East Avenue is 8-5 favorite to win Sunday’s West Virginia Derby
East Avenue, a two-time graded-stakes-winning homebred for Godolphin, is the 8-5 morning-line favorite Sunday night for the Grade 3, $400,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer.
Post time for the 1 1/8-mile feature is 8:15 p.m. The first post is at 5 p.m.
It has been eight weeks since East Avenue won the 1 1/16-mile Matt Winn (G3) at Churchill Downs. Trained by Brendan Walsh, the Medaglia d’Oro colt displayed the pace-setting style that also brought him a win last year in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) and a close second to Burnham Square in the Blue Grass (G1).
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East Avenue disappointed when he broke poorly and finished ninth as the favorite last fall in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar. That was followed in February by a fade to 10th in the Risen Star (G2) at Fair Grounds. After his bounce-back in the Blue Grass, East Avenue finished eighth as a 41-1 long shot in the Kentucky Derby.
Luis Sáez, who was paired with East Avenue for the first time in the Matt Winn, keeps the ride and breaks from post 2 on Sunday in the field of eight 3-year-olds.
A debut winner in December on the Turfway Park synthetic, Chunk of Gold (5-2) adds blinkers after he finished second to Mo Plex as the favorite June 21 in the 1 1/8-mile Ohio Derby (G3) at Thistledown. The Preservationist colt owned by Terry Stephens finished ninth at 29-1 in the Kentucky Derby. He got there from the points he earned finishing second in both the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby (G2). Trainer Ethan West keeps Jareth Loveberry in the irons to start from post 4.
Like Chunk of Gold, Rick Dutrow-trained McAfee (3-1) is a mid-pack runner who has not won since his debut as a 2-year-old. After fifth-place finishes Aqueduct finishes in both the Gotham (G3) and Wood Memorial (G2), the Cloud Computing colt finished second there in the Peter Pan (G3) and third in the Ohio Derby. Owned by Black Type Thoroughbreds, Swinbank Stables, his breeder Judy Hicks and Scott Rice, Chunk of Gold will be ridden by Emmanuel Esquivel from post 5.
Brotha Kenny (5-1) went off at 59-1 when he rallied from last to come in third and pay $10.40 to show last month in the 1 1/16-mile Indiana Derby (G3). Trained by Bill Morey for owners Lance and Steve Kinross, the Mo Town gelding did not break his maiden until his seventh start. He also won a $25,000 allowance race at Horseshoe Indianapolis in May to prep for the Indiana Derby. Joe Ramos retains the ride from post 6.
Extradition (15-1) and Brereton’s Baytown (20-1) were fourth and fifth in that order in the Ohio Derby. They also are part of the West Virginia Derby field as are allowance victors Just a Fair Shake (12-1), who goes with blinkers off, and Gone Boy (30-1), a last-out winner at Mountaineer.
A clear, calm night is forecast by the National Weather Service on Sunday for the northern panhandle. The post-time temperature is expected to be 76 degrees for the West Virginia Derby.