Via Fox Sports Networks, the 44th running of the grade II, $750,000 West Virginia Derby will be televised live throughout most of the United States. The 1 1/8-mile event will be run Sat., August 3, at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort, and will be featured on a one-hour telecast beginning at 5 p.m. EDT.
The telecast will also be carried live by several Fox affiliates: Root Sports in the Pittsburgh, Pa., and Rocky Mountain regions; MSG Plus in the East; and on a delayed basis by Prime Ticket in the West.
Chris Lincoln will be the telecast's host. Kurt Hoover will be the analyst and handicapper. Jill Byrne will do interviews and provide additional handicapping. The race caller will be Mountaineer's Peter Berry. David Bruner will produce the telecast, and David Newman will direct.
"This will be my first West Virginia Derby since 2009," Lincoln said. "I've always been impressed by the quality of Mountaineer's stakes program, and by the quality of the participating horses and horsemen."
Further included on the telecast will be the 17th running of Mountaineer's $200,000 West Virginia Governor's Stakes, for 3-year-olds and up at a distance of 1 1/16 miles. The Governor's Stakes has a scheduled post of 5:12 p.m. EDT. The West Virginia Derby's post is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. EDT. .