Valley View (Grade 3)- $300.000 Purse
KEE- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
October 28, 2022

While the Valley View seemed to be an evenly matched race on paper, it would end up as a two horse race at the end. Both Venture In Belief and Scalp would be the class of the field and would have a good battle amongst themselves before Venture In Belief prevailed at the wire by a beck for Night Rider Stables. For the trainer, it is his first win in the Valley View, and he will enjoy the largest purse that the race has ever offered. Jockey E J Zayas is also a first time winner. Congratulations to them! The winning race time was 1:39.91, and that is a new record for the stake, which is only fitting given the purse increase. Let’s take a look at it!

(½ Mile- :23.65)- Venture In Belief gets right to the lead for Night Rider Stables and holds a length and a victory over two stalkers. One of them is Scalp, the Spankys Barn filly that she would be dealing with at the end of the race. The other is Coup Coup Nancy, from TwinTowersRacing, and she rides the rail. Go back another length and a half and you will find Catawba (Sccj Stables) and Shrupp (Royalty Stables) running side by side. Trailing is the horse we picked, Threshold’s Hollywood Tours.

(½ Mile- :46.93)- Heading down the backstretch, Venture In Belief is looking very strong, pulling out to a two length lead at one point and that carries into the top of the turn. Meanwhile, Scalp has pulled comfortably ahead of Coup Coup Nancy, but more because that one is ready getting leg weary. Shrupp is set to pass her for third, but they are around four lengths from the front. Catawba has dropped to the back with Hollywood Tours.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Venture In Belief continues to run well at the front, and at this point she might just be thinking this is a workout because she has not had a horse near her all race. Scalp is as much a clear second as Venture In Belief is a clear leader, and is within a length and a half heading into the stretch. For anyone else to be a factor, it would be a massive effort at this point.

(Finish- 1:39.91)- Within the stretch, Venture In Belief continues to hold a length lead, but Scalp isn’t going to give her the win that easily. As they approached the wire, it still looked like Venture In Belief had it in the bag, but Scalp made a valiant push to force a photo. Venture In Belief would hold on to the victory over Scalp. There were, as I understand it, four other horses in this race, but you would be forgiven if you never noticed them. A third place dead heat would be present by Catawba and Hollywood Tours, with Shrupp and Coup Coup Nancy rounding it out.

About The Winner- Venture In Belief, trained by Night Rider Stables and ridden to victory by E J Zayas, is a three year old filly by Hagstone and is out of Haimgaye. She was bred by Hunterman Stable in Kentucky as a third quarter two year old and was acquired by Night Rider Stables with a $5.000 claim in May. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fifth in 12 starts, her second stake win and first graded win. Her career earnings are now $279.160.

Track: Firm
Time: :23³  :46⁴  1:10   1:39⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 5 Paid 47.30
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 5 – 1 Paid 128.10, 2 – 5 – 6 Paid 77.20

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES