game photo-finish defeat in the Grade 1 Blue Grass, on the front end. It would be somewhat unfair to say that Walsh’s colt needs the lead, but it’s unlikely that this theory will be tested Sunday.

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“He does like to get on the lead, and this looks like it should set up for him too,” Walsh said. “We’ll probably try to run his race again and hope for the best.”

After chasing a hot early pace in the Kentucky Derby and fading to eighth, East Avenue was far more comfortable when he cut back to 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 3 Matt Winn at Churchill Downs in June. Settling a score against Blue Grass winner Burnham Square, he cruised through soft fractions and dug in late to win by a half-length.

A pair of colts coming out of the Grade 3 Ohio Derby, Chunk of Gold and McAfee, will likely be East Avenue’s strongest challengers at Mountaineer. Chunk of Gold finished second and two lengths ahead of McAfee that day, but both runners have settled into strong recent form.

Chunk of Gold ran alongside East Avenue in the Kentucky Derby, where he was uncharacteristically forwardly placed in a race that benefited closers. He returned to his usual form at Thistledown in June, and trainer Ethan West will now put blinkers on him.

“He responds when asked, but he’s always been a delayed response,” West said. “We’re hoping that training him with blinkers on, he’s more push-button.”

McAfee finished four lengths back in the Ohio Derby in June, but trainer Rick Dutrow said he was extremely happy with his workouts in Kentucky since. On July 25, he completed four furlongs in 46.20 seconds, the fastest of 73 horses at the distance that morning.

West Virginia Governor’s

Hit Show was no match for a brutally tough field in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster in June, but the Dubai World Cup winner should feel more at home in the $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s Stakes at Mountaineer Park on Sunday.

When Brad Cox was easing Hit Show back into action last year, he used the West Virginia Governor’s as a stepping-stone to stakes in Kentucky. It was only his second stakes victory, but he has since earned four more. This torrid stretch culminated in a trip to the United Arab Emirates in April, where he ran the race of his life for one of the world’s largest purses.

“He walked a good bit after the World Cup there, but he’s a horse that really likes training,” Cox said. “I think he’s sitting on a big race.”

The 5-year-old horse took some time before his U.S. return, but nothing could have helped in the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs. Sierra Leone and Mystik Dan weren’t even favored, as burgeoning superstar Mindframe won his third straight graded stakes race in a rocking 4-year-old campaign.

He may not have stacked up in a Breeders’ Cup preview, but Hit Show will certainly be the horse to beat in West Virginia on Sunday. Putting aside his Dubai World Cup triumph, his American stakes success alone makes him a towering presence.

Only two other runners in the West Virginia Governor’s have won in graded stakes company and both last ran in the Grade 3 Cornhusker Handicap at Prairie Meadows. Cornishman, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Dan McFarlane, pulled off a 14-1 upset on his home track, prevailing by a neck over Heroic Move, a 5-year horse trained by Robertino Diodoro.

Four runners in the field of nine last raced in allowance company, and Not This Boy stands out in the plucky group. The 4-year-old gelding lost by a nose in the $260,000 Ellis Park Derby last year, and in his most recent performance at Churchill Downs, he earned a commanding 6 3/4-length victory in a conditioned allowance.

“I thought this might be a nice stepping-stone,” trainer Doug Cowans said. “If he’s going to be the horse we think he is, maybe he goes to the next step after this.”

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