Who's The "Mountaineer Maven" On Here?

[Thomas Roulston]

How do they get away with running 7 furlongs on the turf without the jockeys kvetching about the short run to the first turn? And an old diagram from the American Racing Manual lists the run from the finish line to the first turn as 260 feet at what was then known as Waterford Park (the last issue of the Manual that included this information was 1981).

The track record for 7 furlongs on turf at Mountaineer is an impressive 1:20 2/5 (1:20.43) by Carters Gap on May 23, 2015. The race had the same 10-horse field that MNR observes as the limit for races at all distances, on both dirt and turf.

But the thing I'm really curious about is the shape of the track, which the diagram appears to show as being asymmetrical, with the clubhouse turn shorter than the far turn, and the upper stretch closer to the grandstand than the part of the track past the finish line

The diagram of Calder/GPW shows the opposite, with the upper stretch further away from the grandstand than the approach to the clubhouse turn - and unlike Mountaineer, the Calder/GPW oval is symmetrical (at least the turf course is; the main track is widest at the beginning of the backstretch and at the top of the stretch).

The track record for 7 furlongs on the turf at Calder/GPW is 1:22 1/5 (1:22 .36), established by Carterista on June 19, 1993. On that same day, Hopeful Angel won another 7-furlong turf course in 1:22 3/5 (1:22.75). Both races had 10-horse fields.

[Jeff P]

One of the data projects I've taken on this year involves looking at satellite images of tracks that I bet - and giving some thought about how track layout sometimes shapes race outcomes.

Many 'diagrams' that I've seen are approximations of track layout only.

For example, the 'diagram' shown as part of the video presentation before every race at Charlestown could easily mislead someone into thinking Charlestown is much more rounded than it actually is.

If you're looking for accuracy:

Stay away from 'diagrams.'

Satellite images are what you want.

That said, below is a screenshot from Google Maps (satellite view) showing Mountaineer.

Hint: The tail end of the red marker is located approximately where the finish line is.



-jp

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[Zman179]

Some guy here named "mountainman" might know a smidge about that track. Pure rumors though and mere speculation on my part.

[VeryOldMan]

Wouldn't it be great if this board had Mountaineer's handicapper participate and had active participation by its former race caller?

[Elliott Sidewater]

I've got the clubhouse turn at 1307 ft. and the stretch turn at 1379 ft. So the track is not symmetrical, but the diagram exaggerates the degree of asymmetricality. Hope that helps.