M B Sea tries to get first 2008 win

M B Sea will return to Mountaineer Racetrack on Tuesday night to defend his title in the $75,000 Fall Stakes.

The class of the field, M B Sea faces five rivals in the 1 1/8-mile race, the ninth of 10 on the card that starts at 7 p.m.

A 9-year-old trained by Dale Romans, M B Sea has earned $786,041, easily outstripping the combined $606,849 banked by the other five in the field.

This will be only the fourth start this season for the veteran, who has a third and two fourths as Romans has had trouble finding spots for him.

"It's been hard to get races to go for him," Romans said. "We've entered him a lot of times but they just haven't gone."

This could be a cozy spot for M B Sea to get untracked. He is 3-3-1 in eight races at Mountaineer, including victories in the 2005 and 2007 West Virginia Governor's Stakes.

As far as Romans can tell, M B Sea hasn't lost a step.

"He never changes," Romans said. "He always trains the same. He likes the track, so he should run well. He hasn't run like we thought he would in a couple of races this year. He hasn't quite had the turn of foot, but he's coming into this race in really good shape. We expect a big performance."

Ricardo Feliciano will ride.

While M B Sea is an old hand at Mountaineer, Rikman will make his debut at the track for trainer Bruce Brown.

A $25,000 claim at Gulfstream Park, Rikman has three wins and a pair of thirds in five starts since the barn change.

Most recently, Rikman ran third in slop in the Formal Gold Stakes at Monmouth Park. Deshawn Parker gets the mount.

Unbridled Wisdom is another claim that has panned out. Taken for $10,000 at Mountaineer in April, the gelding ran fourth in the mud in his first race following the claim. He hasn't lost since, reeling off four straight wins by daylight with margins ranging from 2 3/4 to 12 1/2 lengths.

Jesus Barria rides for trainer Robert Boris.

Completing the field are Bawdens, Tejano Rick, and Shipwatch.