Month: October 2023

Alva Starr Seeks Second Straight Graded Win In Raven Run

Dale Ladner's Alva Starr, runaway winner of the Prioress (G2) at Saratoga in her most recent start, headlines a field of nine 3-year-old fillies entered  for the 25th running of the $350,000 Lexus Raven Run (G2) to be contested Saturday at Keeneland.

A winner of three of five races for trainer and co-breeder Brett Brinkman, Alva Starr made her graded stakes debut in the six-furlong Prioress and led all the way in posting an 8¾-length victory. Tyler Gaffalione has the mount on Alva Starr for the seven-furlong Raven Run and will exit post position 7.

Ladner and trainer and co-breeder Brett Brinkman have been down this road before.

Two years ago, they came to Keeneland for the Raven Run  with a filly they co-bred named Cilla, who had just posted a breakthrough Grade 2 victory in the Prioress.

Alva Starr, like her half-sister Cilla, comes in for the Raven Run off victory in the Prioress.

“Alva Starr is faster than Cilla,” said Brinkman, who trained both fillies for Ladner. “They are a little bit different in disposition in that Alva Starr can be a little standoffish.”

Cilla was making her 11th career start when she finished third in the Raven Run. Alva Starr will be making only her sixth start Saturday.

“She won her first start last year at Delaware Park, and I brought her here for a stakes and was not happy with how she was doing,” Brinkman said. “So I scratched her and backed off her, and it has worked out well. You can tell a big difference in her maturity.”

On Sunday morning, Alva Starr put in her final work for the Raven Run with a half-mile breeze in :49 with Gaffalione up.

“I was looking for an easy :48 or :49 and let Tyler get a feel for her,” Brinkman said. “Nothing like last week (a 5-furlong breeze in :58).”

This is not the first time a Gaffalione has ridden for Brinkman.

“Tyler's dad (Steve) rode for me at Calder when I first got my trainer's license,” Brinkman said.

Alva Starr's dam is Sittin At the Bar, who also has produced stakes winners Club Car and Jack the Umpire, the latter of whom began his career with Ladner and Brinkman.

“Dale names most of the horses,” Brinkman said. “Jack the Umpire was named after an uncle of his who was a high school baseball umpire.”

And Alva Starr?

“They filmed the movie 'This Property Is Condemned' (in 1966) in his hometown of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and the high school kids got to hang out with the actors,” Brinkman said. “Alva Starr's character was played by Natalie Wood.”

Also in the field for the Lexus Raven Run are recent Grade 3 winners Lady Radler and Vahva.

Mellow Patch Inc.'s Lady Radler posted a 23-1 upset in the seven-furlong Dogwood (G3) at Churchill Downs on Sept. 23 for trainer Michael Campbell. Jesus Castanon has the mount for the Lexus Raven Run and will break from post position 8.

Belladonna Racing, Edward Hudson Jr., West Point Thoroughbreds, Nice Guys Stables and Twin Brook Stables' Vahva won the seven-furlong Charles Town Oaks (G3) as the favorite in her most recent start for trainer Cherie DeVaux. Vahva will be ridden by John Velazquez and break from post position 4.

The field for the Lexus Raven Run, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Lily Poo (Gerardo Corrales, 118 pounds), Simply Stated (Luis Saez, 118), Nom de Plume (Flavien Prat, 118), Vahva (Velazquez, 118), Apple Picker (Sheldon Russell, 118), Dazzling Blue (Florent Geroux, 118), Alva Starr (Gaffalione, 120), Lady Radler (Castanon, 118), Ancient Peace (Ricardo Santana Jr., 118).

The post Alva Starr Seeks Second Straight Graded Win In Raven Run appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Keeneland To Spotlight Pioneering Jockey Cheryl White

Cheryl White, who in 1971 became the first licensed Black female jockey in this country to win a Thoroughbred race, is the subject of two events taking place at Keeneland on Saturday, Oct 21.

From 8-10 a.m. (ET), Keeneland will spotlight White's historic career during Sunrise Trackside, a free, family-friendly event. Children will learn what it takes to ride a racehorse, and Keeneland will donate new Breyer sets featuring a figure of White, model horse Jetolara (her first winning mount) and a copy of the new book The Jockey & Her Horse, co-written by her brother Raymond White Jr., to a few lucky winners.

From 1-3 p.m., The Keeneland Shop and Keeneland Library will host a signing with Raymond White Jr. outside The Keeneland Shop. Cheryl White Breyer sets and copies of The Jockey & Her Horse will be available to purchase.

White learned about racing from her father, jockey, and trainer Raymond White Sr., and her mother, Doris Gorske, a Polish breeder and owner. At 17, White secured her first mount at Thistledown in Ohio on June 15, 1971, just three years after the first jockey license was issued to a woman in the United States in 1968. Her mount that day, Ace Reward, was trained by her father. Despite their impressive initial sprint, the pair finished last.

Nearly three months later, White rode her first winner, Jetolara, at West Virginia's Waterford Park (now Mountaineer Park) on Sept. 2, 1971. Jetolara was trained and owned by White's father and bred by White's mother.

White's trailblazing rides over the summer of 1971 made headlines and landed her on the cover of the July 29, 1971, issue of Jet magazine. Over her riding career that spanned more than 20 years, White accumulated 227 wins on Thoroughbreds at primarily Midwestern tracks before moving to California in 1974 to ride American Quarter Horses and Appaloosas on the county fair circuit. White topped the Appaloosa Horse Club's jockey standings in 1977, 1983, 1984, and 1985.

After riding her last winner at Los Alamitos on July 25, 1992, White retired with more than 750 career wins. She became a racing steward in California before returning to Ohio to join the racing office at Mahoning Valley Race Course in 2014. During Keeneland's 2014 Spring Meet, White joined a number of notable retired and active female jockeys here for the “Ladies of the Turf” celebration on Horses and Hope Pink Day.

White, who worked at Ohio tracks until her death in 2019, is included in the Library's fascinating exhibit, The Heart of the Turf: Racing's Black Pioneers, which highlights the lives and careers of 80 African Americans working in the Thoroughbred industry from the mid-1800s to the present.

Located on Keeneland's campus, Keeneland Library is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. To reach the Library, enter Keeneland at Gate 1 on Keeneland Blvd. and take the first right on Entertainment Ct. The Library is to the left of the Keene Barn and Entertainment Center. The exhibit is free.

Contact Roda Ferraro at rferraro@keeneland.com to book exhibit youth and adult educational programs.

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R.A.C.E. Fund to Auction Hoff Racing Memorabilia Collection

The R.A.C.E. Fund, a 501 C 3 non-profit organization established in 2004 and TAA accredited, will begin auctioning the private racing memorabilia of Christopher Hoff on eBay beginning Oct. 25.

“As a Thoroughbred racing photographer, I had the opportunity to witness the performance of such equine athletes as Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Personal Ensign, Private Terms and

many others,” Hoff said. “However, I also saw the fate of the 'discarded' horses who were deemed unprofitable for their owners. These beautiful horses are too often forgotten and I am thrilled that my collection of racing memorabilia can help provide a well-deserved pleasant retirement or help with the rescue of these wonderful animals.”

R.A.C.E. Fund President Marlene Murray said, “We cannot thank Mr. Hoff enough for donating such a vast collection of racing memorabilia to our organization to help the horses.”

The auction will be conducted in phases, with the first phase on eBay from Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. (EST) and ending Oct. 28 at 8 p.m.

Featured items include: Breeders' Cup Programs from 1984 to 1992 in mint condition; Breeders' Cup Racing Forms; signed pictures of trainers Carl Nafzger, Jack Van Berg, Sonny Hine, D. Wayne Lukas and jockey Laffit Pincay; Share The Glory and Fly So Free saddlecloths; and a 1987 framed Washington, D.C. International program signed by jockeys.

Subsequent phases and auction dates are yet to be determined. Updates can be found at www.racefund.org.

The post R.A.C.E. Fund to Auction Hoff Racing Memorabilia Collection appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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