$100,000 MOUNTAINEER CLASSIC HIGHLIGHTS 2021 WHEELING STAKES SCHEDULE

In last year’s championship final of the $100,000 Mountaineer Classic at Wheeling Island, West Virginia-bred sprinter CG’s Penny Shoe closed deep in the stretch to give the Abrahamson Kennel and trainer Tom Engle their biggest stakes victory ever.

CG’s Penny Shoe went on to earn 2020 first team All-American honors from the National Greyhound Association as well as a spot on the all-Wheeling team.

The $100,000 Mountaineer Classic is back this year and highlights the 2021 stakes schedule for Wheeling Island.

The racetrack’s featured stakes event is scheduled for October and is sandwiched between a pair of West Virginia Greyhound Owners and Breeders Association championships – a juvenile and a middle distance stake. The stakes schedule has been approved by the West Virginia Racing Commission.

Just like last year, there is no start requirement for greyhounds coming in from other racetracks as well as Wheeling-based racers for the Mountaineer Classic. Greyhounds must only have one schooling race and need not have reached a certain grade to enter the stakes event.

The winning greyhound will receive approximately 40 percent of the total stakes purse – a check of $42,000. Runner up is worth $18,000 with the third place finisher receiving $13,000 and fourth place getting $10,000.

Fifth and sixth place will receive $5,500 each while seventh and eighth will get $3,000 apiece.

There will be three qualifying rounds – Sunday, Oct. 3, Friday, Oct. 8 and Wednesday, Oct. 13 – before the semifinals on Sunday, Oct. 17. The championship final will be on Saturday, Oct. 23.

The 2020 Mountaineer Classic had an opening field of 88 sprinters.

The $35,000 WVGOBA Juvenile Stakes (5/16th) will be held in September. The first round is set for Friday, Sept. 10, the second round on Wednesday, Sept. 15 and the semi-finals on Sunday, Sept. 19.

The juvenile stakes final is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 25.

The $65,000 WVGOBA Keystone Championship (3/8th) starts on Friday, Nov. 12, with the second round on Wednesday, Nov. 17. The semifinals will be contested on Sunday, Nov. 21.

The Keystone stakes championship is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 27.