Photo by Coady Photography Dragoon Guard, one of the nominees to race in the West Virginia Derby on Aug. 4, pictured during the Indiana Derby this past July, a race which the Juddmonte Farms homebred took first place in.

The winners of five derbies in their most recent starts are among the 38 3-year-olds nominated to the $500,000 Grade III West Virginia Derby, which will be held Aug. 4 at Mountaineer Casino, Resort & Races. The 2024 West Virginia Derby will be the 54th in its history.

As was the case last year, the Derby program will be held on a Sunday with first post time set for 5 p.m. The shift from a Saturday afternoon to a Sunday twilight program in 2023 resulted in a year-over-year increase in the amount wagered on the traditional nine-race card that this year again includes the $200,000 Grade III West Virginia Governor’s Stakes.

Trainer Bob Baffert, who has won three editions of the West Virginia Derby, has nominated a pair for the 1 1/8-mile fixture. They are Zedan Racing Stables’ Muth, who won the Grade I Arkansas Derby in his last start March 30, and Gandharvi LLC’s Parenting, who most recently won the Affirmed Stakes in Southern California June 9.

The Juddmonte Farms homebred Dragoon Guard, who captured the Grade III Indiana Derby July 6 and is a winner of three of four races in his career, is one of two colts nominated by trainer Brad Cox. The other is Siena Farm and Win Star Farm’s Timberlake, who earlier in the year won the Grade II Rebel Stakes in Arkansas.

Other nominees are Juddmonte Farms’ Batten Down, winner of the Grade III Ohio Derby June 22; JD Thoroughbreds and Joey Keith Davis’ Henro, who scored in the Iowa Derby July 6; and Adelphi Racing Club, Madaket Stables, Corms Racing Stable and On The Rise Again Stable’s Pandagate, who captured the New York Derby for state-bred runners July 15.

Also nominated is Honor Marie, who is owned Ribble Farms, Michael Eiserman, Earl Silver, Kenneth Fishbein and Dave Fishbein. Honor Marie most recently finished fourth in the Grade I Belmont Stakes June 8 in New York and last year won a Grade II stakes in Kentucky as a 2-year-old.

The 55 nominations for the 1 1/16-mile Governor’s Stakes include last year’s winner–Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Red Route One–and Coleswood Farms’ homebred Coastal Mission, a West Virginia-bred gelding who has won 12 of 22 starts and is multiple graded-stakes placed.

Entries for the Aug. 4 Derby program will be taken July 30.

General admission for Aug. 4 is $10, or $15 which includes a West Virginia Derby glass. Tickets are required for attendance and are available online or at the gate the day of the event. Food trucks will be available beginning at 1 p.m., and there will be live entertainment, bounce houses and a caricature artist from 1-4 p.m.

For more information, contact Tom LaMarra at 859-492-8365 or at tomlamarra@gmail.com.