Schedule sticks close to 2007's

Mountaineer Racetrack's 2008 stakes schedule closely resembles the same package of stakes that the Chester, W.Va., facility offered in 2007.

The same 28 stakes, topped by the Grade 3, $750,000 West Virginia Derby, will be run again this year, in exactly the same order as they were in 2007.

In the only purse changes, the Harvey Arneault Breeders' Cup Memorial and the West Virginia Senate President's Breeders' Cup, part of the nine stakes that will be contested on West Virginia Derby Day, will be worth $110,000 apiece, down $15,000 from last year. Those purses include $25,000 in Breeders' Cup funds.

The special post time for the West Virginia Derby program will be 2 p.m. Eastern.

Aside from the eight West Virginia Derby undercard stakes, which range in value from $85,000 to $125,000, nearly all the other stakes will be worth $75,000.

The exception is the 36th running of the Mountaineer Mile, a $125,000 race on Nov. 8.

In keeping with its policy of offering weeknight stakes, seven stakes will be held on Tuesdays, including two of the last three stakes of the season, the Sophomore Sprint Championship and the New Year's Eve.