The victory kept Caramel Swirl's record at Keeneland perfect as she had posted a 10¼-length maiden-breaking score at the Lexington, Ky., track in April.

The Lexus Raven Run also featured another bang-up effort by Team Hanley and Parkland Thoroughbreds' Joy's Rocket, who in her other Keeneland start posted a three-length victory in the Songbird Stakes on the Breeders' Cup undercard last November.

“It was a head bob; her head was up and the other filly had her head down at the wire,” said Ronny Werner, assistant to Joy's Rocket's trainer, Steve Asmussen. “She is fine this morning. She ran hard. She loves this track and she showed it when she won that stakes last year.”

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Breaking cleanly from post eight, Junior Alvarado positioned Caramel Swirl toward the back of the pack early behind the leader Strong Silent and Cilla in second. Three-wide on the backstretch, traffic forced Alvarado to take his filly even wider on the far turn to find running room in the Keeneland straight. As Cilla took over the lead in the early stretch, Caramel Swirl and Joy's Rocket rallied to her outside. The two were head to head as they passed Cilla in late stretch, Caramel Swirl eking out a short lead as they approached the finish line.

At the wire, Caramel Swirl held the advantage over Joy's Rocket with Cilla in third. The final time for the seven furlongs was 1:23.42.

Find this race's chart here.

Caramel Swirl paid $8.60, $5.60, and $4.40. Joy's Rocket paid $19.60 and $10.40. Cilla paid $7.40.

Bred in Kentucky by owner Godolphin, Caramel Swirl is out of the Smart Strike mare Caramel Snap. She is trained by Bill Mott. With her win the G2 Raven Run, the 3-year-old filly has three wins in seven starts in 2021 for a lifetime record of 9-3-3-1 and career earnings of $317,300.

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The Lexus Raven Run is scheduled as the ninth race on Saturday's 10-race program with a 5:16 p.m. ET post time. First post Saturday is 1 p.m.

Trained by Brett Brinkman, Cilla returned Tuesday afternoon to Keeneland, where she finished sixth as a 62-1 shot in the Beaumont (G3) Presented by Keeneland Select. Since then, the Louisiana-bred daughter of California Chrome has won three consecutive races highlighted by the Prioress victory.

Tyler Gaffalione will have the mount Saturday and break from post position seven.

Souper Sensational, winner of the Victory Ride (G3) at Belmont Park who has placed in three graded stakes, was runner-up in the Grade 1 Test prior to her run in the Prioress. Trained by Mark Casse, Souper Sensational will exit post position three and be ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr.

Another Grade 2 winner in the field is Juddmonte's homebred Obligatory.

Trained by Bill Mott, Obligatory won the Eight Belles (G2) on April 30 at Churchill Downs going 7 furlongs. Runner-up in the Cotillion (G1) at Parx in her most recent start, Obligatory drew post 13 and will be ridden by Florent Geroux.

The field for the Lexus Raven Run, with riders and weights from the inside, is:

1. Shalimar Gardens (Rafael Bejarano, 118 pounds)
2. Joy's Rocket (Julien Leparoux, 118)
3. Souper Sensational (Santana Jr., 118)
4. Minute Waltz (Martin Garcia, 118)
5. Strong Silent (Corey Lanerie, 118)
6. Feeling Mischief (Mitchell Murrill, 118)
7. Cilla (Gaffalione, 120)
8. Caramel Swirl (Junior Alvarado, 118)
9. Zainalarab (John Velazquez, 118)
10. Someone Said So (Adam Beschizza, 118)
11. Miss Speedy (Brian Hernandez Jr., 118)
12. Just Read It (Gerardo Corrales, 118)
13. Obligatory (Florent Geroux, 120)

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“She will stay at Keeneland for now, and we will see how she is doing in the next few days,” Baltas said via text Sunday morning.

Owned by Ciaglia Racing, Highland Yard, River Oak Farm and Domenic Savides, Venetian Harbor may have earned herself a spot in the $1-million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) at Keeneland on Nov. 7, a spot that co-owner Joseph Ciaglia said was likely after the race.

Venetian Harbor found herself on an uncontested lead and was able to hold off Finite to secure her second Grade 2 victory.

The runner-up finish by Finite came on her first start on dirt in seven months.

“Yesterday was a big effort and we'll see how she trains going forward,” said David Fiske, Racing and Bloodstock Manager for Winchell Thoroughbreds, the principal owner in the filly's partnership group, via text. “There are no plans for her yet. We all were pleased to see her return to a level of competition that we thought she was capable of.”

Trainer Cherie DeVaux said Lael Stables' Reagan's Edge, who finished fourth beaten a nose for third and less than a length for the win, came out of the race in good shape.

“She ran her heart out yesterday and is a little tired this morning,” DeVaux said. “She is nominated to the (Qatar) Fort Springs (here on Nov. 7) but that may be coming back a little quick.”

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Trained by Richard Baltas and owned by Ciaglia Racing, Highland Yard, River Oak Farm and Domenic Savides, the Kentucky-bred daughter of Munnings held off a late charge from multiple graded stakes winner Finite – also by Munnings – to win by a neck, with Grand Cru Class third, Reagan's Edge fourth and Tonalist's Shape fifth in the field of eight.

Off as the 3-2 favorite, Venetian Harbor paid $5.20 to win and covered seven furlongs in 1:23.02 on a fast track after setting fractions of :23.06, :46.17 and 1:10.34.

“I was a little bit concerned about the 2 horse (Four Graces), and when I saw she didn't break (in front) I decided to go then,” said Franco. “She's happy when she's in the lead. She showed it today. She's a nice filly.”

It was the third win in seven starts for Venetian Harbor, who was produced from the Street Cry mare Sounds of the City. She was bred by Richard Santulli's Colts Neck Stables and purchased from the eighth session of the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $110,000, then bought back for $205,000 at the 2019 OBS Spring Sale of 2-year-olds in training.

A winner around two turns earlier this year in the G2 Las Virgenes at Santa Anita, Venetian Harbor last raced Aug. 8 in the seven-furlong G1 Test Stakes at Saratoga, where she finished seven lengths behind Gamine.

Venetian Harbor is headed to the G1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, to be run at the same seven-furlong distance at Keeneland on Nov. 7. Sprinting is in her blood, as she traces back four generations in her female family to Hall of Fame runner Safely Kept, the 1989 champion sprinter and winner of the G1 Breeders' Cup Sprint in 1990 against males.

Finite ran a good race to be second for Steve Asmussen under Ricardo Santana Jr. in her second start since undergoing surgery to remove an ankle chip this spring. A Winchell homebred daughter of Munnings, Finite is a two-time G2 winner who soundly defeated G1 Preakness winner Swiss Skydiver in the G2 Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds in February.

In the Raven Run, Finite raced in mid-pack while well off the rail as Venetian Harbor went unchallenged on the lead, then followed the winner into the stretch. She switched to the rail when Venetian Harbor drifted out slightly and was gaining on her in the final strides.

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In terms of career earnings, Finite leads the group with over $650,000 in the bank, most of it earned winning the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes in February. Venetian Harbor won the Grade 2 Las Virgenes Stakes in February and enters this race off a fine second behind Gamine in the Grade 1 Test Stakes. Tonalist's Shape brings a six-for-nine record with her including a win in the Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes in February and she had significant traffic trouble in the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks in her most recent race.

Four Graces won the Grade 3 Beaumont Stakes at this distance at Keeneland in July and was most recently second in the Grade 2 Eight Belles Stakes. Never Forget finished third in the Eight Belles and hopes to improve, as does Grade 2 Prioress Stakes fourth place finisher Secondary Market. Fair Maiden just missed in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes 13 months ago and won following 10 months off in September so could get back to stakes quality form.

Grand Cru Classe won the Weber City Miss Stakes last month and is racing in a graded stakes for the first time. Reagan's Edge hasn't won a stakes race yet but finished second in the Grade 2 Prioress Stakes in her most recent start. Secret Keeper also finished second last time out, in the Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes, and these two appear to be strong contenders in a very deep field.

Reagan's Edge has finished second in two straight stakes races to Frank's Rockette, arguably the top 3-year-old filly sprinter in North America. Frank's Rockette would be the prohibitive favorite here and since she's not running in this race, Reagan's Edge is going to be tough to beat. She's earned 105 and 103 Equibase Speed Figures in her last two races, the lowest of which is higher than any other horse's last two figures. We call this a “Double Advantage” and that's another reason Reagan's Edge gets top billing as a win contender, because it means other horses in the field have to improve significantly to run faster to beat this filly.

Secret Keeper won the first two starts of her career with 90 then 96 figures. In her third start she improved to a 98 figure when second in the Torrey Pines Stakes to Harvest Moon, who then improved seven points to win the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes. If Secret Keeper continues her pattern and moves up like Harvest Moon did, she's going to run as fast as a 105 figure, which is as good as Reagan's Edge earned in the best of her last two starts. As such, Secret Keeper must be considered as logical to win this year's Lexus Raven Run Stakes as Reagan's Edge.

Four Graces won the similar Grade 3 Beaumont Stakes at this seven furlong trip at the July Keeneland meeting, earning a 99 figure, then improved again to career-best 102 figure effort when second in the Eight Belles Stakes last month. Excluding the one race in which she tried to run farther than this seven furlong distance, Four Graces has won four races and finished second in the other so deserves a lot of respect in this year's Raven Run Stakes.

The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures, is Fair Maiden (100), Finite (101), Grand Cru Classe (92), Never Forget (98), Secondary Market (99), Tonalist's Shape (95) and Venetian Harbor (106).

Win Contenders:

Reagan's Edge
Secret Keeper
Four Graces

Lexus Raven Run Stakes – Grade 2
Race 9 at Keeneland
Saturday, October 17 – Post Time 5:30 PM E.T.
Seven Furlongs
Fillies, Three Years Old
Purse: $200,000

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Run at seven furlongs on the main track, the Raven Run will go as the ninth race on Saturday's 10-race program with a 5:30 p.m. ET post time. First post Saturday is 1:05 p.m.

Trained by Richard Baltas, Venetian Harbor will be making her first start since finishing second to Gamine in the seven-furlong Test (G1) at Saratoga on Aug. 8. Prior to that, she had finished second to Speech in the Central Bank Ashland (G1) at Keeneland and to Swiss Skydiver in the Fantasy (G3) at Oaklawn Park with both those races being two-turn tests going 1 1/16 miles.

“We are just trying to win a race; that's the first thing,” Baltas said Wednesday morning from California. “If she runs well and bounces out of the race OK we will eye the Breeders' Cup (Filly & Mare Sprint-G1).”

Manny Franco has the mount on Venetian Harbor and will break from post position five.

Among those lining up to face Venetian Harbor are two runners with graded stakes success going seven furlongs.

Whitham Thoroughbreds' Four Graces won the Beaumont (G3) at Keeneland in July going seven furlongs and 184 feet over the Beard Course in a track record 1:24.90.

Trained by Ian Wilkes, Four Graces also won the Dogwood (G3) at Churchill Downs, where she finished second in her most recent start in the Eight Belles (G2). Julien Leparoux has the mount and will break from post position two.

Slam Dunk Racing, Doug Branham and Legacy Ranch's Tonalist's Shape won the Forward Gal (G3) going seven furlongs and the Davona Dale (G2) going a mile this winter at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., Tonalist's Shape exits a troubled fifth in the Charles Town Oaks (G3) going 7 furlongs in her most recent start.

Rafael Bejarano has the mount on Tonalist's Shape, who will break from post position seven.

The field for the Lexus Raven Run, with riders and weights from the rail, is: Never Forget (Robby Albarado, 118 pounds), Four Graces (Leparoux, 120), Secondary Market (Tyler Gaffalione, 118), Finite (Ricardo Santana Jr., 120), Venetian Harbor (Franco, 120), Reagan's Edge (Florent Geroux, 118), Tonalist's Shape (Bejarano, 120), Fair Maiden (Corey Lanerie, 118), Grand Cru Classe (Martin Garcia, 118) and Secret Keeper (Brian Hernandez Jr., 118).

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