Raven Run – GII

$400.00 For Fillies Three Years Old – 7 Furlongs – Dirt
Keeneland – October 17, 2026

There are only two weeks left until Keeneland hosts this year’s Breeder’s Cup but there are still races to be run that can potentially impact those races and this Saturday’s G2 Raven Run is one of those. The Raven Run has been run twenty-one times before and all of those runnings have been at seven furlongs as a G2. The current stakes record is held by Bella Chica who won the race for Mb Stables in 2022 with a winning time of 1:21.59. With a forecast right now that promises a fast track seven three year old fillies will line up to try to challenge that time but any of them would be happy to just come away with a win in this prestigious race.

1. Heaven Park (D J C Racing Stables, F. Pennington)
She has won three of her eight lifetime starts with all of those wins coming this season. She made two stakes attempts over the summer at Saratoga running a decent fourth in the Wild Applause before running a fading fifth OCain. Both of those races were on the grass. She moved back to dirt in her last race where she looked impressive in a three length win in a N1X at LAD. That is a two race winning streak on the dirt. She is cutting back in what will be her first dirt sprint hoping to make it three in and an undefeated record on this surface.

2. Top Nurse (Our Athletes, R. Santana Jr.)
She started off the year on the road to the Kentucky Oaks with a good second in the G2 Forward Gal. She then finished sixth in the G2 Davona Dale before moving to the G2 Beaumont, a seven furlong dirt sprint at Keeneland which mirrors the Raven Run. She set the pace early that day before fading to fifth a length back of the winner. Since then we have seen her mostly on the grass in shorter races but she is coming back to dirt and trying the longer seven furlongs for the first time since the Beaumont. Usually shows early speed but took back in her last race the 6.5 furlong G2 The Music City Stakes and closed very well to finish fourth. That tactic may help her navigate the longer distance. 

3. Zifi (Mb Stables, J.R. Velasquez)
She won two back to back NY-bred stakes at the end of her two year old season. She has been running in graded races most of this season and although she has not come away with a win she has consistently been a contender and threatening to break through. Her last two races have been at the Raven Run distance of seven furlongs. She finished third in the G2 CT Oaks in late August and followed that up with a near miss second in the G2 Dogwood at Churchill Downs a month ago. She set the early pace in both of those efforts before fading late but will try the same seven furlongs again. Third time’s the charm?

4. Dismantle (Mb Stables, P. Lopez)
Draws right outside of her more accomplished stablemate. After breaking her maiden at Gulfstream Park in February she was given a shot in the G2 Santa Anita Oaks where she ran a disappointing ninth. She regrouped winning a N1X at Churchill Downs in May and then took her first stakes win at Del Mar in July winning the Fleet Treat Stakes for CA-breds. She then gave graded company another try in the G3 Prioress at Saratoga where missed by a half length finishing second to Acapulco Gray who is one of the top three year old sprinting fillies. Talented and improving.

5. Grecia Tieta (Waldo, F.T. Alvarado)
Talented Waldo homebred filly has been carefully handled and not rushed this season which has produced good results. She began her year with a promising win in the Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita in January. She then set the pace in the G2 Davona Dale but faded to eighth late. She was not pushed along the Kentucky Oaks path after that but did give the G2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes a shot but she ran a flat seventh that day. We have seen her twice since then and she has seemed to revert to her early season form finishing a fast closing third in the G3 Selene Stakes at 1 1/16 miles. She then cut back to 6 1/2 furlongs for the G3 Bernardo at Del Mar where she was a come from behind winner. She became a graded stakes winner that day and also posted a 100 SRF speed figure, the best of her career. She has been rested since that August win. Obviously a main contender if she brings her best form. 

6. Keimars Mistress (Luz International, M.E. Smith)
She is a four time stakes winner. Three of those stakes wins were in restricted TX-bred races but she also has a win in the Audubon Oaks in August on her resume. That win was at the seven furlong distance she will be asked to navigate in the Raven Run. She made her graded stakes debut in her last start, the G2 CT Oaks where she finished fourth two lengths behind the talented Exciting. It is worth noting that she finished a length behind Zifi who was ahead of her in third that day. Keeneland offers a very different track configuration which may help Keimars Mistress turn the tables. 

7. Island Fever (D J C Racing Stables, S.X. Bridgmohan)
D J C Racing Stables gets the bookend draw with Heaven Park on the rail and Island Fever on the outside. Island Fever has only been off the board one time this season in her six races. That is the good news. The bad news is that the one time she didn’t place in the top three was in her last start which was her graded stakes debut. She finished fifth in the G3 Prioress. She was more than two lengths behind Dismantle that day who she will face again. Her connections can be encouraged however by her effort in the Fleet Treat Stakes where she finished only a half length behind Dismantle who was the winner that day. Island Fever seemed to like the seven furlong distance of the Fleet Treat much better than the shorter six furlongs of the Prioress. The Raven Run is seven furlongs so she should not be ignored. 

Zifi could get away from this group and wire the field but I think the winner will come from off the pace at the seven furlong distance. I will give Keimars Mistress the pick for the win ignoring her last in the bullring. Put Grecia Tieta second followed by Zifi and Island Fever.

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES