Mountaineer: The Year-Round Mecca of Racing

[sparkywowo]

Living in Central Indiana, and having a day job, I find Mountaineer Park to be a reasonable track to watch and bet for several reasons, here are the pros and cons from my perspective:

Pros:
1) They run at night, five days a week, year round
2) They have a turf course
3) They get close to the 10 horse limit in most fields
4) The purses are good for cheap claimers, and decent otherwise

Cons:
1) As far as I can tell there are only two consistently trustworthy jocks, the rest are crappy, timid or unreliable
2) They do get quite a few ship ins, and, they can be hard to evaluate
3) FORM: cripes, I think this is the holy grail of handicapping today, it can be undecipherable but is often not as bad as it looks
4) Some cheap races are void of absolute eliminations
5) Consistency of the track surface is hard for me to understand, sometimes speed just rules, other times the rail is dead
6) The exotic take is on the high side
7) The camera work isn't so hot before and during the post parade so evaluating body language and warm up is hampered a bit

So, if you have an interest in Mountaineer, why not drop your 2 cents here.
I am going to start making my own speed-pace figures and try to evaluate race shapes so I can judge more accurately from watching the races, and reviewing the charts, the track condition and who ran better/worse than it appears.

[JimG]

You forgot a "pro"...watching Mark (mountainman here on PA) and Nancy do their thing. They talk about each horse, which if you are not a local, can be helpful at times.

Jim

[QuarterCrack]

Mark and Nancy are great. I like that they take the time to say something, anything, about every horse in the field. In addition, I think the camerawork in the paddock is really good at Mountaineer - a lot of time spent showing all the horses. You get better than the "five-second glimpse" (although they could spend more time showing the warmups, I'd say).
I've always felt that Mountaineer puts out one of the better simulcast shows you'll find.

[sparkywowo]

Thanks!
I suppose I should add that I do like Mountaineer, and that most of the cons are really shortcomings in my knowledge base which can be fixed with work.

[Zaf]

MNR is great and presently my favorite circuit. Making speed figures can be tricky. You must be aware of when they winterize the track because it significantly changes the speed of the track. Also I do not like to play off tracks at MNR, I can usually throw all my handicapping out the window. In the winter months there is a tendency for off tracks quite often. I agree with all of the positives listed here. The negatives do not bother me that much. Just keep bringing on those full fields.

ZAFONIC

[cnollfan]

Pro: The trackman comments are more colorful at Mnr than elsewhere, e.g. "wilted."

[Fred]

Con: Mnr does not offer a P4 wager


Freddy

[Buddha]

Originally Posted by Fred

Con: Mnr does not offer a P4 wager


Freddy

I would like to see a pick4 or two, and possibly more pick 3s, either rolling, or offer like 3 or 4 on the card. unfortunately, the betting menu at mnr hasnt changed for like 6 years.

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by Fred

Con: Mnr does not offer a P4 wager
Freddy

now that made me laugh.........me picking 4 races in a row at the Mountain would take a 10k ticket..........

[joeyspicks]

I like Mark and Nancy both. Mark in particular can give some very insightful comments.

[sparkywowo]

The other pro I forgot was the 10 race cards. I don't know how the West Coast Tracks get away with 8 race cards. I like Emerald Downs, but they have these weekday 8 race cards and weekends the races are too far apart, like every 30 minutes on Saturday. Moutaineer gives you 10 and moves 'em right along.

Got Friday's form the other day, card looks bland. Got Saturday's card today, looks quite promising.

Saw a post on another thread (thanks to cnollfan) about the outside bias at Mountaineer, saying the following days were particularly noticeable: Apr 23,24, May 22, Jun 12,13,18, Jul 10,24,25, Aug 7,12,13.

I have also noticed that the minimum payoff seems to be $2.20 at Mountaineer. Earlier in the year (9th race on June 21st) a heavily minus show pool paid $2.20. But, I can't find it in writing anywhere.

[Vegas711]

Originally Posted by QuarterCrack

Mark and Nancy are great. I like that they take the time to say something, anything, about every horse in the field. In addition, I think the camerawork in the paddock is really good at Mountaineer - a lot of time spent showing all the horses. You get better than the "five-second glimpse" (although they could spend more time showing the warmups, I'd say).
I've always felt that Mountaineer puts out one of the better simulcast shows you'll find.

You have got to be kidding??????

[Zaf]

Originally Posted by sparkywowo

I don't know how the West Coast Tracks get away with 8 race cards.

They have no choice / no bloodstock.

10 race cards would produce smaller fields than they have now

ZAFONIC

I believe that West Virginia has a 10 cent ($2.20 for $2) minimum payout.

[Buddha]

Originally Posted by midnight

I believe that West Virginia has a 10 cent ($2.20 for $2) minimum payout.

yes, the minimum payout is $2.20. Bridgejumpers can make 10% instead of 5% at the big tracks