Mountaineer Mile draws graded quality

A pair of horses who ran second in Grade 2 stakes earlier this fall are among eight older distance runners entered in Saturday night's $100,000 Mountaineer Mile at Mountaineer Park.

Generous Rosi, who finished a neck behind Tenpins in the Washington Park Handicap, a 1 3/16-mile race at Arlington Park in September, and Dash for Daylight, beaten three-quarters of a length in the six-furlong Forest Hills at Belmont Park in early October, are the most prominent names in the field.

Trainer Tim Ritchey has entered Docent, who comes back 11 days after finishing a close third in the Grade 3 Stuyvesant Handicap at Aqueduct. Docent has won four stakes at three tracks this season, including the West Virginia Governor's Handicap at Mountaineer in August.

* When Thistledown-based trainer Miguel Feliciano moonlights at Mountaineer, bettors should pay attention. In Tuesday night's $41,600 allowance feature, a prep for the $75,000 Sophomore Sprint Championship on Nov. 26, Ran South ($26) upset 1-2 favorite Smokieisabandit. Feliciano has now won with 11 of his 33 starters at Mountaineer.

* Popular Host ($3.60), an 8-year-old gelding trained and co-owned by Joe Mazur, won his eighth starter allowance race of the season in last Sunday's $27,000 feature. Popular Host, who has won at distances ranging from five furlongs to his most recent win at 1 5/8 miles, is enjoying the best season of his career, with earnings of more than $86,000. Popular Host's eligibility for the starter series, restricted to horses who have started for $5,000 or less the past two seasons, expires Dec. 31, but he still could run in the final three legs as the distances continue to increase.