Tues,May 15 (Fast) As the the evening progressed we could see that the track played best to horses buffered out from the rail.All running styles were effective. 

Mon, May 14(Good) Prospeed but played fair as far as paths.

Sun, May 13 (Muddy) Track remained fair again, even though the surfaced changed to muddy.

Sat, May 12(Fast) Fair

Fri, May 11 (Fast) All winners needed to be close or on the pace, possibly, pro speed.The track definately played against ralliers and closers. 


Tues, May 8 (Muddy) Track seemed relatively fair path wise, possibly a little pro speed.

Mon, May 7 ( Track was muddy until the 8th and 9th race,when heavy rains changed the condition to sloppy) Fair

Sun, May 6 (Fast) Fair

Sat, May 5 (Fast) Several horses slipped up the inside to score, fair as far as running style. Slightly pro rail.

Fri, May 4 (Fast till after the 5th race and the track changed to muddy) Fair

Tues, May 1 (Fast) A rallier and several stalkers in the winners circle, the rest of the races were taken by speed horses. Fair

Apr 30 (Fast) Pro speed  and Pro rail once again.

Sun, Apr 29 (Fast) Pro Speed, Pro Rail Speed took all six of the sprints this evening, and the first five races were won by either the 1 or 2 posts.

 Sat, Apr 28 (Fast) Pro speed, winners came from all post positions, inside and outside but races were taken by horses on, or very close, to the pace.

Fri, Apr 27 (Fast) Fair once again!

Tues, Apr 24 (Fast) Fair

Mon, Apr 23 (Fast) Track was listed as fast, but the 2nd race winner came from7th, behind horses, and appeared to be well coated in mud. The surface appeared fair, with winners from all post positions.

Sun, Apr 22 (Good) Pro rail

Sat, Apr 21 (Muddy) Pro speed, seven front running winners from ten races.

Fri, Apr 20 (Fast) The bid lane seemed best with only a few speeds to score all evening.

Tues, Apr 16 (Fast) Any running, style from any post could win, but all those that scored stayed in the two path or wider.

Mon, Apr 16 (Fast) Track seemed fair, six favorites won races this evening.

Sun, Apr 15 (Fast) Speed took 5 of the 6 sprints and the other was won from just off the pace, by even money favorite Shameless Risk,stalking. The four route races were taken by horses either on the front, or a length or two back. No deep closers or ralliers scored. Pro Speed

Sat, Apr 14 (Good, Muddy, Sloppy?) The rain continued to fall and the track was formally downgraded to good but as the night progressed, and the rain came down and we could see standing water on top of the suface. Wide closers didn't seem able to score, lots of speeds in the winners circle.

Fri, Apr 13 (Fast) Slightly dead rail, but any running style could get to the winners circle.


Tues, Apr 10 (Fast) Pro speed with only one exception being the 8th race, which was won from off of the pace, when the front end collapsed and TP invading favorite, Hersilla was able to score. Winners came from all post positions, no path bias.

Mon, Apr 9 (Muddy) Very Fair

Sat, Apr 7 (Fast) All races were won by either front runners or horses right up on the pace except for our eighth race which was won from last to first by a 37/1 shot coming in from the FGs. Path wise the track was fair.

Fri, Apr 6 (Fast) Initially we thought that the track looked like last week, which was basically dead rail all week, but after the 3rd or 4th race we saw horses down near, or on the inside run well, a couple even won from the rail. Not to get too technical, we'll call the surface fair.

Tues, Apr 3 (Fast) Almost an identical track as the  previous few evenings. Mark likes to call it a bid lane bias 

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Mon, Apr 2 (Fast) Horses close, or on the lead did most of the winning. Starter specialist out of the Woodard barn (Plasma Beam) showed his talents last night to win a 5k, flat mile race, that was slow early and very fast late. Track still not great inside.

   Sun, Apr 1 (Muddy for the first several races, as the rain continued, and officially downgraded to sloppy after the 4th race) A few of the sprints were won by horses from off the pace, and speed won some of the others, so no real style bias, path wise, the inside still seemed to bogg horses down somewhat.

 Sat, Mar 31 (Fast) Seven of the 10 winners were favorites. Second race winner Fundy came from well back to score at 6 furlongs, but most of the other sprint winners were close, and came out around, or were on the lead early. Another night, where horses stuck on the rail couldn't make up any ground. Lets just say that the rail wasn't the best place to be.

 Fri, Mar 30 No horses gained any ground up the inside. The track played best to those horses that were out at least, in the 3 path. Several winners moved wide in the turn and won down the middle of the course. Dead Rail

Tues,Mar 27 (Fast) Racing cancelled after the 2nd race due to track lighting problems.

Mon, Mar 26 (Fast) What a great night of racing here at the Mtn, which included three starter allowance races as well as an open allowance that's winner Tend, was determined by a photo, after a long stretch duel with the good horse Harlan Street. The track played fair.

 Sun, Mar 25 (Good)  The best horses won all evening. Seven of those winners were favorites. The surface seemed as fair as we have seen it for some time.

 Sat, Mar 24 (Fast) The predicted rain held off all evening and our course remained fast. All running styles had equal chance, and a few winners were close to the rail, so for the most part the track seemed FAIR.

Fri, Mar 23 (Fast for the first 3 races, then heavy rain and the surface became muddy.) All different running styles in the winners circle, but it did seem that the widest part of the track was best. Wide longshots all over the tickets.

Tues, Mar 20(Fast) Definite bid lane bias in play.

Mon, Mar 19 (Fast) Fair

Sun, Mar 18 (Fast) The rail not the best place to be!

Sat, Mar 17 (Fast) Track fair again path wise, but no deep closers in the winners circle.

Fri, Mar 16 (Fast) Path wise, the track was fair, but most winners needed to be close early.

Tues, Mar 13  (Fast) No winner paid more than 9/2 and several were held at much lower odds early in the wagering. No trend was apparent as horses that that ran best took the honors all evening.

Sorry to see "Luck" vanned off. Creative force David Milch says the acclaimed horseracing drama will return at some future date.  Yeah, right. And so did "Deadwood," just like he promised. Uh huh. Next time, how about finishing what you start, Dave?

Mon, Mar 12 (muddy) Seven of the first 8 winners broke from either post 1 or 2. Sounds pro-rail, right? Well, not so fast. We need to note that ALL SEVEN WERE FAVORED-and races 8 and 9 went to horses racing wide. True, most winners raced close to the pace, but  again considering the odds, they were probably best to begin with. Regardless of the official rating, the track seemed sloppy and the grain may have changed as the night progressed. Hard call.

 Sun, Mar 11 (fast) Banking more on my real time impressions than some excruciating analysis of the charts, inside trips and ralliers had the worst of it. True, races 7 and 10 tend to refute that theory, but I'm calling it the "bid-lane" bias.

 Sat, Mar 10 (fast) After a 37-1 bomb wired the opener from an inside path,  you had to wonder if the grain played a role. And that did seem the case, considering that 6 of the next 9 winners races 1-2 at first call, while one exception was a .4 lock, and another  saved all the ground. It's not that some insurmountable speed-bias was in play-a pair of sprint winners charged from well back, as did several place horses. And paths 2 and 3 may have played as well as the wood. But clearly, fronts did enjoy at least a slight advantage, and horses hung wide had no practical chance.

Fri, Mar 9 (fast) Seven winners had command at the half-call. The other three were second at that point. In addition, six perfectas were in place at the furlong marker. Speed ruled, nobody closed. The course was uniform.

Tues, Mar 6 (good) No winner led early, and most launched bold turn moves while racing well out from the inside. Simple stuff.: negative speed, dead-rail.

* The break passed quickly this year, probably because I stayed busy. Check out my blog- Patterson's Perspective-the current entry profiles mnr's main oval at some length.

Mon, Mar 5  (good) Warmer than last night, and speeds more than held their own, as 8 winners led at the half-mile call. Some ralliers managed to run second, though, and the nightcap had deep closers 1-2 at the wire. While evidence points to a strong pro-speed trend, my impression is most of those winning speeds were simply loaded for bear. At times it seemed like inside trips had an edge. Note not only that four winners broke from posts 1 and 2 combined, but also that longshots saving ground garnered second in races 4 and 9. Let's call it slightly pro speed, and slightly pro-rail.

Sun. Mar 4 (good) The course definitely changed as a persistent snow mixed in with the cushion. Consequently, after the first winner scraped paint, none raced farther in than 3-path. Pure speed had the worst of it, and runners pinned inside had no shot whatsoever, as best evidenced by races 6 and 8, that both found short chalks floundering along the rail.

Sat, Mar 3 (good)  A look at the winners reveals the normal mix of running styles. When focusing on the night's four longshot winners, no path trend emerged, either.

 Fri, Mar 2 (muddy)  Six first call leaders scored, while two others ran second. True, our opening card of the season consisted almost entirely of short sprints, but it's still clear that a pro--speed bias was in play. While four wire jobs came from posts 1 and 2 combined, I'm not quite comfortable in calling the strip pro-rail,

Tues, Dec 20 (sloppy) With the rain came yet another reversal in surface trend. While there was no omnipotent, pure-speed bias in effect, we can't ignore that eight winners were 1-2 at the quarter-pole. Let's call the strip favorable to speeds and pressers.

I grew up on a certain xmas special, and last night it again mesmerized me. As network execs initially  feared, it IS slow, perhaps a tad too religious for primetime consumption and, to be honest, not much happens. But there is just something  hypnotic about it, and let's face it, that kid in the back dancing like a zombie has got it going on. And who knew that an eclectic, sometimes even somber jazz score could fit the season so perfectly? Rest in peace, Vince Guaraldi. And..............................................................................................................................................................................................................MERRY CHRISTMAS CHARLIE BROWN!!!!!!!


Mon, Dec 19 (fast) The grain completely changed overnight. Six winners were 5th or worse at first call, several sweeping wide from well in arrears. In addition, six place horses closed from 6th or worse. Just one winner led throughout, and that was a favored class-dropper. Negative speed. Negative rail.


 Sun, Dec 18 (fast) Routes being much harder to wire here than sprints, the first two races-both at a distance and wired at 8.9-1 and 5.6-1- tipped off the extreme speed bias that was in play.Six winners led first-call, and two others were second at that point. At times it seemed likea mild pro-rail trend helped carry speed, but evidence of that was just not sufficient to call the surface pro-rail. Extremely pro-speed.

Sat, Dec 17 (good) There was a delay for the track to be worked after the riders complained that the surface was uneven. At some point on Sunday's card, I remarked that a powerful speed bias then in effect may have set in during the final races of the previous night's card. I was basing that observation on races six and eight, each won by a decent priced front-runner that withstood extreme and prolonged pressure. So if we call Saturday's track speed-biased, should we limit that label to later races, and are we still back-fitting this evening's results to reflect the next night's bias? Your call.

Fri, Dec 16 (fast) Two or three speeds, some stalkers, even a closer or two. We're not in the business of manufacturing biases, so let's label it fair and move on.

Tues, Dec 13 (fast) Just one early leader prevailed, and Mountaineer's notorious dead-rail bias seemed the culprit. Only one runner breaking from the one or two post managed to finish first or second. In addition, post ten netted two wins-neither as favorite- and several other races went to wide movers.  Negative-speed. Negative-rail.

* It's 4:pm, Wed, and I've just done these bias notes in the racing office we officials (fondly, of course) refer to as "the dungeon." Time now, to decorate a small  tree I bought for my desk. Tiny bulbs, lights, the works!  Man, I DIG me some xmas!!!! I've also set up a lava-lamp Santa who looks a lot like Burl Ives, Too bad, because I DON'T dig Burl Ives. Gimme the king, Mathis or the Spectre "wall of sound" for the holidays. 

Monday, Dec 12 (fast) The only trend tonight was for favorites to prevail. Leading, stalking, closing, it didn't matter as seven of them scored. The night's two non-favored winneres used distinctly separate styles. Fair.   

Sunday Dec 11 (fast) Again it rained chalk, but tonight on a dry surface that favored pace-types. five winners led by second call, and another pair were second at that point. While no insurmountable early- speed bias was in play, it was difficult to close.

Saturday, Dec 10 (fast) Just two first-call winners this evening, and those were public choices.  However, since three other first-call leaders finished second, it looks like speed got a fair shake. Four winners did rally from the back-half of their respective fields, one sprinting and two at long odds. Maybe it was a random thing, but late-runners did fair better than they normally do here.

Fri, Dec 9 (fast) Six winners led first-call, while two others stalked close up. The night's only late-running winner was a 9/5 shot aided by a contested pace set by longshots. No second finisher came from the back-half. While a pro-speed trend can be the product of a golden-rail, and ten horses breaking from either the one or two post managed to finish first or second, we're inclined to call the strip uniform. Strongly pro-speed.



Tuesday, Dec 6 (muddy) The players came in firing with both fists and anticipating that speed would be goldenand they weren't dissapointed. Chalked winners in races 2 and 3 had speed, but recent form not warranting favoritism. Overall, seven first- call leaders prevailed. With inside runners either flashing unexpected speed or outperforming their pp's all night, the strip seemed rail-biased as well.  Strong pro-speed, pro-rail.

Mon, Dec 5 (sloppy) Seven winners were 1-2 at first call. Six, however, were favored, and a 5- furlong race was won from some 9-lengths off the pace. Slightly pro-speed, but not overwhelmingly so. 

Eight wins for Parker over the last two cards- the man has a second national title all but wrapped. Give Luciano Hernandez credit for booting in two of the night's three non-favored winners.

Sun, Dec 4 (fast) Only a single winner had command at first call, and the final three events went to wide ralliers, non favored. Negative-speed, Negative rail.

Saturday, Dec 3 (fast) Judging from styles, the surface looked fair: two first-call winners; several pressers, plus a pair of sprints won from the back-half. Tonight's margins were a function of performance, not bias-the three favored winners checked in with cushions averaging almost 5-lengths, while the other seven averaged less than ONE unit.

Fri, Dec 2 (good) Wide margins from the first three winners-all early leaders-tipped off a pro-speed bias. The trend seems a bit tenuous, though, considering that six winners went favored, three at extremely short odds.

Tues, Nov 29 (sloppy) True bias believers relish a course that favors inside speed. This was their night. Four of 5 sprints were won by first call leaders, while the other went to a horse advancing second on the far turn. Although the speed trend was most distinct at sprint distances (what ELSE is new here?), several distance races went to runners 1-2 early.  Most front-running winners raced innermost on the engine. As further proof of strong bias, five horses breaking from the two gate triumphed. Strongly pro-speed and pro-rail.

Mon, Nov 28 (sloppy)  Closers again had the worst of it as all but one winner had command at or before the pre-stretch marker.  Further establishing the uphill battle faced by rallies, Eight perfectas were in place at the stretch call. Considering that just three sprints were carded the pro-speed and position trend seems hard to ignore.

Sun, Nov 27 (sloppy) Six of seven sprints went to early leaders.  Both routes, however, were won from off the pace, and minor placings at all distances went to runners using various styles. So the strip was not a conveyor belt. Solid (but not invincible) Pro-speed bias in play 

Sat, Nov 26 (good) With 7 winners 5/2 or lower, not much that might indicate some trend transpired. The night's only longshot winner got an extremely favorable trip. Fair.

Fri, Nov 25 (good) 8 winners were 1-2-3 at first call, with most lurking very close to the lead. In addition, no place horse sat worse than 3rd at stretch call. While just one winner outright led at first call-and the lead in numerous races changed hands on the turn-there was no bid-lane or negative rail bias in play. Tues, Nov 22 (sloppy)  15 of the 20 horses finishing 1-2 were first or second at the str-call, so nobody closed much groud late. As has been largely the case this week, early speed had no particular advantage, but the strip again extracted a heavy toll on runners attempting to close wide.

Hey, any S.O.A fans out there? I'm predicting that Clay turns out to be Jax's real dad. I mean, how else can this play out and Perlman remain on the series? No way he's leaving. Just no way.

Mon, Nov 21 (muddy) The Rapid Redux-effect must have influenced tonight's margins as each winner scored by more than 2-lengths. Does this mean diddly? Not sure. Ok, how about this? No winner was more than 2-lengths in arrears at the 1/4 pole. Note also that races not won RIGHT on the pace involved longshot leaders or speed-duels. Just to throw something else at ya, it seemed during the first part of the card that inside trips had an advantage. More likely, the strip simply took a stiffer than usual toll on wide moves and sweeping closers. Your call. No desire here to overthink this and manufacture a bias.

Sun, Nov 20 (good) Considerably wetter than its rating said, the strip produced no real upset that might have indicated some trend. Lots of 1's and 2's on tickets, and my visual impression was that wide movers took slightly the worst of it. Overall results, however, don't bear that out.

Sat, Nov 19 (fast) Each sprint  winner was 1-2-3 at first call. No speed-bias, but it was tough to close ground at one turn. All route victors advanced to the front half of thier respective fields before entering the far turn. Again, pure speed had no advantage, but dead closers were at a disadvantage.

Fri, Nov 18 (fast) Trepidation about the new surface proved unfounded. The track played fair, and seven winners returned 2-1 or lower.

Tues, Nov 15 (muddy) All winners led or contended for the lead at the pre-stretch call. Whether the strip was pro-speed or just anti-rally is beside the point. Tonight was about path-bias, as horses with inside trips greatly outperformed their past performances. The feature result best typified this, with Lay Line Force scraping paint to upset the Sophomore Sprint. And on paper, it was an upset despite mere 9/2 odds. The winner was that low because of the rail post. Golden rail.

* Resurfacing has proceeded as scheduled. This process does not deepen the surface, but simply replaces the worn out cushion with fresh material. The mountain-main consists of 3-3 1/2 inches of fine-grain river sand on a clay and limestone base. The track played fair in the immediate aftermath of last year's resurfacing. Clockings were far slower than par.

 Mon, Nov 14 (fast-sloppy) Four first-call winners is not inordinate, but none were favored, and several scored by huge margins-which can indicate a bias. When chronic quitter Showme Zealous-a horse who can't normally survive 5-furlongs-wins at six-panels, no doubt the strip is favorable to speed. In addition, seven horses breaking innermost landed on tri-tickets, most at long odds. Pro-speed. Slightly pro-rail.

Sun, Nov 13 (fast)  Seven winners made the lead early, while the other two pacesetters finished second. Two winning speeds were longshots and another an outright bomb. Extremely speed-favoring.

Sat, Nov 12 (fast) Ignoring formful results and focusing on the evening's two longshot winners, we notice that both led early. Still, overall evidence just doesn't support a pro-speed theory. Fair.

 Fri, Nov 11 (fast) After the (non-favored) first winner dueled and drew off by plenty, a pro-speed bias seemed distinctly possible. Dixie Jackpot, however, was to be the card's only first-call winner. In fact, four straight races at one point were won from at least 5-lengths back.  Six winners were 1-2 by the pre-str call, so let's call it fair.

Tues, Nov 8 (fast) Results tonight appeared formful, or the product of superior effort. Let's leave it at that. Resurfacing postponed (again) until next week.

Mon, Nov 7 (fast) "6 wide".."midtrack".."3 deep".."5 wide"..Even those who didn't watch tonight's races can ascertain from the charts that inside lanes played dead. Don't go overboard, though, this was not a wider-the-better bias. Some winners raced 2 and 3-path. And with no winner over 5-1, a case can be made that the best horses prevailed, regardless of path- or running-style, for that matter. Negative-rail.

Sun, Nov 6 (fast)  Most winners led early, a pair at long odds. Howver, slow final quarters on several races taken by speeds leads to the impression that some events were wired by default in the absence of live stalkers or ralliers. Just place horse closed from far back, which buttresses the notion that speeds had the best of it. Again, the wider of speeds tended to win duels. Slightly pro-speed. Slightlly dead-rail.

Sat, Nov 5 (fast) Let's keep this simole. Eight winners were 1-2 at first call. Five of those were not favored, and one paid $48.80. Strongly pro-speed.

 Fri, Nov 4 (fast)  Slower times this week. With the bulk of winners coming from 5th or farther back, the track probably played agaisnt speeds. As added evidence, just two first-call leaders managed to finish first or second.  Although evidence of a negative-rail trend wasn't overwhelming, the outermore of two speeds consistently got the better of interior battles. Anti-speed. Slightly negative-rail.

Tues, Nov 1 (fast ) Wide ralliers for awhile seemed to hold the edge, but speed later asserted itself, as did some runners saving ground. Fair.

The yearly resurfacing project has been pushed back to next week. 

On a personal note, biopsy negative, new lease on life. For those not so fortunate, I'll keep a good thought. You're more courageous than I am, and I salute you.

Mon, Oct 31 (good) Sprint winners needed to be 1-2-3 at pre-stretch, while any style could work at a rt. Only one winner (Beautiful Rainbows $14.80 race 6) raced close to the rail on that all -important far- turn. Negative rail.

Sun, Oct 30 (fast) Strong speeds and forwardly-placed stalkers buffered out from the rail had the advantage.

Sat, Oct 29 (sloppy) When you realize mnr is an intrinsically speed-biased track at sprint distances, 2 first -call scores from seven sprints isn't exactly a bounty of front-running tallies. Several races did involve duels, though, or longshot leaders, so let's call that part of it fair. And since there were winners that raced close to the rail, and a few second and third finishers did likewise, no path bias seemed apparent.

Fri, Oct 28 (fast) Am I imagining this, or is every race around here nowadays won by somebody not in front or far off the pace-and invariably wide on the turn?  And does it only SEEM like an anti -speed trend until you notice how many winners bid early or forced the pace lapped outside the early leader? That was the story for this card, and facts, to some extent, back it up. Just one winner led first call, but seven bid to the front at or before reaching the stretch call. Almost every winner raced 3-path or farther out. This was a classic bid- lane bias.

Tues, Oct 25 (fast) No winner higher than 9/2, which hints that no trend popped up. By the most basic of standards, speed again seemed to underperform-no winner led first call- but several horses involved in early speed-duels did go on to prevail. Fair.

First call winners were again scarce-in fact no earlyMon, Oct 24 (fast) While just two winners could reasonably be classified as speeds, most races involved longshot leaders or a contested pace. Seven winners raced 3 or 4 path, which begs the question: does Keen Soto's rail-skimming score refute the notion of a dead-rail bias?  Your call.

Sun, Oct 23 (fast)  Just two winners led first quarter, both prohibitive chalks. Still, one other winner vied  head and head, and several early leaders held second. Few winners went near the rail -lane, but most races went to runners that either looked the part on paper, or benefited from flow. That makes path-bias a tough call.

Sat, Oct 22 (fast) Winners either looked the part on form or gave superior efforts. The strip had dried full-cycle and played fair.

Fri, Oct 21 (muddy) Several 1's and 2's did triumph, but with the exception of a .4 fave, these horses were angled well out from the rail. Notice also that the wider of two pace combatants invariably got the better of speed fights. Other than the apparent path-bias, the strip played fair.  Negative rail.

 Tues, Oct 18 (fast)  While my visual impression was that inside trips has the worst of it, a review of the charts just doesn't support that theory. Fair.

Mon, Oct 17 (fast) Six front-running victories, most held at short odds, but a 9-1 included. All raced buffered or steered well out from the rail until reaching the homestretch. A pair of sprints (races 5 and 7) did go to ralliers, which somewhat negates the notion that speed held a strong advantage. Negative rail- pro (slightly) speed

Sun, Oct 16 (fast) Seven winners led first call or  took command shortly after. In addition, seven perfecta boxes were in place at the furlong marker. Put simply, it was hard to close. Pro-speed

Sat Oct 15 (fast)  Speed did just slightly better than yesterday, but longshots led several races, and contenders that set the pace tended to be pressured. Not many 1's or 2's on tickets, and most winners lost ground.  Negative (slightly?) rail

Fri, Oct 14 (good) Just two first call leaders managed to finish first, second or third. That's largely because the lead in most races changed hands through the turn. And most of the horses that bid to command held on to score-eight winners were 1-2 at pre-stretch call. That sounds symptomatic of the 'bid lane' bias, which works against both inside speeds AND wide closers. There were, however, a couple of winners that made inside moves. Hard call. We'll go with negative speed (more, really, of a pro pressers trend)-slightly negative rail

Tues, Oct 11 (fast) Ding dong, the dead-rail witch is dead! (at least until friday). And one race was all it took to sense the transformation as a sluggish firster gained tons of ground up the rail in the opener to run second. Speed was back in fashon (and may have enjoyed an edge). Four first call leaders-including two bombs- prevailed, and two or three others held second. Hey, check out the blog (Patterson's Perspective). I reposted 'The Darkest Mile' for Halloween and added a new prologue which offers some exposition and creepifies things.

Mon, Oct 10 (fast) Just one front-running winner. That's because the lead changed hands SEVEN times on the turn, almost invariably to a horse attacking wider. Since five lower-turn leaders staved off the closers to prevail, we can't call the bias pro-closer, or a pure case of wider-the-better. Negative-speed, negative-rail.

Sun, Oct 9 (fast) Where does pace leave off and bias begin? Not an easy question, as the 1st and 8th races attest. Both went to longshots that rallied wide, but both races unfolded at a brisk closer-friendly clip. We do note that four horses from an inner (1,2 or 3 ) post made the lead. Three of those runners were off ticket, while the other, a .9 fave, settled for second. In addition, no winner raced farther in than 3-path on the turn, and the widest pace horse in most cases swept to the lead. Negative rail.

Sat, Oct 8 (fast) While seven horses breaking from post 1 or 2 were able to run first or second, only two of those saved much ground, and several were angled wide. True, a review of charts doesn't completely support the dead rail theory that I floated on the air, but visual impressions are also important when assessing bias. Not an extreme wider-the-better trend, but we're calling it negative rail. The strip played neutral in terms of running style.

Fri, Oct 7 (fast) Fair like tuesday, as pace dynamics and performance determined results.

Tues, Oct 4 (fast) Since longshots scraped paint to take races five and six, there's an obvious chance that a pro-rail bias was in play. But the bulk of results don't really support that conclusion, and the sort of pro-speed trend that often accompanies a golden rail just didn't take hold. Fair.

 Mon, Oct 3 (muddy) Formidable speeds prevailed, while those having weak credentials or engaging in duels backed up. No bias in that. A path trend, however, may have taken hold. Notice that most winners angled out, and that chalks with inside posts fared poorly. Slight negative-rail.

 Sun, Oct 2 (sloppy) Sometimes when winning chalks and contenders disclose no trend, the upsetters paint a different picture. Dead end there as well.  One of the bombers wired 2-path, while the other closed wide.

Sat, Oct 1 (muddy)  Early leaders dominated short races winning five of six sprints. When (25-1) Deposit Record navigates six-furlongs, the speed bias has to be intense. But in this case, only in sprints. Route entrants found the playing field fair.

Fri, Sept 30 (muddy) Six winners led at first or second call, while another race saw the front-runner wind up second. One of the leaders that did quit was the rabbit part of a coupling, and the other a 14-1 with speed figs in the teens.  Pro-speed.

Tues, Sept, 27 (fast) The early leader finished first or second in all but one race. Most of those raced 3-path or wider. Further underscoring the apparent path-bias, nine horses breaking from either the far outside or adjacent post  ran first or second, while just a pair of horses breaking from posts 1 or 2 managed to do likewise.

Mon, Sept 26 (sloppy)  Four of six sprints were won from the back half. Anti-speed sometimes means anti-rail, and only a pair of runners breaking from posts 1 or 2 managed part of a perfecta ticket. Both ran second. Negative-speed, negative-rail.

Sun, Sept 25 (fast) Three 10's, a 9, and two 8's posted scores, several converting wide trips. The late double, however, was taken by speeds that both saved ground. Maybe the grain somehow changed. More likely, the pro-wide bias was mild at most. I'm really hung up on this one. Best, then, to call it fair.

Sat, Sept 24 (Sat, Sept 24 (fast) The strip had dried full cycle and strongly favored speed. Six winners led by second call, including a 35-1 bomb racing in front from the outset. Some ralliers did secure place money, so the course was not the classic "conveyor belt."

Fri, Sept 23 (muddy) Logical winners used various paths and styles. This is clearly illustrated by the contrast between Roundup Jade, who closed wide from far back to win, and Kelly Irish Girl, who wired 2-path 25 min later.

Tues, Sept 20 (fast??)  Fronts dominated from the fifth race on, which could mean a bias kicked in as the wet-looking course dried out.  Thats a shakey assumption, however, since two winners during that 104- minute span were sent out by the white-hot Jevon Crumley, and another by the formidable Tevis McCauley barn.

Mon, Sept 19 (muddy) A change in track condition put competition back on a fair basis. No trend seemed detectable.

Sun, Sept 18 (fast) What a difference a day makes. Seven first-call leaders prevailed and the other two winners seized command on the turn. In addition, five perfectas were in place at pre-stretch, so the course was a bonafide conveyor belt. Numerous winners scored by wide margins, which further underscores the  pro-speed bias.

Sat, Sept 17 (fast) Respective sprint winners rallied from 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th. Those winners included a 30-1 bomb. Although it's unwise to assume that a late-running winner's wide trip indicates a path-bias- for the most part, advancing closers are forced to lose ground-several leaders underachieved while saving ground, which probably means the rail was dead.

Wed, Sept 14 (fast) After a .8 one-horse wired the first for the locally invincible Wells barn, ralliers dominated the action. The three sprint winners that closed from far back all raced or angled very wide. Negative-speed, negative rail.

Tues, Sept 13 (fast) Even at super-short odds, the two winners that started the festivities established that the rail lane was ok. Or did they? I recall noting on air that wide posts accounted for the next four races. Looking back at the charts, we're inclined to call it fair-pertaining  both to running style and running lanes.

Mon, Sept 12 (fast) When just two first-call leaders manage to finish first  or second, it's safe to assume speed had the worst of it. While two short-priced winners- Western Zealous and Honor Evening-did save ground, the bulk of evidence suggests the inside was not a good place to compete from.

Sun, Sept 11 (fast) Most sprint winners flashed early speed, while most rts were tken from well behind the pace. That's business as usual at the mountain. The strip seemed uniform.

Sat, Sept 10 (fast) Last night's negative-speed trend did not continue, and the anti-rail bias was less pronounced. Only horses staying close to the rail were compromised.

 Fri, Sept 9 (fast) A mere pair of front-running scores, one from a freshened win-machine racing just 5/8 and the other a .3 cinch. Little question that a dead-rail bias worked against early leaders in general.

Tues, Sept 6 (muddy) While winners reflected the usual rations of various running styles, most second finishers closed. Beyond last night's dead-rail bias, even wider trips had the best of it tonight.

Mon, Sept 5 (muddy) La Francisca's ground-saving score notwithstanding-she was also this evening's only front-running winner- the best trip was to sit second or third into the turn while buffered out from the rail. Bid lane.

Sun, Sept 4 (sloppy) A wet, sealed strip resulted in another series of astonishingly similar results. Incredibly, all but one winner led first call. More incredibly, all five route winners had command after the initial 440. Any idea what the natural odds of that happening here are? Try 2,000-1. Although the strong bias was evident early, five of nine winners weren't favored, which tends to indicate that identifying early leaders isn't QUITE as easy as some noted speed-proponents would have you believe.

Sat, Sept 3 (fast) An historic night for chalk makes it a bad idea to go sniffing for surface trends. That's right, boys and girls, for three hours, 33 min (and 42.5 seconds ), petty bickering, honest differences of opinion and even nagging uncertainty were set aside as the gods of racing allowed us to experience what an all-chalk world would be like. Just for the record, no winner paid higher than 2-1, and five were under even-money. Afterwards, Mountaineer's Mad Bomber wept quietly and kept muttering "It was beautiful, just beautiful, so beautiful.."

Fri, Sept 2 (fast) Just two first- call winners, one of which opened wide in a 2-yr-old dash, while the other was a short -priced cinch. No 1's, 2's or 3's tallied.  As you might assume from this, inside trips were a disadvantage. Most winners raced wide within striking distance and attacked the lead by lower turn. We term this trend the "bid lane" bias, meaning both inside speeds and wide closers were up against it.

Tues, Aug 30 (fast) Three early leaders offering double-digit odds managed to score, so did a pair of closers. Sounds fair to us.

Mon, Aug 29 (fast) Fronts had a good night winning four of seven dirts, but three of those were solidly favored and the other topped an all-speed field at five-furlongs. Fair.

Sun, Aug, 28 (fast) Even though a 37-1 shot broke from the outside post and raced wide to win the feature (did Taxicab REALLY beat THAT field?), enough 1-2 finishers saved ground to establish that last night's lane- bias had disappeared.

Sat, Aug 27 (fast) Just one winner led first call, and that was the only winner that raced near the inside. Most winners stayed within easy striking- distance and moved aggressively from mid-turn while racing buffered out from the rail.  The bid-lane bias was in play.

Fri, Aug 26 (fast) Three of seven sprints were won from way back, which is hardly the norm here. Hopeless cases set the pace in each of those races, however, and several other events went to early leaders. Fair.

Tues, Aug 23 (fast) One of the card's two longest winners rallied with the help of a three-way speed-duel, the other wired on what the chart termed a "relaxed pace." Fair.

Mon,  Aug 22 (fast) True upsets  have been exceedingly rare around here lately, but any notion that Venture Capital's 7th race wire job was even partially a product of bias was refuted when Cinnamon Luck closed from far back to take the 9th.

Sun, Aug 21 (muddy) Eight winning favorites, five of which were sub-even-money. We could point out the preponderance of winners that led at some early or intermediate juncture, but it's dicey to interpret a bias from such chalky outcomes.

Sat, Aug 20 (muddy) Sat, Aug 20 (fast) Early leaders accounted for seven of eight dirt races. These included a 10-yr-old ad the respective winners of a late DD that payed nearly a pair of c-notes. Strongly pro-speed.

Fri, Aug 19 (muddy) Winners used varying running-styles. Victorious closers tended to pay upset odds, while winning speeds were more heavily bet. But isn't that the HUMAN bias?

Tues, Aug 16 (fast) Tonight's results typify the week: Lots of winners racing 1-2 early, but at odds too low to certify a potent bias. And again the faint spectre of a negative rail.

 Mon, Aug 15 (muddy) Just two of this evening's eight sprints weren't won by the first- quarter or pace-call leader, and the speeds in those races both ended second at decent odds. From a path perspective, most winners raced well-out from the rail. Does an inside rally from a single longshot (Alissa Who, race-8) establish that the strip was uniform? Hard call.  We ARE convinced that speed had a strong advantage.

Sun, Aug 14 (muddy) Three sprints were won from the back-half, but when five-furlong specialist Julesnomenclator can survive six-panels, it's obvious that early speed got at least a fair shake. Fair.

Sat, Aug 13 (fast)  Three or four of the seven dirt winners looked cinch city. Of the three winners paying higher odds, one (Mirrored $17.40) converted a can't- lose trip, another (Fast Fashion $27.40) exploited a field that lacked speed, and the third ( Black Sable $14.20) closed in a race replete with weak speed. Fair.

 Fri, Aug 12 (fast) Five winners led early, as did a trio of second finishers. Six of those eight were favored, and another was 5/2, so we can't be sure it was a bias of strong magnitude. Let's simply call it pro-speed.

Tues, Aug 9 (fast) Short prices; favorable trips; dominant performances: each of this evening's winners falls into one or more of these categories. Fair.

Mon, Aug 8 (fast) One of the mysteries of bias is that the grain can shift overnight-with no change in weather or  maintenance measures. Five of eight dirt winners led at first or second call, two others were second by lower turn. Pro-speed.

Sun, Aug 7 (fast) No first call leader scored, and only two held second, both at 2-1 or lower. Still, Born to Disco posted a virtual wire-job in the night's first dirt race, and several leaders were compromised by early competition. Anti-speed? Tough call. We lean towards fair.

Sat Aug 6 (fast) The possibility of a monster-speed bias probably crossed some minds  after a two-year old went so fast (21.26 44.16 1:10.92) to wire the opener. The course, however, wasn't QUITE as souped up as that clocking indicated, and, as mnr regulars realize, fast times don't necessarily favor speed here. Great day of racing on a strip that played fair.

 Fri, Aug 5 (fast) Ho Hum.. three front-running winners and the usual asssortment of stalkers and pressers. Some winners advancing wide, but a rail-skimming score here and there just to confirm that the strip is uniform. Looking fair for the big day.

Tues, Aug 2 (fast) Public choices took three of seven main-track races. Aside from that, Rapid Release ($19.60) made a perfectly-judged move to win the 7th, Fire and Forget ($13.60) closed into a blistering pace to get up in the 8th, and Quiet Girl ($11.40) was allowed soft fractions in her 10th race tally. Fair.

Deep field for Sat's derby, and the undercard rocks. Special post- 2:00 pm.

Mon, Aug 1 (fast) Since winning favorites reveal little about how a surface played, let's focus on this card's three upsetters. One of those was a lone front at 5-furlongs, and the other two made late runs, one capitalizing on a torrid pace. Sounds fair to us.

Sun, Jul 31 (fast) Some inside speeds finished 1-2, as did a few wide closers. Toss in the normal ration of well-positioned stalkers, and it's evident that the track played fair.

Sat, Jul 30 (fast) Right after the first two dirts went to speeds paying upset prices, a favored leader in good form spit the bit on a loose lead. Chalk dominated from there on out, regardless of running-style. Fair.

Fri, Jul 29 (fast) Not a great night for early leaders. Just two winners led first call. Five or six races, however, involved full-blown speed-duels or had longshot leaders that figured to fold. It's worth noting that the outermore runner tended to win those duels and that the best trip was to bid from close up while buffered out from the rail. Yep, boys and girls, the mountain-main's signature trend was in play. We call it the bid-lane bias.

Tues, Jul 26 (fast) All seven dirt races were sprints, which slants things in favor of speed. That's just how things played out as five front-runners scored, as did a horse advancing to second at the quarter pole. Pro-speed.

Mon, Jul 25 (good) While five of six routes were won from the back-half, several of those races involved extreme speed-duels, and longshot leaders held second in a couple of those two-turn events. Fair.

Sun, Jul 24 (fast) Off turf this evening, even though the mountain-main was fast. Just one winner led first call, but closers still had the worst of it considering that no winner rallied from worse than third at pace call. The best trip was close up and outside the leader. No full-blown path bias, but a slight bid-lane trend may have kicked in.

Sat, Jul 23 (fast) Even with the last two races being lost to a power outage, we still had seven dirt races to go on when sizing up the surface. Those races revealed no clear-cut trend.

Fri, Jul 22 (muddy) Unlike Monday, when late afternoon downpours also drenched the strip, no perceptible path-bias took hold. Players had a good handle on the uniform strip as eight winners were 2-1 or lower. While winners used a variety of styles, six or seven place runners led first call, which might indicate speed had a very slight advantage.

Tues, Jul 19 (good) Only two winners  led first call , and both had license to trounce their respective fields. Even so, some other winners pressed to the front fairly early, making it dicey to label the strip anti-speed. At times, a negative-rail trend seemed in play, but some results contradicted that assumption. My cohost thought wider trips had an advantage. I wasn't so sure. Your call.

Mon, Jul 18 (sloppy) Late afternoon downpours rendered the track extremely wet. Despite the  kickback -and quick times-speed had no obvious advantage. When fractions were contested or set by hopeless longshots, winners tended to rally.  Perhaps because of the rainfall, horses saving ground bogged down. Notice that both winning 1-horses angled well out from the rail.

Sun, Jul 17 (fast) Most dirt races were won by chalks that either earned it or got good trips .No reason to bring bias into it.

 Sat, Jul 16 (fast) Dirt winners used a variety of  styles and spanned a fairly wide range of odds. Neither racing luck nor any surface trend seemed a factor as each winner simply fired the best race.

Fri, Jul 15 (fast) Wide ralliers accounted for the first four or five races. Maybe speed had a fair shake in those races  however, since three of the last five winners-NOT counting Rapid Redux- went right to the top.  Further refuting the notion that speeds had the worst of it, two of those front-running winners paid upset prices. Path bias is a tougher call.

 Tues, Jul 12 (fast) The mountain-main dried out from yesterday, but played much the same. Speed DOMINATED the sprints.

Mon, Jul 11 (sloppy) When a btm clmr can score by just two lengths, yet still shade 1:11 for six-panels while propelling slop back at his field (Algeiba, race-8), you just KNOW speed rocked. Such was the case as seven of eight sprint winners raced 1-2 at first call. Most of those were ridden like front-runners, and a couple payed handsome odds. While speed hogged win purses, the course wasn't quite a converor belt, as numerous minor awards went to runners that passed opponents.

 Sun, Jul 10 (fast) The only sprint race in which neither perfecta-horse was 1-2 at first call involved an extended speed-duel. Boy, does that sound convoluted. Let's just say it was hard to close ground at six-furlongs or shorter.

Sat, Jul 9 (fast) Four wire-jobs from eight races is no big deal here, but when two of those are total bombs, we should entertain the possibility that the strip favored speed. Further investigation shows that some other long-shot leaders held second. Solidly pro-speed, which means the Joe Woodard trained Success Success ran a TON to nip amazing distaffer Delaware Twitch in the feature. The surface seemed uniform.

Fri, Jul 8 (fast) Chalkcity, baby, as faves failed to take just two of ten dirt races, and no other winner was held higher than 4-1. It's not like the public keyed in on a trend carried over from the night before-Wed and Thurs are dark here. Nor did players note a bias early and then zero in, not whan public choices scored the first six events.

Tues, Jul 5 (fast) Four winning faves plus a 9/5 second chalk from just six dirts makes bias a tough sell. From our vantage, nothing happened that can't be attributed to pace, race-flow or superior performance. * Watched fireworks last night from a dense crowd gathered on an open field. Saw dozens (and dozens) of pie-eyed people ( kids included) who couldn't have told you their names-much less what was being celebrated.  Forget barbecue and all that Francis Scott Key stuff, July 4th has become beer day.

Sun, Jul 3 (fast) Taken alone, Hour by Hour's rail skimming wire-job to upset the Baird Memorial makes it seem like inside speed had the best of it. If so, why could Power Sweep at almost 6-1 break from the outside post and put away prohibitive fave Long Range Missile, who saved all the ground? Or Twelfth of October circle her field like Arazi? Perhaps Long Range Missile is just SERIOUSLY messed up, and Twelfth of October's bid was flattered by an extremely slow second quarter. No question the course was strongly Pro-speed.....the lane thing is your call.

Sat, Jul 2 (fast) Six of seven main-track winners either set the pace or pressed second early. Again, most saved ground. An inside trip wasn't crucial to victory-it's doubtful that chalks like Beechmont ($3.20) or Powdered Sugar ($2.60) needed a lane- bias to prevail- but it was helpful. Extreme pro speed...moderate pro-rail

Fri, Jul 1 (fast)  It's hard to ignore the fact that six winners broke from either the 1 or 2 post-especially when each saved some ground. However, since it wasn't our visual impression that the rail was superior to other paths, we'll call it a moderate path bias. There was no corresponding style-trend.

Tues, June 28 ( fast) Some 2 hours into the card, last night's wide-bias seemed again in play. However, just two dirt races had been run at that point, and Trust Me T's scintillating upset of the seventh blew THAT theory RIGHT out of the water.
I left before the finale ran, by the way, and was astonished to learn that .5 Long Range Missile had beaten just two rivals, both of whom pulled up. In hindsight, something had to be seriously amiss with the horse, and team Woodard declining to reclaim him surely confirms this. Big show bettors who took a beating on Long Range Missile deserved to know in advance that previous connections so successful with the horse didn't WANT him back-even for minimum tag. Someday all jurisdictions will lift the musty veil of secrecy and have claims disclosed before the race.

Mon, June 27 (fast) Just one of seven dirt winners was 1-2 at first call. Speed's lack of success probably tied in with a negative-rail trend. The short comments on several winners indicate very wide trips.

 Sun, June 26 (fast) When cinch chalks weren't scoring, longshots flattered by the pace factor were. Take Go Crypto's seventh- race wire-job. When was the last time a near :50 half enabled a horse to open an 11-length lead? No evidence of any bias seemed apparent.

Sat, June 25 (good) Longshot winners sometimes betray a bias, but even at triple-digit odds, Wyo Bandito's front-running score in the fifth can't be interpreted as proof of a bias. Late movers took races seven and eight, both sprints, refuting any notion that speeds had the best of it. My visual inpression was that the rail played dead, but the trend was slight at most.

 Fri, June 24 (good) There was a strong trend in play-but it favored two riders, Parker and Loveberry, not any particular path or running style. The pair won nine races between them, and would probably have swept the card had Loveberry's mount not been  victimized by rough tactics in race seven.

Tues June 21 (fast until final two races) Off the turf this evening, which gives us a good sampling of dirt races to gauge how the surface behaved. Favorites again dominated, and no detectable trend emerged. Keep the faith and stay contrarian, this (chalk storm)too shall pass.

Mon, June 20  (fast) The track dried out and played fair and uniform from our perspective. Too much chalk,  anyway, to read bias into the results.

Sun, Jue 19 (sloppy from second dirt race on) A torential storm let loose before our second dirt race of the card and quickly turned the strip to slop. Considering the kickback and that fast clockings continued-btm condition stock shaded 1:05 for 5&1/2 furlongs- it's not surprising that no winner sat worse than 3rd at any point. Since just two winners led first call, however, it would be inaccurate to say that pure speeds enjoyed an edge on closely positioned stalkers.

Sat, June 18 (fast) Early speed was again nearly invincible in sprints, while the two route races run went to chalks. I remember reading somewhere that the avg margin of victory in a thoroughbred race is about 2-lengths. Tonight's cushion in sprints averaged twice that and may have been padded by a slight pro- rail bias. At least that was my visual impression as races 3, 6, 7, 8 and (especially) 9 were taken by horses saving ground.  Hard call on the path-trend, but a slam dunk that speeds had a tremendous advantage.

Fri, Jue 17 (fast) Numbers 1, 2 and 3 won most of the races, but the wider of dueling horses in several instances won the speed battle. All six winners of sprints were 1-2 at first call, so it's obvious fronts had a strong advantage in one-turn events.

Tues, June 14 (fast)  No detectable trend materialized. There were just no winners that couldn't be rationalized without bringing bias into it. *A new blog entry is up, by the way. It attempts to shed some light on short fields and the thorny issue of late scratches. To check it out, just go back to the green racing-screen and click "Patterson's Perspective."

Mon, June 13 (fast) Speeds accounted for five of six sprints. One of those, Anne's Dancer in the 9th stretched distance limitations to the absolute limit. Even stronger evidence of speed's dominance were the two 12-1 shots that locked horns early, yet finished 1-2. Only Challenger, a .9 lock in race-8, was able to score against the grain.

Sun, June 12 (fast) Just two winners all night returned double-digits for a two-buck wager. One rallied. The other led early. Sounds fair to us. While my visual impression was that horses racing close to the rail were compromised, the charts don't really support a dead-rail theory.

Sat, June 11 (fast) Half of the dirt races were won by first -call leaders.  A pair of dirt sprints that weren't wired, however, were taken from well off the pace. The strip seemed uniform. Let's call the whole thing fair.

Fri, June 10 (fast)  Five early leaders went on to win. Since one of them was higher than 20-1 and another did battle throughout, let's conclude that speed had the best of it. A pair of longshots did close for second in their respective sprints, so the pro-speed bias was mild at most. Only Auditorium, a prohibitive chalk that looked cinchy on paper, outdueled a pace-opponent racing farther out from the rail. Was the bid lane bias in effect? Your call. 

Tue, June 7 (good) Even with six sprints carded at shorter than six-furlongs, pure fronts didn't dominate. It was still a tough night to close much ground as 17 first or second finishers from ten dirt races were 1-2-3 at the pre-stretch call.

Mon, June 6 (fast)  Fronts dominated the first four sprints by a combined 47 lengths, and wide margins sometimes reflect a bias. With three of those winners so heavily bet, however, I'm not comfortable branding the strip pro-speed. Plus, the six-furlong feature was won from some eight-lengths back. Running styles aside, the surface seemed uniform, and that's been the case all week..

Sun, June 5 (fast) Three of the four front-running winners were favored, and those results were offset by the winners of consecutive sprints (races 8 and 9) both storming from behind. The chalkfest continued.

Sat, June 4 (fast) Each sprint winner set or stayed close to the pace, while both route winners (yep, you guessed it) rallied. Standard stuff here at mountain- and, besides, with chalk so dominant, how could anybody detect a bias?

Fri, June 3 (fast) While the first several races went to fowardly positioned runners that bid wide on the turn, the next pair were won by inside speeds. Factor in a later race or two taken from off the pace, and it's safe to call the surface fair.

Tues, May 31 (fast)  Front-runners accounted for five of the seven dirt races. Even though four of those speeds were sent off as first or second fav, we conclude that speedballs did have the edge. My assumption is that Baffin (race 4) rallied successfully because she outclasses those kind and was treated to hot splits. Tracy Marie, who closed stoutly to snatch victory in the 6th, probably did so against the grain.

Mon, May 30 (fast) The running style employed by five of tonite's six dirt winners (including a 13-1 shot) could fairly be described as speed. The lone exception rallied to exploit an extended speed-duel. Front-runners had much the best of it. * Unless otherwise specified, bias notes pertain strictly to dirt races.

Sun, May 29 (fast) No reasonably astute player would presume a bias exists after watching odds-on favs sweep the first four races. However, even a dry strip can change throughout the course of a program, and this evening's last few results do indicate that a pro-rail trend may have set in somewhere along the line..

Sat, May 28 (fast) The first half of this program was dominated by speeds that either looked superior on paper or  enjoyed favorable pace- scenarios. Races six and nine, each a sprint won from well off the pace, probably refuted any notion of a pro-speed trend.

Fri, May 27 (fast) Six of the seven sprint winners led by second call. Two rts went to ralliers and the other to a relaxed stalking strategy. Become familiar with this contrast. In large part, it characterizes the mountain-main.

Tues, May 24 (fast) An incredible 9 of 10 winners were first or second at the half-mile call. Most of those led or prompted at an even earlier stage. While some second place finishers did rally from well behind, we can still assume that speeds had the best of it. It may be politically correct to consider place horses when sizing up surface trends, but it's a win oriented game, and finishing seond is much easier to pull off.

Mon, May 23 (fast) The rail proved passable early as the inside horse aired in the opener, and a bomber scraped paint to take the third. Without counting the awesome Rapid Redux( rumored to be aimed at a pid str/alw next week), five winners took early command. Four of them were heavily bet, and three raced less than six-furlongs. Speed had an advantage, but not an insurmountable one.

  Sun,  May 22 (fast) Most winners ran the same race: Stalk close or press the issue while buffered well out from the rail. This was a classic bid-lane bias, a subtle trend that compromises both inside speeds and wide closers.

 Sat, May 21 (fast) Six winners led throughout, and two others by second call. Clearly, the strip was speed favoring. But since four second finishers closed from the back-half, we'll stop short of calling it a conveyor belt.

Fri, May 20 (fast) After 5/2 Tony Lantana prevailed gamely in the 2nd, no winner led at first call. Several did force the issue-or outright duel- so speed raced at no disadvantage. Unlike Tuesday, few winners saved much ground, but since five races went to favorites, and three other events to horses 5/2 or lower, I'm reluctant to brand the surface dead-rail.


Tues, May 17 (sloppy) The surface seemed fair to various styles. We should note that several winners raced innermost of their fields and that our first stakes of the year was nearly scored by a near 30-1 shot that saved ground. The winner, however, rallied wide, as did the horse that took race three. To avoid manufacturing a bias, we're inclined to call it uniform.


Mon, May 16 (fast) Although races 5 and 9 went to wide trips, several winners-including a 9-1 shot in the finale- saved considerable gound. More tellingly, 2 or 3 longshots ran competitive seconds with rail-skimming voyages. Despite fast clockings and what we perceived as a pro-rail trend, speed had no particular edge.


Sun, May 15 (good) Various styles had a fair shake in sprints, while 2 of 3 routes were taken from  well off the pace. That's standard stuff here at mountain. The surface seemed uniform.

Sat, May 14 (fast/sloppy) Heavy downpours hit between races 4 and 5.  Five sprints and a route went to early leaders. For the most part, speeds that caved were unfit, hard-pressured, or chronic quitters. Advantage:front-runners. No lane-bias was apparent before or after the storm. * Fast splits were rubber-stamped fri and sat on a course playing quicker than par. Take pains to size up  pace quality rather than draw conclusions from raw fractions.


Fri, May 11 (muddy) Winners tended to sit close and challenge on the turn. Most were buffered well out from the rail, which can indicate what we term a "bid-lane" bias.  In other words, both inside speeds and wide ralliers raced at a disadvantage.


Tues, May 10 (fast) Just one winner was higher than 5/2, and that upset-Templar's Cup, race-seven, should probably be attributed to a soft pace and the horse's battle-hardened nature. If we wanted to look closer, we might note that six races went to horses 1-2 at second call. But charts often can be spun to support questionable conclusions, and we should never manufacture a bias. 

Mon, May 9 (fast)  After speed-types accounted for the first four sprints, we cautioned viewers to not assume that the surface played a role. Good thing. too, since none of the remaining four sprints were wired, and two of them were won from well off the pace.


Sun, May 8 (fast) Another hard night to decipher as only two winners led early, and most runners that scored lost some ground out wide. Since most races involved speed-fuels or longshot leaders, front-runners probably had a fair shake. I'm less convinced that the strip was uniform.

Sat, May 7 (fast) Most winners looked the part on paper or got favorable setups. Trinnon  in Love, for instance, the night's one longshot winner exploited a very slow pace. While we're at it, could somebody PUHLEEEEEZ explain to me why Streaterville, who took race two, and  Roundup Moment  (this one really baffles me), your race-six winner, took so much early money?????????


Fri, May 6 (good) Just two winners led first call-and one of them was the magnificent Rapid Redux, starter-horse extraordinaire. Running style aside, posts 1 and 2 swept the final five races. Bias, though, is a matter of judgement, and I'm unconvinced that early speed had the worst of it. As far as the pro-rail thing......your call, but I could be persuaded that an eensy trend took hold as the night progressed.  The most compelling argument  would be Gone Prospecting's 15-1 rail move to win the 5th.


Tues, May 3 (sloppy) While inside trips had no particular edge, there were subtle indications that wide paths took the worst of it. For one thing , none of three sprint winners that outright rallied angled far out from the rail. In addition, nine of ten first call leaders also held command for home-and when the rail is a negative, early leaders tend to be passed on the turn by wider rivals. We cautioned viewers several times that slop here doesn't always favor pure-fronts. This evening's four first-call winners pretty much matched mountaineer's norm.


Mon, May 2 (fast) Only three races WEREN'T taken by speeds, and each of those involved a longshot leader. Several winning fronts looked invincible on paper, and some others were allowed moderate splits.  And the only distance race carded was not wired.  So I wouldn't QUITE call it a conveyor belt. The surface was, however, obviously kind to speed.

Sun, May 1 (fast) It was a mixed bag stylewise, and the bulk of winners looked best on form or got favorable setups. Fair.


Sat, Apr 30 (fast) Four horses went down in flames at even money or lower, but three of them suffered poor breaks, so nothing in those defeats indicated a surface trend. Like last night, close position was prerequisite to winning a sprint. Five winners raced one or two-path, which has to raise eyebrows considering the opposite trend that's prevailed this season. I still wouldn't conclude that a rail-bias was in play.


Fri, Apr 29 (fast) Late runners had the worst of it as just one winner wasn't 1-2 at the stretch call. Back up a furlong and notice that seven place horses sat 1-2 at the 1/4 pole (commonly referred to as the "pace call"). Horses close to the pace and buffered out by opponents seemed to have an edge. But since several long -odds pacesetters racing nearest the rail fought valiantly, I'm reluctant to assume there was a bid-lane bias.

Tues, Apr 26 (good) Just a pair of winners led 1/4 mile in, but one of those  scored a mild upset at 7-1, and the other was a 20-1 shot forced to duel through the opening half. And there is just NO way a faint-hearted bomb like Little Bopper could have held sway on the stretchout had the grain been against him. Sprint winners who came from fifth in consecutive races (7 and 8) each capitalized on favorable scenarios. Just one winner saved ground throughout-Lalique in race-7- and several angled out before advancing. So traction may have been a factor.  Fair to various styles. Slightly dead rail????

Mon, Apr 25 (sloppy) Six of eight sprint winners set or pushed the pace aggressively. Since most of those were short odds and none higher than 3-1, I'm hesitant to assume the surface strongly favored pure speed. Also, two spring purses went to longshot ralliers. Hey, maybe sloppy conditions DID favor front-runners. Your call.

Sat, Apr 23 (good) An appreciated respite from the rainy conditions predicted to continue for days here resulted in a strip considerably drier than last night's. Don't get used to this, but the mountain-main played fair.

Fri, April 22 (muddy) Speed went five-for-nine, and two additional races went to runners in front at pace call. While there were subtle signs early that a pro-rail trend might be in play, the pattern  seemed stronger from the 7th race on. Sure American Romance's ridiculous margin of victory in the 8th was at least partially due to a rail-skimming trip.

The thing inside my computer has been exiled , by the way. That's right fellow racing enthusiasts, for a mere $420, my 12-year-old Compaq was restored to grinding speed by a local geek who probably gives thanks for malware and viruses. Come to think of it, he not so much as muttered an "amen, brother" when I cursed the varmints who lay siege to other people's internet.  Hmmmmm...you don't suppose that.........................

Tues, Apr 19 (muddy) Fronts accounted for six of eight sprints, while holding no advantage at two turns. Why do pro-speed trends so rarely affect route races here? One clue could be a wire rate in local routes that falls in line with the national norm, while the percentage of front-running winners exceeds  america's average in sprints. I need to confirm those numbers on a track-profile painstakingly compiled when mnr was dark-except, it's in limbo until somebody chases the latest demon from my computer.

Why can't my machine ever get a simple virus that norton or any knight in shining malware-bytes can slay? Instead, every keystroke conjurs some manifestation that first informed me it had spotted dangerous issues behind the firewall, and later, that the internet as I know it would cease to exist unless I speedily sacrificed my credit card number. Lately, it's been threatening that my golf scores and weight might even rise unless it gets the visa. And now notes that  I never typed in are starting to pop up on my formulator. Who knows? By fri night, it might be speaking through me on the air. Hey, maybe it just wants to meet McMichael. Yep, I'll bet that's it.

Mon, Apr 18 (fast) Nine horses that led early ended first or second. In several races, speeds that volleyed finished one-two. Pro-speed.

Sun, Apr 17(fast) There were three first-call winners, and four of the winners that didn't wire were favored. Speed thus enjoyed no edge, but seemed ok.

Races one-that saw a 3/5 chalk duel innermost and succumb;five-an habitual front-runner was able to relax midpack, gained traction when angled out and went on to score; seven-the outermore of two evenly matched speeds prevailed in a prolonged battle, and ten- a 14-1 fired five wide to win,  supplied ample evidence of a negative-rail bias.

Sat, Apr 16 (good) Torrential rains raised concerns that the strip might washout in spots. Instead, track-super Tom Trevor applied a tight seal right after training hours that repelled most of the precip. Thus, while the course probably merited a "muddy" label, it was in surprisingly good condition and produced quick times. No trend was apparent.


Fri, Apr 15  (fast) Just one and a half (dead-heat) front-running winners. Does a 60-1 speed running second and one or two winners that pushed the pace very aggressively indicate front-runners had a fair shake. Probably, but tough call. And remember that one of those first call winners, Waltzing Time benefitted big-time when they opposing speed, Spa Princess, scratched. All but one winner raced fairly wide.

Tues, Apr 12 (muddy) Too many winning chalks to go sniffing for surface trends. And while just one or two winners raced innermost on the all-important elbow,  Major Strike's shadow-path effort at 73-1 , to narrowly miss toppling mortal lock Tony Lantana, surely proves the inside was ok.

 Time to rest fingers sore from pushing screws into a tv stand that required assembly.  Bob Villa, I'm not, and the thing had key parts either missing holes or missing period. Sometimes not so (er, ah) even-tempered, I'll fantasize tonight about getting my mitts on whoever designed the monstrosity.  Looking at the bright side, however, I bought it to hold a big-screen I actually won in a recent drawing. How long should that stroke of luck prohibit a guy as cursed as me from whining about tough beats?  Since my liftime ROI on raffle tickets is still in the red, I'm thinking maybe one week.  Naw, twenty or thirty races. Tops.Mon, Apr 11 (good) Six winners were second at the pace call racing wider than the leaders they attacked. Four of those offered greater odds than those respective pacesetters. Tonight's trend was classic "bid-lane." In case you're unfamiliar with that term: A bid-lane bias favors horses launching turn-moves from easy striking distance while buffered out from the rail

Sun, Apr 10 (fast)  That bomb who wired the opener had been an habitual quitter and survived heavy pressure to graduate on her 24th try. Five subsequent winners led the way one-quarter mile in. The two winners (races 5 and 8) that rallied exploited prolonged speed duels. Advantage early speed.

Sat, Apr 9 (fast) Though listed "fast," the surface looked just short of dried from our angle. The"tweener"-track may have puzzled some players, considering four winners got off at double digit odds, and six went 8-1 or higher. I'm going to wing this on scant evidence and suggest that, while inside trips provided no special advantage, horses attempting wide bids from back in the pack had little chance.

Fri, Apr 8 (sloppy) You're no doubt familiar with the cliches applied to off-tracks: speed rules; banked surfaces drain inward creating dead-rail conditions... etc etc. But as evidenced by the contrast in track-biases from mon to tues, the mountain-main can't be typecast when wet weather sets in. Whereas those cards were affected by distinct, but completely unalike trends, tonight's gumbo played yet differently. Fairly, that is. Some winners saved ground, while others took a wider arc. True, just a pair of winners led early, but numerous second finshers set the pace, and two of those were long odds.

Tues, Apr 5 (muddy)  Five winners either established or vied for early command. Three that didn't were below  even-money, and another sat second at first call. Pro-speed..at least in sprints.

Mon, Apr 4 (sloppy) It's very unusual to see several five-furlong races scored by horses moving so wide and from so far back. Still, MOST late movers operate at a loss of ground, so don't be quick to assume a wide-bias was in play. And notice that races 4, 6 and 9 went to runners racing closest to the wood. Nonetheless, let's call it a double bias that worked against early speed and inside trips.

Sun, Apr 3 (fast) Of the night's four front-running winners, three went favored (a pair at .3) and the other was well bet at 5/2. Contrast those odds with the upset prices on the card's quartet of wide-closing winners, and it's logical to conclude that late runners had benefit of a path trend or late-bias. Since those fast-finishers got some sweet setups on the engine, I'm inclined to call the strip pro-wide.

Sat, Apr 2 (fast) Six races were taken in what could be described as front-running style. Several of those involved speed-duels or winners unable to shake loose through the initial quarter. Speed had much the best of it.

Fri, Apr 1 (fast) Four winners that led at first call falls in line with the norm here, but another one dueled to score (at a rt), and just a single 1-2 finisher was not 1-2 at the stretch call. Emmy (race-4) and Victorystart (race-7) may seem to refute the notion of a pro-speed bias, but the former had outstanding credentials, and the latter capitalized when  a weak leader spit the bit in an extremely speed-laden race. Advantage speed and closest pursuers.

Tues, March 29 (fast) True, Soca Tempo saved ground to score the second, and some bomb held tenaciously for the place when glued to the rail in the nightcap. But the bulk of evidence- winning 7's and 8's and 9's, not to mention that 50-1 shot in the opener- suggests that wider trips had an advantage. While temps were a tad warmer, early speed was still under the weather. Just three winners led early, two of which were near cinches. I'm calling it a slightly anti-speed track and leaving the lane evaluations to you. Bias, after all, IS in the eye of the beholder.

Mon, March 28 (fast) Unseasonably cold temps continued, but the dead-rail trend did abate. Oddly, speed remained in a slump. Since tonight's early leaders, however, were a weak assortment of longshots, comebackers and chronic quitters, I'm inclined to call it a fair surface.

Sun, March 27 (fast) The outright early leaders again were sacrificial lambs as just one went on to score. Most speeds were displaced between the pre-stretch and stretch call by  horses that continued on to victory. In fact, only one winner HADN'T secured command by the eigth-pole. Negative rail- very favorable to middle moves.

Sat March 26 (fast) Although comments such as "4 wide" and " 3 deep" characterized numerous winners, simply being buffered a bit out from the fence was a sufficiently wide trip to win. Just one race was led throughout, and that was by a 7/5 fav with Parker rationing. Several short-priced pace-setters were tagged late after drifting down close to the rail. So the futility of front-runners perhaps was more attributable to a dead-rail than to an anti-speed bias.

Fri, March 25 (fast) The night's first winner swung crazy wide, while the finale was taken by a horse saving all the ground. In between, all winners outright led or raced less than a length back at first call. advantage:speed

Tues, March 22 (fast) The evening's two longshot winners  each advanced wide, and runners closest to the rail kept fading. Early speeds were ok if buffered at least a little out from the shadow path. This was not a wider-the-better trend, but the track was dead-rail.

Mon, March 21 (fast)  I spent most of the night participating as a guest panelist on "night school," the innovative chat forum designed to educate players. Nancy tells me the strip was anti-speed and wider-the-better. I trust her judgement, so let's go with that.

 By the way, again, apologies to those fans whose questions I missed because my computer kept freezing. Any player wishing to discuss track-bias-or any aspect of handicapping can call me at 304-387-8378. I double as mnr's ast racing sec, and that's my downstairs desk #. The best time is between 1 and 2 pm. Any day besides wed and sat is cool.

Sun, March 20 (fast) Just one first call leader, and a stat like that should set off alarms at normally speed-friendly mnr. Moreover, the unlikely monster turns from tote-busting Executive Dream (race-5) and Keen Case in the feature hint at a wide-bias. But a pair of winners took eight-furlong events scraping paint the whole way, strongly refuting any notion of a path-trend. Since several contenders caved completely on loose leads, it is safe to conclude that fronts had at least slightly the worst of it.

Sat, March 19 ( fast)  Only two winners didn't get steered or drift wide, and those ( Cho Cho Cat-race 4 and Crafty Mark-race 8) were very short chalks. Notice as well, how many place horses took the overland route. Dead-rail..course neutral stylewise.

Fri, March 18 (fast)  I recall cautioning viewers after four consecutive front-running victories that a speed-bias was not necessarily in play, and that some subsequent races were likely to be taken by stalkers or ralliers. That prediction proved accurate, and while a pure, potent pro-speed trend was probably not in play, it's hard to ignore the fact that eight winners were 1-2 at the pace call. YOUR call.

Tuesday, March 15 (sloppy) Four winners rallied from far back, while just two led at first call. When results tilt this way at intrinsically speed-oriented mnr, it's rarely a coincidence, and an iffy inside-lane is sometimes the culprit. Several place horses did turn in competitive efforts on the engine and near the rail. I think the grain ran slightly in favor of ralliers and slightly against inside trips. Tight call. 

Monday, March 14 (fast) We could nitpick and take note that only one winner (Knows How to Rock in the third)raced near the rail throughout, and that winners racing innermost on the pace were steered outward early, but that might be akin to manufacturing a lane bias. Style-wise, the surface seemed fair.

Sunday, March 13 (fast) A distinct and perhaps signature surface-trend popped up tonight. I call it the bid-lane bias, and it's not hard to detect. When the bid-lane is in play, wide closers rarely get up, yet inside speeds get engulfed.  Strong leaders steered well out from the shadow path can win, but numerous pacesetters are collared between the 3/8 and 3/16 poles by forwardly placed opponents that race further out and go on to score. A classic bid-lane bias dictated this evening's results.

Sat, March 12, (fast)  Last night's speed-favoring bias may have evaporated somewhat as the strip dried almost ( I called it "good," but that's splitting hairs) completely in 20 hours. Still, six winners led at first call, and three that didn't were favored. The trend seemed pro-speed, but not insurmountably so.

Fri, March 11, (sloppy) Try finding the last time three consecutive routes were wired here.  Ok, two went outright chalked and the other was a paltry 2-1. But what about the finale winner who went gate to wire at almost 19-1? And it was rare to rally for second, either.  Eight perfecta boxes were in place at the furlong marker. Clearly, speeds enjoyed an extreme advantage.

Tues, March 8, (fast)  What is UP with this favorites on parade thing? Just tooo many chalks at tooo short a price for us to go sniffing for bias. Let's just leave it alone and  call our first fast track of the season fair.

Mon, March 7, (good) We speculated on the show after watching a 10-1 win from the rail to take the opener by more than ten-with the second placer scraping paint-that the inside would be an advantage. Subsequent results somewhat verified that opinion as at least five more winners raced close to the rail. Seven that tallied took command at the first or second call. Pro (but not quite golden) rail/Pro speed 

Sun, March 6, (muddy) Torrential rains that were predicted proved light and steady instead, so no washouts-just a quagmire. As is often the case at Mnr, closers fared well in routes, while striking distance was needed at sprint distances.  Fair.

Sat, March 5, (sloppy) Fronts dominated sprint action, including some at long odds. (Given trainer Garrido's stats, can you BELIEVE 33-1 on that first race winner?) Prominent finishers used a variety of lanes.

Fri, March 4, (muddy) With eight winners held at 2-1 or less, it's risky to surmise that the surface played a role. In addition, the preponderance of short sprints that characterize a card run so early in the season tilt results in favor of early speed. But with eight winners 1-2 at first call, it's likely that a speed trend was in force. 

Tues, March 1, (good) Considering this was opening night, the public had quite a handle on things making seven winners 5/2 or lower. They did, however, seem to overlook early evidence of a dead rail and paid the price when inside draws favored in races eight and nine both failed to score. The rail entrant in the finale was also bet down missing the ticket at 9/5. Wide movers had no particular advantage-several winners and placers raced just outside the shadow path-but horses pinned inside underperformed all evening. The course played fair to various styles

Thurs, Dec 30 (fast) Why doesn't the fog roll in nearly as often as it once did? I think I'll ask my local meteorologist. Some grim-faced guy with a bad toupee. Tonight felt nostalgic as low clouds shrouded the action from race two on. Most early leaders we could make out were still on top at the finish. No shocker there-nobody passes anybody when the course resembles a setting for a (lousy) Steven King movie.

Wed, Dec 29 (fast) Wide comments characterized most winners, and the place slot again confirmed the path bias as several bombs came flying from the middle of the strip. While speed continued to slump, pressers -at least in sprints-did have a slight edge on late movers.

Tues, Dec 28 (good)  Speed seemed at a disadvantage considering that just a pair of first call leaders connected, both in shorter sprints with one heavily favored. Most winners lost ground, but even more revelatory were the numerous second finishers that  swept wide from far back. Pro-wide, pro-rally. 

Mon, Dec 27 (good) The tree is down. When it's over, it's over with me. But I am a sentimental guy and observe one sappy and very personal tradition: sometime two or three weeks from now, when the afterglow is gone, and the only folks with lights still up plan to leave them until next year (and the year after),  I'll pull my car over, pop in a xmas cd and listen to just one song as seasonal memories wash over me.

Anyway, on the (not unlikely) chance that some player(s) will face a burning need two months from now to form a detailed opinion of some Dec 27 performance, here goes: Just three winners sat better than fourth at the first call, and four winners raced 6th at the same point. In addition early leaders accounted for just two scores. Speed dead, closers paradise? Not so fast. Most front-runners were longshots who figured to fade anyway, and a heavy dose of distance races may have skewered the seeming trend in favor of ralliers. Tough call..... (This year's song, by the way, was granma got run over by a reindeer. Just call me Mr Sentimental.)

Sun, Dec 26 (good)  With seven winning chalks, plus a 2-1 that scored, we're slightly hesitant to conclude that the surface tilted in anyone's favor. Still, seven victors were 1-2 at the pace call, indicating forward position was critcal. The only runner to rally from far back did so at a route and capitalized on a torrid pace.

Wed, Dec 22 (good) Last night's dead-rail trend was laid to rest early as a 30-1 shot saved ground to upset the opener.  A common mistake handicappers make is to interpret the strip as fair when half the winners rally and the remainder race close to the pace. Cliche or not, speed IS the "universal bias," thus the bulk of victories should go to well-positioned runners. With that in mind, let's conclude that speed remained in a mild slump.

Tues, Dec 21 (good) The shadow path spelled doom as wide movers had an obvious advantage. As can be the case with this type of trend, closers fared much better than normal. In fact, an all -sprint pick-3 was swept by horses 7th or worse at first call, with a 75-1 bomb accounting for the first leg. Fronts able to buck the bias were: a Shanyfelt cinch; a two-year-old router exploiting a significant edge in experience; and a loose leader snagging the finale from a horrible field. 

Mon, Dec 20 (good) Despite a 1/5 fav that crashed and burned in the first, players kept their collective cool and pounded five subsequent winners below 6/5. With that run of formful results, I'm not comfortable in concluding bias played a role. It should be pointed out, however, that five winners broke the first beam and races that weren't wired tended to involve speed-duels or were led by chronic quitters.

Sun, Dec 19 (good) When DeShawn Parker, impending national champion in wins, sweeps the first three on favorites, it's unwise to jump to conclusions about surface trends. Looking back with all results at hand, it's apparent that speed enjoyed a strong advantage. Only two winners did NOT hold the lead by second call, and one of those took a route race when aided by a contested pace.

Sat, Dec 18 (good) If you assumed that similar temps and the same track condition meant Friday's trends would carryover, tonight's first two races, scored convincingly by wide ralliers, should have changed your mind. The sort of pro-active track- maintenance measures required in cold weather render biases very hard to predict.  Fair.

Fri, Dec 17 (good) The inside post swept races 1 through 4, but to keep it in perspective, two of those winners were 7/5 chalks unchallenged on the lead, and another rallied wide. Stronger evidence of a pro-rail bias (that seemed to abate towards the end of the card) was True Jazz's inside wire-job at huge odds in the fifth. Speed dominated the sprints.

Tues, Dec 14  Frigid again, and despite unfounded rumors that a small group of jockeys had determined to ride, the program was cancelled as expected.

Mon, Dec 13  Plunging temps and a clumpy surface caused a well-justified cancellation that was seen coming for days in advance.

Sun, Dec 12 (wet) Possible thawing and some precip resulted in a cancellation that proved somewhat controversial.

Sat, Dec 11 (fast) After a ground-saving 11-1 dueled to nearly take the opener, and a 74-1 bomb ran inside to almost wire the second, those attuned to bias should have been plotting to capitalize on a golden rail. The inside trend was so potent that nobody should have been  surprised when a hopeless 55-1 broke from the rail to dominate race-five. You know the drill. Any horse that saved gound should be viewed with extreme suspicion next time, while runners hung wide must be given extra consideration.

Fri, Dec 10 (good??) Mid 30's. Perfect temps. Not cold enough for the kick- back to form clods; not warm enough for the surface to thaw and create potentially unsafe conditions. Speed was king of the mountain on this card as 7 winners led or vied for early command. Fronts swept the sprints. The pro-rail bias that would take hold Saturday had not kicked in yet, but notice that only two first or second finishers are referenced in the charts as having lost significant ground. One of those was drubbed by some eight lengths, and the other was beaten at 3/5.

Tues, Dec 7 (good??) Similar temps to last night, so the hope was that racing could be conducted. As it turned out, we just stopped in to see what condition our condition was in. The jockeys declined to continue after the first was run. The clocking on that was much lower than the same field would have posted yesterday. Evidently, the riders  objected to whatever maintenance measures made the course quicker. Mid 30's by Friday, so racing may well proceed as scheduled.

Mon, Dec 6 (good??) Snow, cold and an atmosphere of unease about potential cancellation. We got the card in, however, (easy for ME to say from our semi-warm studio) and times were extremely slow on a bone-dry, somewhat clumpy strip that horses couldn't get a good push from. Under the circumstances, results were surprisingly logical as four favorites prevailed, and no winner drifted to double-digit odds. Speed dominated sprints, while ralliers accounted for each route. That's not unusual here-no matter the track condition.

Sun, Dec 5 (fast) The surface contains frozen rain from Tuesday, which along with wintry temperatures, has resulted in a dry, clumpy texture that tends to prevail here at this time of year. Results were still formful, as eight winners were first or second favorites. Even though most of them figured on paper, five front-running winners do indicate that speed had at least slightly the better of it.

Sat, Dec 4 (fast) Since four sprints went to horses 6th or worse at first call, a quick scan of tonight's charts makes it appear as if closers had a fair shot-at the very least. A more thorough inspection reveals that six winners led at second call, and two that didn't went favored. Moreover, only one second place finisher sat behind more than two rivals at that point. Raw speed wasn't a prerequisite, but  very close proximity was.

Fri, Dec 3 (fast) Eleven winners tonight (counting the two dead-heats), six of which led or challenged early. Be on watch for surface trends that change or intensify during the evening as temperatures tend to drop. What began as a neutral or slightly pro-speed surface tonight seemed to become more biased for the last several races.

Tues, Nov 30   The entire card was cancelled due to a washed- out surface. It was monsoon season ALL day. Forget conventional track conditions for the foreseeable future. There's just too much water to dry out at this time of year, and cold temperatures could play havoc with the strip.

Mon, Nov 29 (fast) Five front-running winners, several by wide margins. One of those speeds was 19-1. Give Top Echelon (race 7) credit for closing against the grain to beat a strong field. Don't be impressed by Abita Indigo's rally to take the previous. The competition was lackluster, and a disputed pace packed it in.

Sun, Nov 28 (fast) When routes (plural) are wired and sprints (again plural) are won from dead last, good luck in detecting any style trend. Interestingly, the first and last races both saw odds -on speeds racing close to the rail outdueled by rivals taking a wider path. Slight negative-rail.

Sat, Nov 27 (fast) POOF goes last night's pro-front trend. Races 4, 7 and 8, all won from far back, supply ample proof of that. But two of those events set up for late run, and speed faired ok when the cookie crumbled that way. If there was pro-rail yesterday, that was gone as well.

Fri, Nov 26 (fast) Just one winner was more than 1/2 length back at the 1/2 call. That's one potent bias. Take your cue from the finale, wherein the 12-1 winner and chalky place horse fought tooth and nail the entire trip with nobody able to capitalize and close ground. Although it wasn't my impression while watching the races that a path bias was in play, it should be noted that seven races went to horses breaking from one of the inner three posts. Your call on that.

Tues, Nov 23 (fast) All nine winners were first or second around the far turn, so it's obvious that closers had no chance. Tellingly, only three of those victors led at first call. By far the best trip was to advance around rivals from striking distance and sweep to the lead for home. It's one of the mountain-main's more common manifestations that I term a "bid lane" bias. inside speed is sunk, but so are wide kickers.

Mon, Nov 22 (fast) For various reasons, surface trends can best be gauged from sprints. Tonight's first sprint was won by a wide rallier, the second by two-path speed. Sounds fair to us. The only subsequent winner who didn't look the part on paper was Jemaru in the feature, a horse -for-course who capitalized on his race's relative lack of speed, and was fortunate that some far classier opponents were clearly not at their best.

Sun, Nov 21 (fast) Five first-call leaders scored, three in routes and another at 14-1. Events that didn't fall prey to front-runners, for the most part involved extended duels or longshot leaders. Advantage speed.

Sat, Nov 20 (fast) No photos for the win tonight, and most horses that scored were well in front at the wire, which can sometimes reflect a path or running -style bias. If so, it was undetectable to me this evening because, from this vantage point, good trips and good efforts for the most part prevailed.

Fri, Nov 19 (fast) It seemed after several races that inner moves would dominate the action. Stormin Cathy's wide rally to upset the 6th, however, made me wonder if it had been premature to say so on the air. Looking back with the benefit of all nine results, I think Stormin Cathy was able to win against the grain because of a pace collapse and slow final time. The late double, which saw strong chalk on wide trips beaten in both ends, tends to confirm this. We can't call it pro-rail (the 2- 3 path was probably the best part of the course), but to lose ground was to hurt your cause considerably on this program.

Tues, Nov 16 (sloppy) Ignoring the marathon ( Why do otherwise competent jockeys wrestle their mounts into submission in these races?), no winner was 1-2 at first call, but seven moved onto the perfecta ticket by the quarter-pole. These horses advanced strongly out wide on the elbow, getting the type of trip that succeeded all week. Any reader wishing to discuss Mnr racing can feel free to phone me at my day desk. The number is 304-387-8378. The best time is between 12 and 1 (pm, that is) on a thurs, fri, mon, or tues. Don't hesitate. I'm even less pretentious than I seem on the show. So is McMichael, for that matter.

Mon, Nov 15 (good) The only winner who got anywhere near the rail was a 1/5 shot who cutback, maintained striking distance, and was driving to best a chronic quitter. In a new twist for the week, fronts struggled a bit, with just two scoring, both at short odds from wide posts.

Sun, Nov 14 (good) Some longshots launched wide bids to prevail.  A pair of rail-draws, however stayed close to the shadow path to wire their fields. It's tempting to conclude from races 6 ,7, and 8 that the overland route had an edge, especially on the far turn, but the bulk of evidence just doesn't support that that theory. Fair.

Sat, Nov 13 (good) Tonight proves how deceptive post-position trends can be, as four number 1's scored on a dead- rail strip. What raw results don't show is that three of said winners were angled out and the other was a 4/5 chalk that ran lights out versus a weak field. Front-runners again got a fair shake.

Fri, Nov 12 (good) The performance of respective post positions is no doubt the most primitive evidence available when it comes to detecting a path-bias. But it CAN be evidence. A 7, an 8, two 9's and a 10 scored tonight, and the word "wide" is mentioned in the short comments on four of those winners. Moreover, the same term pops up pertaining to four place horses, the lowest of which was 8-1. Conversely, just two second finishers are summarized as having run the rail. One of those was well beaten as the favorite, while the other, Looney Lynda in the 4th, hung after collaring a thoroughly spent leader. Speed horses operated at no disadvantage, and since several horses scored when angled just a little out from the fence, this wasn't a classic "wider the better" bias. Let's call it slightly dead- rail.

Tues, Nov 9 (good) Five winners rallied from the back half, and that's not common at Mnr. Since some horses ran well along inner paths, we'll conclude that no wide-bias popped up to boost winning closers. Pro-rally. Uniform. Incidentally, S Man's score advanced his "off" track record to 2/2. The problem with that is the surface was dry, meaning that sometime in the future, somebody could base a bet on the assumption that S Man is a mudlark.

Mon, Nov 8 (good) A mortal lock walked his beat in the opener, while the second event involved the sort of blanket finish that implies no particular path or running-style held an advantage. Races 5 and 6  clearly established that last night's pro-rail was not in play.  Fair.

Sun, Nov 7 (good) I recall commenting on Saturday's show that most of the money- moves were being made inside of horses. Now away from the heat of battle, it sinks in that some late results contradict that statement. So let's call it slightly pro-rail with a ? mark. Pro-rail trends are traditionally considered conducive to speed. But a quick rail can have the opposite effect here. I think that's because most Mnr jockeys just REFUSE to angle all the way over with front-runners. Invariably, they leave the rail open to pursuers. Maybe that explains why this program's only wire-job was a 7/5 favorite running just five furlongs.

Sat, Nov 6 (good) Some winners saved ground and others ran wide, so the strip seemed uniform. A 60-1 bomb closed from last to shock the feature, which gets our antennae up enough to notice that just two first- call leaders held to score.  Perhaps more revealingly, most of the minor placings went to closers. Negative speed-bias.

Fri, Nov 5 (good) Counting one winner promoted by dq, speed ran the table in sprints, going 6/6. Two route races were taken from off the pace. One of those winners was 6/5, though, and another was treated to a speed-duel.  Front-runners had much the best of it this evening.

Tues, Nov 2 (labeled good, but the surface was fast) Seven of tonight's favorites were off at below even-money. Four of them prevailed, with another pair second, so not much was revealed in terms of track-bias. By the way, a flat bet on the not so magnificent seven would have produced a near 15% loss. 

Mon, Nov 1 (labeled good, but the surface was fast) Quicker times tonight, but no discernable trend. While only two first-call leaders scored, and they both figured on paper, some bombs set the pace in other events, so wire-jobs in those races could not be expected. Four early leaders established clear margins, and each of them finished 1-2, which further indicates that speed was ok.

Sun, Oct 31 (labeled good, but the surface was fast) Our first full-blown bias since the resurfacing. When a no-talent never -2 like Mustard Seed can break that poorly, swing 9-wide, and kick it in like ole "Silky," I think we're safe in assuming that the surface played some role. The short comments on other winners tend to confirm that wider trips had an advantage. In addition, just two fronts prevailed and, considering that one of those took down a super-short dash, we'll conclude that speedballs had the worst of it.

Sat, Oct 30 (good) Whoever labels the strip evidently thinks that the term "fast" is a function of surface speed rather than moisture content, and that's incorrect. The mountain-main was dry and fast tonight. To track-super Tom Trevor's credit, the refurbished strip again played fair.

Fri, Oct 29 (good) Times indeed slower, but form held up on the fresh cushion as just one longshot scored, and that was in an Hidalgo-paced marathon. Lest any player still subscribe to the antiquated notion that a slower surface necessarily deters speed, please note that five winners led by second call. For the most part, races not taken by fronts involved speed-duels or longshot leaders that figured to succumb.  Fair.

* The annual resurfacing of Mountaineer's main-track will have been completed by Friday's first post. Contrary to common assumption, the cushion (river sand of  fine consistency) won't be deepened by this process, but instead pulled off and replaced.  Even so, the fresh surface invariably plays slower until being compacted and taking on water as a binding agent. 

Last year's resurfacing resulted in clockings perhaps two-seconds slower per six-furlongs. While no trend set in right away, a dead-rail bias soon developed that would linger through November.

Tues, Oct 26 (good) A severe storm that hit during the late afternoon appeared to have washed out the surface in spots. Consequently, the riders called it quits after three races.

Mon, Oct 25 (good) No boon for bias-buffs when logical chalks score seven or eight races. By the way, could you beLIEVE that effort from Teton Star in the feature? Posting a fast final- time in trouncing a strong field is impressive, but to outduel Big Boy Artie in the process is unreal.

Sun, Oct 24 (fast) Now TONIGHT was my kinda track! A throwback to before bias was widely seen as a significant factor. I'm thinking 70's, when I'd skip school and strut my striped bell-bottoms (size: husky) to the races with about eight bucks in my pocket. Back then, an invincible, pro-speed bias was the only trend that my under-developed, Farrah Fawcett-filled brain could detect.  That eight bucks would have multiplied this evening as seven races went to front-runners. One exception involved a suicidal duel, and the other a stiff first- quarter. And somewhere, Charlie's hottest angel smiles.

Sat, Oct 23 (fast) Tonight's last four sprints all went to first call leaders. Still, since three of those winners went favored, and three spurted clear on the elbow, we're inclined to call the surface fair.

Fri, Oct 22 (fast) It's important to be onboard early when a bias develops, but a talking head should never jump the gun. I was guilty of that tonite in proclaiming the surface potentially pro-rail after a 30-1 skimmed the inside to take the opener and the second perfecta ran 2-1, with the longshot place-horse saving all the ground. Unfortunately, a series of off-the-pace winners that swung around rivals later in the card made it apparent that I'd been premature in my observation. For the most part, those winners DID race fairly close to the rail before angling out, so I still maintain that taking a wide path around the all-important "casino" (I stole that from Peter Berry) turn proved an insurmountable disadvantage, the inside lanes gave runners no considerable edge. The track seemed neutral to running-styles.

Tues, Oct 19 (fast) Tonight's winners employed various running-styles and occupied various paths. The majority of first-place finishers looked like contenders on paper and had the benefit of favorable race-flow. Time now to watch "Sons of Anarchy," my favorite show. (Is it just me, or is there something vaguely hot about the shady deal that ruthless FBI chick struck with Jax?)

Mon, Oct 18 (muddy) Early speed accounted for five races, and two other winners had nobody to pass from the 1/4 pole. In fact, all of this card's routes went to horses in front at the prestretch. Several winners saved ground, and it seemed that second finishers doing likewise made things closer than did place horses hung wide. Insufficient evidence to infer a path-bias, though, but speed was good on this program.

 Sun, Oct 17 (fast)   There was a powerful pro-speed bias that applied specifically-as is often the case here-to sprints. Five of six short races were taken by first- call leaders. Two of three routes were won from far off the pace. A separate trend may have emerged as the evening wore on. Notice that the only sprint winner to rally (Clique in race 6) did so right along the rail. And the 7th race winner also saved all the ground. Fast forward to the finale now, in which the two-horse rocked a pair of more heavily- bet foes breaking from the outer posts. Not sure that suffices in proving a path-bias- totally sure, however, that speed held a huge advantage in sprints.

Sat,  Oct 16 (fast) A 6-1 shot survived a prolonged duel to take the route opener. That two-year-old tipped off a trend, as five subsequent winners were 1-2 at first call. The only jarring bump for the pro-speed bandwagon was a little sumpin sumpin that I suspect those dastardly gods of racing arranged just for me. About two minutes after I remarked off camera that I'd never seen a horse by "Mitch" win ANYTHING, here came 67-1 Mitch's Two Below to tag 9/2 Keenarchos at the wire. Needless to say, I LOVED Keenarchos. You can guess who sired the winner.

Fri, Oct 15 (fast) Before tackling the day-to day- breakdown, I should mention that early speed had its best week in awhile, with first call leaders scoring 18 of the 45 races. Tonight set the speed-trend, as five winners led by second call. Faint-hearted Four Boots did hit the wall as usual, and a 2/5 shot blew a two- length lead in the feature, which proved that the bias COULD be overcome, but we still recommend that you downgrade tonight's early leaders when they run back. No path trend was apparent.

Tues, Oct 12 (fast) Only one winner broke the first beam. Look deeper, though, and there is evidence that speeds got a fair shake. Three winners, for instance, pressed hard from second position, and the longshot that took the feature also moved early. As to how the lanes played: Several off-the-pace winners angled around rivals, and all but one speed-oriented winner was buffered out from the rail by at least one foe.  The lone exception was a "Lulu,"( are there women ACTUALLY called Lulu? Or do guys just wish there were?) though:  $77 Moscow Adventure, who scraped paint in the aforementioned 8th.  Does that upset alone establish that the surface was uniform? Very tough call. Our feeling is horses racing inside opponents were ok unless pinned in the shadow-path.

Mon, Oct 11 (fast) Five of this card's six sprints went to horses 4th or worse at first call. Only one of those was favored. In addition, two of  tonight's three route races were taken by runners that lagged midpack early. Since several short-priced speeds disappointed from inner posts, we'll conclude that a path-bias was at least partially responsible for the futility of  front-runners.

 Sun, Oct 10 (fast) When a one-dimensional speed like Rocker Chad rail rallies to win, you can be sure that the inside path was a factor. As further evidence, check out the bold, early bid that Signal's Choice, a horse that normally tracks the pace, made stick along the inside. Six winners secured command by the second call, so it's obvious that early speed enjoyed an edge. 

Sat, Oct 9 (fast) The evening's first winner saved ground and made a mockery of the competition, hinting that Friday's path-bias might again be in play. Wide ralliers took the next several races, however, so maybe the fts who crushed the opener was just THAT good. The best trip or best horse pretty much prevailed from there on out. With just two front-running winners, it's tempting to conclude that speed had  the worst of it, but one of those leaders scored a major upset, and another race saw a long- priced runner set the pace and hold second. Fair.

Fri, Oct 8 (fast) Sometimes, it's right there in the numbers. Six 1's and 2's scored, and those same inner posts also accounted for four second- place finishes. One of those winning 1's scraped the fence at 18-1, and another came again after losing the lead.  Running style didn't seem to matter, but inside paths did have an advantage.

Tues, Oct 5 (sloppy) Five winners fit our definition of "speed." None, however, were higher than 7/2, and three were 8/5 or lower.  No reliable trend there. Confirming that front-runners held no huge advantage, a pair of winners raced in the back-half of their respective fields at first call, and another scored from six-lengths behind. For the most part, ralliers saving ground gained better traction than their wide counterparts.

Mon, Oct 4 (sloppy) Full blown wet conditions and a reasonably firm base sometimes result in a surface kind to speed.  Not tonight. In fact, several SPRINT winners closed from the clouds. In other instances, logical fronts prevailed. Fair.

Sun, Oct 3 (muddy) Seven winners were 1-2 at the pre-stretch call, and that might indicate that wide runners raced at a disadvantage. True, a 67-1 bomb angled way out to take the 4th,  and the two winners that scraped paint ( races 3 and 7) were both short on the board. But we should also note that some HIGHLY unlikely place horses saved ground. Like that 42-1 shot in the 5th. And who could possibly have predicted that huge effort from Dynamite Bob in the feature? We can't call it pro-rail. But since only race-9 went to a horse that raced wide the ENTIRE way, we should excuse poor efforts from animals  that took the overland route. Boy, the Dick and Jane stuff didn't last long.

Sat, Oct 2 (fast) Not much pure-speed in the winner's circle, but three of the first call leaders that faded were double-digit odds, and only one was favored. As to path -bias, no clear trend emerged.

Fri, Oct 1 (fast) After a week of notes that somebody should group into a novel and entitle "Bias Quest," let's keep it simple for a few days. Four of tonight's first five winners were favored. Three wired. Two rallied. Some saved ground. Others swung wide. Track fair. See Spot run...

Tues, Sept 28 (good) Wetter than last night, with sporadic drizzles. Race-1 went to inside speed, and race-2 to a mid-track rallier. After agonizing over the surface-trends for Fri-Sun, I would LOVE to stop the train right here and proclaim things fair. ( Especially with my 15-yr-old clamoring for dad to watch "300" with him. Two thumbs up, btw.) Sadly, though, some evidence suggests otherwise. Races 3, 4 and 5 each hinted at a pro-rail bias. Notice also that 4 of 5 sprints were won by first call leaders, and the other pace-setter held second at huge odds. Kickers got a fair shake in routes. We'll call it pro-speed at one turn, and slightly pro-rail. Now Shane can cue it up....just as soon as I grab the cheezits.

Mon, Sept 27 (good) Just a tad wet and listed 'good.' The (slight) change in moisture content at least rendered results that were easy to interpret. Fair.

Sun, Sept 26 (fast) A pair of longshots scraped paint to take races 2 and 3, both coming from off the pace in routes. Ralliers didn't fare as well in sprints, but neither did pure speed dominate. Tricky call on both path and style trends tonight. Let's tie them together by saying wide closers raced at a considerable disadvantage.

Sat, Sept 25 (fast) Did Quick Verdict actually wire the opener?? And to even attempt those tactics on a reliable closer, did Camaque sense in advance how speed would dominate this card? If so, he was right, considering that six subsequent winners were 1-2 at first call, and the other pair took close order of the pace. While it's interesting that five winners broke from post 1 or 2, most second finishers raced wide, probably indicating that no path-bias was in play.  

Fri, Sept 24 (fast) The inner of two speeds tended (for a change) to get the better of pace battles. And it's unusual for a speedball-even at such short odds- to rebid like Morning Out did to take the seventh. In addition, pro-rail and pro-speed biases often go hand in hand, and no winner tonight raced farther than two lengths behind at the first call. Some results, however, just didn't support a pro-rail theory. So we'll call it uniform, but speed-favoring.

Tues, Sept 21 (fast) All but one winner was 1-2  at the quarter pole. Seven of those eight raced 1-2 at the first call. Clearly, speed had by far the best of it. When two horses contended on the turn, the wider of that pair tended to win the duel. Maybe that means the inside lanes played just a bit dead. Your call.

Mon Sept 20 (fast) With the second race won 2-path from the front, and a wide closer taking the third, the course seemed fair at that point. Subsequent results were too chalky to indicate any trend.

Sun, Sept 19 (fast) Just two races were wired with both horses racing unopposed early and one of them a 2/5 cinch. Most winners raced wide and advanced strongly on the far turn. Dead rail and speed at a disadvantage.

Sat, Sept 18 (fast) Sometimes a jockey gets hot by detecting a path bias. At first glace, this appeared to be the case as T D Houghton rode four winners, saving ground on three of them. Several other results, however, indicate differently. So let's call it fair.

Fri, Sept 17 (fast) Much quicker times than last week, and whatever work was done on the mountain-main created a strong pro-speed bias. Six of seven sprints went to first call leaders, and the other pace-setter wound up second. As is often the case here, the course may have been fairer at route distances, but that's hard to tell considering just the two long races that were run. One of those went to the half-mile leader and the other to chalk. Big advantage speed.

Tues, Sept 14 (fast) Mainly chalk from the third race on with the best horse winning. One of the night's longer priced winners moved inside rivals. No bias in our book. It's raining hard as this is written ( Thursday morning) and predicted to continue all day. Handicap for wet conditions.

Mon, Sept 13 (fast) Slower times than yesterday imply that some work was done on the surface. If smoothing out yesterday's bias was the goal, the effort was just partially successful. While speed fared better and most winners raced reasonably close to the pace, no 1's or 2's managed to triumph, and wide movers had an obvious edge on the far turn.

Sun, Sept 12 (fast) The only winner that had the lead at first call was a 2-1 alw dropper in a bottom claimer carded at 5 1/2 furlongs. Most winners closed wide from well back. In addition, several beaten favorites either set the pace or raced along the rail. With apologies to that hairy dude in those insurance commercials (boy, did that smug lizard blow him outa the water, or what?), figuring out this night's bias was so easy that even a caveman could do it: " Speed bad, wide good..er arrrrr..grrrr"

Sat, Sept 11 (fast) The course seemed fair as several winners moved around rivals, and several others raced reasonably close to the inside. Just one winner, a cleverly concealed fts from an obscure barn, was off at double digits, so we can't blame bias if our selections struggled.

Fri, Sept 10 (fast) Six front-running winners and two early leaders that finished second. Even though five of those winners were 8/5 or lower, it's hard to not conclude that speed had a considerable advantage. Given the option, most jockeys made a point of angling wide.

Tues, Sept 7  (fast???)  If you didn't get well on the grass, sorry, that ship has sailed. All dirt until next Memorial Day. Several early races went to wide movers. Two of those horses, however, were strongly supported, and some later winners raced considerably closer to the rail. Sporadic rains during the card must have changed how the course played. 

Mon, Sept 6 (fast) In the night's first dirt race, a 6/5 fav blew most of  a nine-length lead. So perhaps it's not surprising that no subsequent race was wired. But most of the pacesetters were longshots and figured on paper to stop. Whatever your call on that, a wide bias was definitely in play.

Sun, Sept 5 (fast) Wide runners from within striking distance seemed to have the best of it. Until the late double ran 2-2, with one of those winners scraping paint. Tricky call then, on path bias, but we'll say slight dead-rail. Pure fronts had the worst of it. Well-bet leaders got caught left and right.

Sat, Sept 4 (fast)  Kudos to the chart-callers for consistently informing players about who ran on what part of the track. Spare me the 'lacked fullest room 9/16' stuff. This place is about the bias, and trouble gets overbet. So in accordance with those paragons of the pressbox, whose short comments on tonight's winners ranged from 'ins surge' to 'bid4w,' we can assume the strip was uniform. While speed and stalkers fared equally well, late runners did have the worst of it.

Fri, Sept 3 (good) A ground-saving trip to take race-one was hardly a harbinger (cool word, huh? hope I used it right) of subsequent results, as no winner got near the rail after that. Seven winners were 1-2 at the 1/4 pole, so it's clear that kickers could not catch a break.

Tues, Aug 31 ( fast) Just seven dirt races tonight, and with favorites snaring four of them, and 3-1 shots two more, no case for a bias would be easy to make. No rain until Fri, btw.

Mon, Aug 30 (fast) Another achingly gorgeous day, nice enough, with my 15-yr- old back in school, to mourn the fun we can no longer share on weekdays. By dark, I had something to REALLY mourn: my selections, a parade of speeds swallowed up by the surface. Five dirt races had a horse in front by at least one length at the first call, but only one of those-a 3/5 Shanyfelt trainee-went on to score. The mountain-main can be cruel to swift types that clear early, especially so when a wide-bias is in play. That seemed the case as several winners took the overland route.

Sun, Aug 29 (fast) Tonight's first 100 minutes were brutal on longshot seekers still reeling from yesterday. The chalk-storm finally let up in race-five, as an 8-1 winner established that wide ralliers had a fair shot, even in sprints. A rail-draw streaked gate to wire in the finale to prove that inside speed was ok as well. Fair.

Sat, Aug 28 (fast) Mid 80's no humidity, brilliant sunshine: WHAT a day! And what a night for chalk-players, as 6/8 main-track winners were pounded 8/5 or lower. Sadly, several of those shorties were less than obvious to me. The public, however, seemed to be finding the best horse rather than detecting any trend. Fair.

Fri, Aug 27 (fast) Did you suspect (just a little) that wider paths might have the edge after watching a 6-1 win a virtual match-race in the opener over a 3/5 racing closer to the inside? It seemed like 7's, 8's and 9's found the winner's circle all night after that, which (sort of) substantiated our initial thoughts. One or two winners DID race not far from the rail, however, so a path bias is not something we would base future wagers on.

Tues, Aug 24 (fast) Six of eight main- track winners fall within our definition of speed. On the other hand, this was a total chalkfest, so it's unlikely these favs needed help from the footing. And if the strip WAS pro-speed, why did numerous place horses rally from way back?

Mon, Aug 23 (fast) After the evening's second dirt race went to a runner racing 3-wide, last night's (tenuous?) rail-bias seemed gone. Nor did we get the visual impression that inner paths had an edge. But looking back now over the charts, certain performances indicate otherwise. Our suppositions about Sunday were shaky enough, so let's be safe and call Monday fair.

Sun, Aug 22 (good) Almost, but not completely dry, with all ten run on dirt. It's shorter odds George Clooney can't get a date than that the mountain-main will be pro-rail on a given night-and that's WEEKENDS included. A case can be made, however, that George went stag this evening, as three winners show the 'r' word in drf's short comments, and one of those scored by the night's widest margin. And if you don't think that inside trips had even a slight edge, start saving right now to unload next time on Trekkie. He's a 20-1 that dueled life and death from the rail on fast splits, yet finished a close second in race-8.

Sat, Aug 21 (fast-sloppy) No grass this evening, and the strip was a quagmire by the 6th or 7th. ( If your kid ever utters the word 'quagmire,' you can forget any hopes for him that don't involve a daily racing form.) Four of six races run on slop were wired. Since one of those winners was 14-1, and another showed tiring sprint lines, yet won big at a route, you've gotta think speed had the best of it once the surface was wet.

Fri, Aug 20 (fast) Just one winner went off higher than 7/2, and that was a 5-1 shot who had a big chance on paper. So if there was a track trend, the public certainly sniffed it out. From our perspective, solid contenders simply capitalized on decent trips.

Tues, Aug 17 (fast) While strategy and race-flow dictated turf results this evening, luck played a key role on dirt. Seventh- race winner Dance World, for instance, saw an opening appear just in time for his late surge, and the finale went to a 5-1 shot fortunate that the favorite broke slowly. Consider also that chalk broke down while leading the feature, and it seems fate had more influence than the surface on tonight's action. 

Mon, Aug 16 (fast) Just one of the seven main-track winners wound up higher than 9/2. All in all, a formful night of racing marred considerably by that four-horse spill. Ray Ganpath's condition was cause for much concern, so we were happy to learn that his remarkable comeback-season can resume within a few days.

Sun, Aug 15 (good) Speed took the first four races on a nearly-dried strip. Somebody rich bet their bankroll on two of those horses, though, and no subsequent winner used front-running tactics. If there was some trend in play, DeShawn Parker, who piloted five winners, obviously had it figured.  We still can't see it. Track fair.

Sat, Aug 14 (sloppy) How unreal to have such a hot, dry summer just several months after the wettest, coldest winter in memory.  The rains finally won out after two races, and the strip was sloppy from the third on. As to bias, when a chronic quitter like J Pablito EXTENDS his  cushion through the lane, it would seem that the surface favored speed. Such was not the case, however, as several runners rallied for scores, and stalkers also got a fair shake.

Fri, Aug 13 (fast) Six front-running winners. In fact, the only races that WEREN'T won from the front involved speed-duels or longshot leaders. Two events not taken by speeds went to horses in front at the stretch call. Closers were at an obvious disadvantage, while early speed had a big edge.

Tues, Aug 10 (fast) Just six dirt-races on this card, two of which went to front-runners. Both successful speeds were strongly favored and looked hard to beat on paper. Several winners made up considerable ground, but one of those benefited when the pace-setter broke down on what seemed a winning-lead, and another was treated to a strenous speed-duel that resulted in both combatants being eased to the wire. Running style aside, most 1-2 finishers raced wide, some very wide, through the final drive.

Mon, Aug 9 (fast) Early leaders dominated the first three events, but each of those was a 5/8 dash. Aurora's Secret (8.7-1) proved in race-6 that a good trip and and the right setup could be used to beat the speeds. The 7th- race winner also stalked, while the 8th went to a closer. Fair.

Sun, Aug 8 (fast) If Derby day was about class, this evening was about race-flow. Three of the four front-runners leading by at least 1 length at first call went on to win.  In contrast, speeds forced to battle early tended to fade. When there was a meltdown, early position wasn't crucial to capitalizing, since numerous runners that finished first or second rallied from well back.

 Sat, Aug 7 (fast) Sunny and unseasonably cool for our only afternoon card of the season. Two burning questions were answered right off the bat. Mr. Proud Allen's ground- saving score in the 1st established that Mnr's signature dead-rail bias would not rear it's head. And six-furlongs in 1:13.42 meant that that my home track was comfortable in its own skin and saw no need to manufacture fast times by amping up the surface. Class, rather than bias, ruled the day as Demarcation exited a G1 stakes to take the Governor's from far back, and heavily favored Concorde Point wired the 41st WV Derby.

Fri, Aug 6 (fast) Times still on the slow side, so unless there is some sinister plan to scrape the surface during the wee hours, track records are out of the question tomorrow.  Connections with speed-horses slated postward on the big day could not have been heartened by tonight's trend. Just two winners grabbed the lead early, and one of those was a stakes-placed Team Valor chalk. Not all front-runners are created equal, however, and strong speeds like Dapper Don, who cut-back to take the 6th race, seemed ok , while mercurial types such as Four Boots, who opened wide and folded in the 2nd, had little chance. The strip played uniform.

Tues, Aug 3 (good) Off the grass tonight, with the mountain-main just a bit wet. Three bombs connected, but each of those performances looked legit, rather than aided by some sort of bias. Looking deeper, we see that  four of the seven sprints went to first call leaders, and that would have been five  had the speedy Gadda Da Vida broken cleanly in the 4th . Each of those winners dueled for at least one half -mile, and none were favored. Unlike last night, posts 1 and 2 faired just fine, thank you.  No path bias tonight. Advantage speed at one turn.

Mon, Aug 2 (fast) Weak or contested speeds folded, while stronger front-runners or those allowed to conserve energy held up. None of six favorites that started from either the one or two post managed to win.  But four of those angled out , so we can't hang our bad handicapping entirely on the rail. Sometimes, it's hard to get a handle on the inside lanes here because no jockey gets near them. This was one of those nights.

Sun, Aug 1 (fast) Front-runners accounted for three of the first four dirt-races. Those were sprints, and the next pair of races, both routes, were scored by a rallier and a stalker. A cheap, chronic- bridesmaid closed from 6th to win the six-furlong nightcap, establishing that speed was beatable at a sprint distance. Fair.

Sat, Jul 31 (fast) An even bigger chalkfest, with six winners at 2-1 or lower. This time, though, there were just too many wide winners to rubber-stamp the strip as uniform. And only two races went to early leaders. Those speeds both  took short sprints at short odds,  and one was a Scooter Davis newbie that had recently romped. Early speed was a disadvantage and so was the inside part of the track.

Fri, Jul 30 (fast) After the first several races went to horses racing at least somewhat wide, it looked like last week's run of fair surfaces might be at an end. Those winners figured on paper, however, as did most other results on a card that included five winning favorites and just one double-digit upset. It's hard to make much of a case against the rail when the public is picking winners left and right. When the two-horse wired the finale, our opinion was sealed. Track fair.

Tues, Jul 27 (fast) Four front-running scores from seven dirt races. To lose a sprint on the lead you had to be 40-1, or Cat and Custard, who could quit to quarter horses. There was also the evening's sole dirt route, which went to a grinder capitalizing on a competitive pace. Looking back to the second slot, we find some closers, one of those at huge odds. On the other hand, none of the speed winners went favored. Hmmmmmm. Nobody said sizing up the surface was easy. Probably safer to call it fair than risk manufacturing a bias.

Mon, Jul 26 (fast) Technically, early speed went just 2-8, but some shaky front-runners did hold second, and there were other races that simply set up for ralliers.  Those late runners used all parts of the track. Fair then-for the third night in a row.

Sun, Jul 25 (good) The first three races went to pure speeds. All three were heavily chalked, however, and weren't asked to run farther than five-furlongs. No conclusions from that. At that point, things began to get interesting. No subsequent winner led at first call, and several charged from well behind. Cohost McMichael concluded that a drying-out strip changed as the evening wore on. I felt that later races either ran to form or were shaped by pace.  Your call. 

Sat, Jul 24 (fast) I once read (I think) that the average cushion of victory in a thoroughbred race is 2 lengths-tonight's average almost on the button. And since wide-margin wins tend to indicate a bias of some sort, we have evidence here that the track played fair. Confirming this, no trend seemed apparent when watching the races or reviewing the charts.

Fri, Jul 23 (fast) When up against the notorious dead-rail / dead -speed tag team, chalk players tap out quicker than Kimbo Slice. The reason is that they are selection oriented, and a course that punishes the kind of early acceleration and ground-saving trips that normally win races just isn't conducive to picking winners. Tonight's tickets reflected that truth as no (zero-zilch-nada) winner went favored, only two front-runners scored, and most winners swung wide. 

Tues, Jul 20 (fast) Isn't it said that if you watch the last two minutes of an NBA contest, you've seen the whole game? Tonight's late double was like that, as the NJ Nets (a longshot) rallied around them in the feature, and the Lakers (a 6/5 chalk) wired the finale from the rail. Surface fair. 

Mon, Jul 19 (fast) Off the turf tonight, but the mountain-main was fast. Five early-speed scores isn't all that unusual here, but when two of those are long odds and another almost 8-1, it's likely that front-runners had an edge. Two horses able to overcome the obvious bias raced close up and capitalized on speed-duels, and another sat patiently in second position while a breakaway leader exhausted herself and hit the wall.

Sun, Jul 18 (fast) Wow! What a difference from last night. No change in the weather, and, if anything, clockings were a tad quicker, but this evening, kickers ROCKED.  And when closers weren't cleaning up, horses from several lengths back bid right around the speeds. As you would expect when fronts can't buy a win, the rail was a black hole and wide paths the fastest way to orbit the infield.

Sat, Jul 17 (fast) Four front-running wins from nine dirt-races. Winners that didn't wire included a pair of heavy chalks that bid from easy striking -distance and a presser that challenged with four furlongs remaining in a route. Still, just one winner had command at the first call, so let's label it an anti-closers bias rather than one that required pure-speed.

Fri, Jul 16 (fast) Six winning favorites might seem evidence enough that the track played fair. However, seasoned players know that a pro-speed surface tends to make results more predictable. Eight winners were within two-lengths of the lead at the first call, and nine perfectas would have been hit by boxing the 1-2 runners at the stretch call. Advantage speed.

Tues, Jul 13 (fast-good) A steady drizzle resulted in tonight's second race switching from turf- to- dirt after the first was in the books. We're guessing complaints from daily-double bettors were minimal, since the second race winner looked a major player on either surface. Two of the first three races were won by front-runners angled a little out from the rail.  The third winner scraped paint to prove such steering unnecessary. A surface that got (slightly) wetter as the night progressed stayed fair through the late-double, which paired a chalky kicker with a longshot speed.

Mon, Jul 12 (fast): Added cushion (usually river sand of a fine consistency) never takes long to pack down here, and times tonight fell into par-range. Two speeds, a stalker, and two ralliers accounted for the first five races. After that, all but one winner was 5/2 or lower, and  the exception was a 5-1 never headed enroute to a 15th (16th?) career victory. Clearly, the track played fair to a variety of tactics. Players determined to detect some bias-and they're out there, BELIEVE me- will probably note that 4 beaten chalks broke from the 1, 2, or 3 post. We aren't (quite) that zealous. Track neutral.

Sun, Jul 11(fast): Front-runners so dominate thoroughbred racing, that speed is often called the 'universal bias.'  (Check out Steve Klein's exhaustively- researched  'The Power Of Early Speed' for irrefutable proof.) The strip played a bit quicker, and 6/8 main-track wins were within our definition of 'speed.' One of those fronts was 7-1,  and another nearly twice those odds.  I got news for ya, no bias is THAT universal. The surface strongly favored early- leaders tonight. No path-bias seemed apparent.

Sat, July 10(fast): Still much slower than par, and ralliers couldn't seem to get traction. 6/7 main- track races went to runners racing third or closer at the first call. Beyond that, every winner led at the stretch marker, so nobody passed ANYBODY for all the marbles. Would consider cutting come-off types some slack for poor efforts on this program. 

Fri, July 9:(good) Some showers, but still dry enough for the cushion to be deepened (as scheduled) over the dark days. Despite slow times, early speed did well, as first call leaders won five races on an all-dirt card. Three of those wire-jobs, however, were posted by favorites, and another went to a 2-1 second choice, so it's questionable whether a pro-speed bias really existed. Most of the evening's results, in fact, were too formful to conclude that the strip was anything but fair.  Props to track-super Tom Trevor and his crew.

Tues, July 6:(fast) Torrid temps continue, and it's becoming a full-blown drought here. When a 3/5 bridge-jump dueled inside and missed the night's first trifecta- ticket, you had to wonder if the rail and speed were disadvantages. Actually, speed was able to score, except when saving ground. Excluding the 5th race, which involved a five-horse spill, half of all horses making up part of a perfecta raced at least '4 wide.' Can you say 'dead rail?' AGAIN?  Showers possibly here on Fri.  Cooler temps forecast.

Mon, July 5:(fast) The more the evening progressed, the wider it seemed that winners raced. The 7th and 9th events played out in similar fashion as well-backed leaders were challenged and passed on the turn by longer shots angled around them. The 8th and 9th races went to horses bidding from farther back and racing very wide. Only 6th- race winner Best Book, showing two Aqueduct wins and sent out by super-trainer Cowans, overcame the obvious wide-bias.

Sat, July 3:(fast) The weather man brought the heat, and so did the resilient Bernie Blue, an 8-yr-old near-millionaire who turned 5 1/2 furlongs in a stunning  1:03.63 on a strip not at all souped up for the holiday card. 'Bernie' layed close three- wide and surged to contend on the lower turn, carving a trip that best typified the track-trend. From six dirt- races(all sprints), just one winner led at first call, but five moved into first or second position by the pre-stretch call. Like Bernie Blue, most of those winners moved well out from the fence.  This was a classic *bid-lane' bias. (*See last Sunday's notes for definition.)

Fri,  July 2:(fast) No rain since Monday, and clockings were roughly in par range.  While duels and weak pacesetters led to meltdowns, stronger speeds in control by midturn were able to score. Nothing unusual there. Longshot winners sometimes indicate a bias, but just a pair of bombs tallied, and used distinctly different styles. No particular path seemed to have an advantage, so rather than nitpick about a suspect rail-lane that the jockeys avoid  anyway, let's call the surface fair.

Tues, June 29:(fast)  A sunny, seasonable day didn't dry the turf-course out enough to see action, but the mountain-main was fast by first post.  Since the winners represented a wide range of payoffs and running styles, the strip seemed fair. Look deeper, though, and notice that all three winners held at double-digit odds raced '4 wide' according to drf charts.

Mon, June 28:(sloppy)  Late- afternoon downpours gave the track-super no time to seal a surface downgraded to sloppy just before the evening's opener. Still, the base had plenty of bounce as bottom claimers bettered :45 to the half, and frontrunners (we define a 'frontrunner' as any horse lapped on the lead at the first call and on top by the pace call) took half of the races on an all-dirt card. The average odds on those fronts was nearly 7-1, so the pro-speed bias was exeptionally strong with just one stipulation- each of those five winners was steered at least a little out from the rail.

Sun, June 27:(fast) A specific short-term trend somewhat characteristic of Mountaineer's main track has been termed a 'bid-lane' bias. When this trend sets in, horses racing close up while buffered out from the rail often move to command on the turn and go on to victory. Inside  speed can't win, but neither can wide closers- get it? Tonight's results reflect a classic bid-lane bias as the lead changed hands on the final turn in five of seven dirt races, and the pre-stretch leader accounted for six wins.

Sat, June 26:(fast) Speed went just 1-8, and that winner was a chalky Englehart- dropper who cleared early with Parker and still struggled to hang on at six-furlongs. No other sprint winner raced closer than fourth at the first call, and pair of five-furlong dashes were even taken from well off-the-pace.  Chaos, however, usually ensues on a true pro-closers track, but none of Saturday's sprint winners paid higher than 4-1. Tough call then on how strong the bias really was.

Fri, June 25:(fast) With eight winners first or second at the 'pace' call, it may seem like late-runners had the worst of it, but since four favorites and two second -favorites scored, we'll conclude that the surface was fair in regards to running style. Few riders EVER hug the fence here, so several winners using the two-path must should be taken as proof that last week's wide-bias was no longer in play.

Tues, June 22:(good) Strong rains late last night resulted in a drying surface labeled 'good,' and with three first-call winners, it was obvious that the powerful double-bias had abated. Two of those winners, however, got clear early in mini- dashes, so it's not certain that speed had a totally fair shake. It also seemed that inner-trips raced at a slight disadvantage. Whatever the case, this was NOT another wide-closer's track.

Mon, June 21:(fast) The mountain-main was still dry, and it was more of the same as no winner raced near the rail or led at the first call. The late daily double (both short sprints) seemed to punctuate the prevalent trend as the feature was won widest from last-to-first, while the finale went to a longshot breaking from the far outside and relegated to 6th at the first call.

Sun, June 20:(fast) Did ANYBODY who played this card watch Friday's or Saturday's races? Apparently not, since several horses with speed styles went favored and missed the trifecta ticket, as did a runner breaking from the inside post. The previous night's double-bias (dead-rail, anti-speed) only intensified as six of seven dirt winners closed from the back half of their  fields, and very wide trips trumped even the middle paths. 

Sat, June 19:(fast) When a .5 chalk dueled inside and got blown away by a bomb in the evening's first dirt fray, it seemed likely that the track would play the same as on Fri. Don't be fooled by four horses from the 1 and 2 posts taking top money. Two of those winners gave up ground before angling out, and another circled the field. Just one of seven main-track races went to the early leader.

Fri, June 18:(fast)  Who could have predicted such a lousy week for early speed after watching three of the first four races go to frontrunners? Keep in mind that two of those winners were favorites, and the other was well-bet at 3-1. Also note that eight winners were referenced in drf charts as racing three or four wide.