Raven Run (Grade 2)- $400.000 Purse
KEE- For Fillies Three Years Old
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
October 18, 2025
We started off with ten horses for the Grade 2 Raven Run at KEE on Saturday, but after an early scratch, we are left with nine that will be looking to pick up the winner’s share of the $400.000 purse. That’s a high mark for this race, as it had been at $350.000 for the last three years and had been lower prior to that. Last year, it was Nazca Lines coming from off the pace to win by a length for Delta Farms. She is still active but has been hit and miss since her win here. Here’s a look at the nine that we will be seeing this time around:
1- Hunt The Stars (John Henry, ridden by M Franco)- Joined John Henry’s stable a few days after he won an optional claimer at SAR by virtue of a $250.000 private sale. Debuted for the trainer at the same track, but in the Grade 3 Prioress, and she would run third in that race. Earlier in the year, she did win the Grade 3 Miss PS against three others, and I would look for her to maximize her potential now in this barn. Works well and may get it done right here.
2- Lucille (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by P Husbands)- An experienced filly that will make her 17th career start, but it has, in actuality, been a very quiet three-year-old season for her. In eight starts in 2025, she has a singular third place run as her lone time of hitting the board. On multiple occasions, she’s been near the back, so it is not as if she’s close. Now, for the first time in 14 months, she will run in a sprint. Got to try something, but these are accomplished sprinters she is up against.
3- Promote Violence (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by D E Centeno)- This filly means business in name, and has won two of her nine starts up to this point. Since breaking her maiden after several tries, she has been on her best form, later winning an allowance at the Spa which was followed by a third-place performance in the Grade 1 Test at SAR, where she was within a length of the winner. Not as good last time out, but may have been too far back early.
4- Thousand Hours (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Was at her best this spring, putting together a three-race winning streak, two being in KYO preps, highlighted by the Grade 2 Fantasy at OP. Seemed like she would run better in the KYO than she actually did, though would run third in the Acorn. Only recently has Mb Stables cut back on her distance, but the results have not been there for her as of yet.
5- Gigafemme (Big Guns Stables, ridden by M E Smith)- Early in her career, she made some noise in NY-bred stakes, and prior to August, that is where she had won the majority of her money. It would be in late August at the bullring of CT where she got that first graded win of her career, and it was in large fashion at the $750.000 Grade 2 CT Oaks. Followed that up with a head scratcher in the Grade 3 Dogwood but she has not been immune to a dud here and there over her lifetime, so that may have been all that was.
6- Rising Artist (Nakamura Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- This will be just the second time that Rising Artist has been in a sprint on the main track, and the previous race resulted in an impressive wire to wire in a DMR optional claimer. Her two starts since then have not been pretty, so this filly will look to get back to what worked in July. The other two races she has won have been at over a mile, but not nearly at the level she has been running at recently.
7- Houseofidentity (Noblepark, ridden by Jo Torres)- We have Noblepark winning the companion race to this, the Perryville, with Aggravated Jung, and he may have a good chance to sweep both of these races. Houseofidentity has won her last three, getting comfortable with a return to sprints. The streak began with the $100.000 Maryfield Stakes at MTH but has since gone on to include the Grade 3 Prioress and the Grade 3 Dogwood, each coming from off the pace and all of those wins have been with Jo Torres aboard. It’s hard to keep pulling out wins in races like this consecutively, but she has a very good shot to do so.
8- Hot Pants (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by R M Hernandez)- After winning a couple of overnights this spring, Hot Pants was sold to Maxmillion Farm for $30.000 and the new trainer immediately had much higher aspirations. Hot Pants would be entered into the Grade 3 Summertime Oaks at SA, where she was second. After winning a SAR optional claimer, she may have been out of her element or at least didn’t like the elements of the sloppy track, with a dud in the Grade 2 Music Stakes on the KD turf. That’s an obvious throw out.
9- Scrumdiddlyumptious (La Canada Racehorses, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- This will be her 18th career start, and she will be looking to win for the ninth time. She’s been hot of late, with three wins in her last four races, all of which were ungraded stakes. Perhaps the best result in that stretch is the one she did not win, where she took on a stronger field, and a couple of those she sees here again in the Grade 3 Prioress. Ran fourth there but was within a length of the winner. Hunt The Stars got the head bob on her in the photo for show. Should be a strong contender again.
10- No Ones Complaining- Scratched
Prediction: 1-7-9-5
— NS
Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES