West Virginia Derby undercard has plenty to offer

Yes, Mia Torri benefited from setting a slow pace in the Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses Stakes on June 9 at Belmont Park, but even so her solid second to Grade 1-class By the Moon stamps her as the horse to beat Saturday in the $75,000 West Virginia Secretary of State Stakes.

Contested over six furlongs on dirt, the race is one of five $75,000 undercard races at Mountaineer Resort and Casino leading to the $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s Stakes and the $750,000 West Virginia Derby.

Trained by Jorge Navarro, Mia Torri has been in strong form since December, and if it continues she is very much the most likely winner Saturday, though probably at a lower price than her 5-2 morning-line odds.

The Iowa-bred Dreamin won the $100,000 Saylorville Stakes by one length over I’m a Looker last out at Prairie Meadows, but I’m a Looker was making her first start after a long layoff and should have more upside in the Secretary of State.

Maker duo in Speaker’s Cup

It could come down to Mike Maker versus Mike Maker in the $75,000 West Virginia House of Delegate’s Speaker’s Cup, a grass race over one mile and 70 yards. Maker sends out Galton, who makes his first start since being claimed for $62,500 on June 4, and Special Ops, who also was claimed earlier this year and comse off a third-place finish in the $100,000 Warrior Veterans Stakes at Indiana Grand.

Lucky Ramsey and Duff are the other two to consider in the race, which kicks off the stakes action on Saturday’s card.

◗ Boreale spent 2015 and 2016 racing in France, but Saturday she is at Mountaineer trying to win the first stakes of her career in the $75,000 West Virginia Senate President’s Cup, a one mile and 70-yard turf race for fillies and mares. Trained by Graham Motion, Boreale won 3 of 9 starts in France while racing mainly on all-weather surfaces, but Motion put her on turf for her U.S. debut and Boreale eked out a narrow allowance-race win June 14 at Delaware Park. A similar performance would make Boreale competitive with leading rivals Hip Nop N Jazz, Sister Blues, Corby, and La Piba, and significant improvement in her second North American start would probably land Boreale in the winner’s circle.

◗ Finding races that really suit his horses helps Tom Amoss’s runners regularly produce strike rates, and Amoss appears to have found a good spot for Wyeth on Saturday in the $75,000 Senator C. Robert Byrd Memorial Stakes. Wyeth was fourth last out on dirt in the Kelly’s Landing at Churchill and third, beaten a neck for win, two starts ago over Arlington Polytrack in the Grade 3 Hanshin Cup. In the Byrd, he returns to six furlongs for the first time since Keeneland, where a switch from turf to dirt produced a sharp allowance race win. Struth, the 2-1 morning-line favorite, won the $50,000 Hockessin last out at Delaware Park, but is a year older with seven more starts than Wyeth.

◗ Short-sprint specialist Roman Officer won the $75,000 West Virginia Legislature Chairman’s Cup by more than two lengths last year, and will have a good chance to win it again Saturday. Roman Officer is 3-1-0 from four starts at Mountaineer and 6-0-2 from eight races at 4 1/2 furlongs, the distance he runs Saturday. Black Bear, American Sailor, and Polo Art are the main challengers.