Freshened Lookin At Lee seeks rebound in West Virginia Derby

There does not appear to be any great 3-year-old dirt-route horses in 2017, but there are plenty of decent ones, and several were entered Monday to start Saturday in the Grade 3, $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort.

The West Virginia Derby lured 11 entrants, including Lookin At Lee, who hugged the rail, skipped through the slop, and for a moment at about the three-sixteenths pole looked like he might win the Kentucky Derby. In the end, he could make up no late ground on Always Dreaming, settling for second, and, after a less-stirring fourth in the Preakness, Lookin At Lee clunked home 28 lengths behind the victorious Tapwrit in the Belmont Stakes. He was the only horse to start in all three Triple Crown races this year and perhaps was wrung somewhat dry by the experience.

But Lookin At Lee has since been freshened, and trainer Steve Asmussen is no stranger to West Virginia Derby success, having won the race five times, most recently with Tapiture in 2014. Lookin At Lee gets the 1 1/8 miles he needs, at minimum, to be most effective and should have speed to chase Saturday under Corey Lanerie after breaking from post 8 and, presumably, taking up his usual spot at the tail of the field.

From the rail out, the West Virginia Derby field includes Game Over, Phat Man, Patch, B Squared, Impressive Edge, Watch Me Whip, Colonelsdarktemper, Lookin At Lee, Silver Dust, Heartwood, and McCormick.

Phat Man runs for owner Brad Grady and trainer Joe Sharp, the connections who took down the $1 million Haskell Invitational on Sunday.

Patch, trained by 2015 West Virginia Derby winner Todd Pletcher (Madefromlucky), most recently finished third in the Belmont, more than 20 lengths in front of Lookin At Lee. Patch, you might have heard, has only one eye.

B Squared comes in from California for trainer Doug O’Neill and owner Paul Reddam, who already have won the Ohio Derby and the Indiana Derby this year with Irap, who is bound for bigger things. B Squared most recently was third in the Los Alamitos Derby, beaten less than three lengths by Travers hopeful West Coast.

Colonelsdarktemper has improved throughout 2017 and ran his best race when second to Irap in the Indiana Derby but would be coming back on just three weeks’ rest after that peak performance.

McCormick did all the dirty work fighting on the lead in the Iowa Derby before getting tagged late by Hence, who was no factor Sunday in the Haskell.

Dale Romans trains both Watch Me Whip and Impressive Edge, and a scratch of either would come as no surprise.

The West Virginia Derby is one of seven stakes on a nine-race card that starts at 2 p.m. Central. The feature is scheduled for 5:21, and the local forecast calls for a 30 percent chance of rain during the day.