Field announced for West Virginia derby

Staff report

CHESTER, W. Va.

The West Virginia Derby has announced its eight-horse field.

The Grade 2, $750,000 Derby on Saturday is the 45th running of the 11/8-mile race and will be at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort, based in New Cumberland, W. Va., but the facilities are in Chester, W. Va.

The horses and their jockeys, listed by post number: Key for Success, Rex A. Stokes III; For Goodness Sake, Brian Joseph Hernandez Jr.; Classic Giacnroll, Kendrick Carmouche; Vicar’s In Trouble, Alan Garcia; Tapiture, Rosie Napravnik; Divine View, Kerwin D. Clark; Only I Know, Christian P. Pilares; and Candy Boy, Corey S. Nakatani.

Gold Appointment had been selected to run, but was scratched from the field Tuesday.

A release from Mountaineer said a substitution will be made for Stokes, who was named to ride on two horses in the race.

Three of the horses are Grade 2 winners over the past year. Candy Boy won the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis Memorial at Santa Anita in February, Tapiture won the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs last November, and Vicar’s In Trouble won the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds in March.

Candy Boy’s jockey, Nakatani, won the 2012 West Virginia Derby aboard Macho Macho while Tapiture’s trainer, Steve Asmussen, has won four Derby races.

The Derby will be broadcast live by Fox Sports Network between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday.

Mountaineer’s overall card purse is $1.65 million and will also feature a $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s Stakes, also to be broadcast live by Fox Sports Network.