The 27e walking from the Lexus Raven Run insert Saturday in Keeneland promises to be a great event. A full field of 12 talented 3-year-old fillies, including three who are also eligible, will compete in the seven-furlong dirt race for the lion’s share of the $400,000 purse. Nine participants already have betting wins on their resume.
Wonderful Claire signed the track post position for trainer Phil Bauer. She recently finished second in the Prioress Stakes to Praying, coming back to win the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland during the opening weekend of Fall Stars. At the next start, Delightful Claire finished third in the Dogwood Stakes presented by Resolute Racing to Raven Run competitors Rag time And Strong condition. Vixen is in post position two and will make her first career start on dirt tracks after nine consecutive races on grass for trainer Mark Casse. Strong condition is fresh off her second-place finish after Ragtime in the Dogwood and blinders will be added for trainer Albert Stall Jr. Volleyball princess is a long shot of 30-1 on the morning line for trainer Louis Linder Jr., with Jaime Torres riding for the first time. She has taken just one win from seven starts in her three-year-old campaign, winning by ten lengths in the Ruthless Stakes at Aqueduct in February. Om N Joy makes her first start outside California for trainer Aggie Ordonez. Ordonez also makes her first start outside that state for the first time in her career after 1,430 starts. Reputation dominated the Tyson Gilpin Stakes at Colonial Downs by 6 ¾ lengths two starts back and gets Luan Machado back on board for the first time since recording a victory in an allowance race at Ellis Park in July, where she earned a career-best 94 Equibase Speed Figure.
Maida has won her last three starts by a total of 21 ½ lengths, including an eight-length romp in the Weather Vane Stakes at Laurel Park last time out for the trainer-jockey team of Brittany and Sheldon Russell, who have been firing on all cylinders of late. Usha took her first victory by 11 ½ lengths in her fifth career start after a trainer return to Bob Baffert and dominated an optional allowance race by 5 ¼ lengths last time at Del Mar in early September, earning the highest Equibase Speed Figure of any horse in this field, a 106. Rag time is the 3-1 morning line favorite in the Raven Run, fresh off a 2 ¼ length victory in the Dogwood Stakes. She narrowly missed winning the Grade 1 Test Stakes Presented by Ticketmaster two starts back, losing by a neck. She’s a lifetime 3-for-4, all at this seven-furlong distance. 2025 Longines Kentucky Oaks Contender Just a joke makes her first start since the first Friday in May with a coaching change to the Michael McCarthy barn. Quiet side also ran in the Kentucky Oaks in her most recent start and has won two graded stakes for trainer John Ortiz, including a win over Simply Joking in the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park in March. Vodka with a twist finished at post 12 and will make her eighth career ranking bid against trainer Phil D’Amato, with Luis Saez taking the title. Also eligible Kappa Kappa, TaliesinAnd Genealogy complete the field.
Analysis and top contenders:
Om N Joy is incredibly intriguing at a 15-1 morning line. Om N Joy recorded her first win at 6 ½ furlongs on the dirt in her eighth career start earlier this year in March after four consecutive bids on the grass. Since winning that race at Santa Anita Park by a length and a half, Om N Joy hasn’t looked back, posting five consecutive wins, including a last-place victory in the Torrey Pines Stakes, held a mile on the Del Mar dirt track, good for a 103 Equibase Speed Figure. The runner-up in that race, So There She Was, won the Remington Park Oaks in her next start. Tenma, a four-time stakes winner, also finished third at Torrey Pines as 3-5 favorite. In her only start at the seven-furlong distance of the Raven Run, Om N Joy dominated the Fleet Treat Stakes by 4 ¼ lengths at Del Mar in July, a race where third, fifth and tene-place finishers all came back to win their next start. This Om filly has achieved three consecutive rising Equibase speed figures for Saturday’s race. With a keen ability to find the winner’s circle, a dominant win at this seven-furlong distance, a win at an open-ranked company last time out and the connections willing to take the gamble on shipping across the country, Om N Joy looks set for a surprise at a great price.
Godolphins Rag time looks incredibly tough for the team of trainer Bill Mott and jockey Junior Alvarado. Historically, Bill Mott has won an impressive 42% in high-stakes races with Godolphin horses over the past four years, recording 22 wins from 53 starts. This Union Rags filly won her first two career starts by a combined nine lengths from seven furlongs on dirt at Saratoga in each start before narrowly missing the Test by a neck in her third career start. Second place was no deterrent as she went clear last time out to win the Dogwood Stakes by 2 ¼ lengths, finishing full of run after a slow start and splitting horses on the sixteenth pole in a very impressive victory under Alvarado. Ragtime is also out of the mare Burmilla, whose offspring have dominated the dirt sprints with a total of 12 victories on six horses. This filly meets all requirements and also ranks first in terms of average speed. Her morning line price of 3-1 would be a gift and she shouldn’t miss any tickets.
Quiet side by 6 ¼ lengths on her career debut at Saratoga last August, before finishing second in the Spinaway Stakes and third in the Darley Alcibiades Stakes to eventual champion juvenile mare Immersive. She then finished second to Good Cheer in the Golden Rod Stakes and second to Take Charge Milady in the Martha Washington Stakes before winning back-to-back graded stakes races in the Honeybee Stakes and Fantasy Stakes. In the Fantasy, Quietside earned a career 100 Equibase Speed Figure for her three-quarter victory over Raven Run competitor Simply Joking. This will be Quietside’s first start since finishing sixth on a wet fast track at Churchill Downs in the Kentucky Oaks; however, she put in some fantastic performances at Churchill and Keeneland over the summer, including a sharp four-furlong routine in :47.40 at Keeneland on October 4. Although the Raven Run will be her first start at a sprint distance since her second-place finish in the Spinaway, this Malibu Moon filly is very talented and should have a tough time against this great group of fillies.
The rest of the field, with their best Equibase speed figures in comparable races, does Wonderful Claire (103), Vixen (107), Strong condition (97), Volleyball princess (95), Reputation (94), Maida (98), Usha (106), Just a joke (98), Vodka with a twist (102), Kappa Kappa (AE) (89), Taliesin (AE) (103), Genealogy (AE) (95).
Win contenders in preference order:
Om N Joy
Rag time
Quiet side
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