Mountaineer: Nine stakes slated for one day

For the third straight year, Mountaineer Race Track has kept its stakes schedule completely intact.

All 28 stakes will be run in the same order and for the same purse values as in 2005 and 2006.

Nearly one-third of the stakes will be held on Saturday, Aug. 4, when nine stakes, highlighted by the Grade 3, $750,000 West Virginia Derby, are conducted on a special afternoon card that will begin at 2 p.m. Eastern. First post time for all other programs is 7 p.m.

Three of the races on the West Virginia Derby undercard - the West Virginia Governor's, the Harvey Arneault Memorial Breeders' Cup, and the West Virginia Senate President's BC - will be worth $125,000 apiece.

Aside from the four stakes on West Virginia Derby Day, the only other stakes worth more than the track's standard $75,000 is the Mountaineer Mile, a $125,000 race for 3-year-olds and up on Nov. 10.

Mountaineer will again run a number of stakes on weeknights. Nine stakes are scheduled for Tuesdays, including three on July 3.