Raven Run (Grade 2)- $250.000 Purse
KEE- For Fillies Three Years Old
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
October 17, 2015
Only two trainers saw fit to enter horses in the 11th running of the Grade 2 Raven Run, and Drabfantasy has made his intentions clear of picking up a win in this race. That trainer has entered three of the four horses in the field, and make no mistake, there are no “field fillers” among them. Mb Stables will saddle the horse that can spoil Drabfantasy’s plans in this race. It is a small field, but a good field with each horse winning a graded stake at some point between July 3rd of this year and today. Small fields have been common in this race, as none of the prior editions have had more then seven entries. The winner of the first Raven Run, Beale Street remains the race’s most prolific winner with just over $1,200.000 in career earnings. Neither Drabfantasy or Mb Stables have won this race before. Who will get the win? Let’s meet the field!
#1- Angelic Appeal (Mb Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- The trainer is a little more accustomed to being the one with the multiple entries in a race instead of running on 1-on-3. He will bring Angelic Appeal to the starting gate and this filly seems to love this distance. Her last time out, in the G3 CT Oaks was also a seven furlong event, and she had a good trip just off the lead to strike for the win late in the race last month. It was the third win in five starts for Angelic Appeal, who has also won the $500.000 WO Oaks this year. She is coming off a career high SRF and it looks to me like she ran the best race of her career that day. That’s worth a mention, because she beat Golden Broomstick by just half a length in that one, and Golden Broomstick has been a little more consistent with the upper 90 SRF numbers.
#2- Grey Wind (Drabfantasy, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- On the same day that Angelic Appeal and Golden Broomstick were butting heads in the CT Oaks, Grey Wind was dealing with a sloppy track at CD. The race was the Grade 3 Dogwood, at seven furlongs, and Grey Wind essentially went wire to wire. A week prior to that, she won the $55.000 Casino Stakes at ALB. She’ll be glad to have had a month of rest since those two races. She’s been consistent this year with a 9-3-2-3 record in 2015, all while running against good company. From July 3 to September 19, she raced six times and never missed a beat. She’s probably been wondering where the racetrack has been lately.
#3- Golden Broomstick (Drabfantasy, ridden by J R Leparoux)- She was last seen at BEL in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl and had a fourth place finish on soft BEL turf two weeks ago. That race doesn’t mean much to us here, so look back one more race and you will see the CT Oaks in which she ran against Angelic Appeal. In that race, she was third by half a length while her rival finished the day with a trip to the winners circle. She was a length behind Angelic Appeal at 6F and looks to have gained on her a little bit in the stretch. Although it’s the same distance, it’s a longer stretch, and that might be advantageous to Golden Broomstick to turn the tables on Angelic Appeal here. I believe she will get the job done today.
#4- Rock Dies Happy (Drabfantasy, ridden by J L Ortiz)- It is so common to see horses in the same race that have same sire that it never has us look twice. However, for two horses in the same race with the same dam? And that race being a Grade 2? Both Rock Dies Happy and Grey Wind are three year old fillies old out of Die Happy, but no, they are not twins. Die Happy is part of the Die Laffin line, which is certainly one of the top five bloodlines in the game if not the best. Rock Dies Happy has three wins in five starts, with her last win coming on the fourth of July in the Grade 3 Victory Ride at BEL. She has had six weeks since her last race!
Prediction: 3-1-2-4
Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES
