The aptly named Home Brew, owned and bred by Gary and Mary West, is making up for lost time, and his recent efforts have established him as one of the favorites for the $500,000 Grade III West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort Aug. 6.
The 3-year-old colt by Street Sense was on the Triple Crown trail at the beginning of this year but ended up on the shelf for several months in Arkansas, where he was stabled this past winter and spring. The Brad Cox trainee returned to the races in late April to win the Oaklawn Stakes at the West Virginia Derby distance of 1 1/8 miles and followed up with a strong score in the Pegasus Stakes June 18 at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.
The Pegasus is the local prep for the Grade I Haskell Stakes, which was raced July 23. Cox, a two-time Eclipse Award winner as top trainer, opted not to enter Home Brew in the Grade I event, which he ended up winning with Cyberknife. Home Brew was reserved for the West Virginia Derby.
With four wins and a second in six starts, Home Brew is the 3-1 third choice in the morning-line odds—a testament to the depth of this year’s Derby field. The 2-1 favorite is We the People, followed by Simplification (5-2), Home Brew, Skippylongstocking (5-1), King Ottoman (6-1), Courvoisier (15-1) and Jr’s Gift (30-1).
Home Brew broke his maiden in his first start as a 2-year-old at Laurel Park in Maryland last year with a solid off-the-pace run. One of his victories at Oaklawn Park came on the front-end, but in his last two outings he rated in fourth just off the pace and took over turning for home. His versatility should prove an asset in the West Virginia Derby.
Cox is in search of his first West Virginia Derby victory. In the 2021 edition he trained Warrant to a second-place finish behind Mr. Wireless, and he has won multiple stakes on the Derby program over the years. Cox has horses entered in four other stakes on the Aug. 6 program at Mountaineer including multiple graded-stakes winner Fulsome in the $200,000 Grade III West Virginia Governor’s Stakes, which Cox won in 2018 and 2014.
Mountaineer is offering ticket options for the West Virginia Derby program. First post time Saturday will be 2 p.m.
Ticket Level 1 is a $10 general admission ticket that only allows entry to the track for Derby day. Ticket Level 2 is a $15 package ticket that allows entry, and ticketholders will receive one commemorative Derby glass and one official Derby program. There are limited number of Ticket Level 2 tickets available.
Tickets are available for purchase at cnty.com/mountaineer or at the Mountaineer Casino Gift Shop. In addition, tickets will be available for purchase on race day at the Grandstand Will Call counter. Doors will open at 10 a.m.
Mountaineer will offer four food trucks on the racetrack apron, including MJB BBQ, Rusty Bull Taco, Road Runner Hot Dawgs, and Martoni’s Pizza.