Raven Run Stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Venetian Harbor Holds Off Finite For Munnings Exacta In Raven Run

Second behind Speech in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland in July, Southern California-based Venetian Harbor returned to the Lexington, Ky., track to win Saturday's G2, $200,000 Lexus Raven Run Stakes for 3-year-old fillies in front-running fashion under Manny Franco.

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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Equibase Analysis: Reagan’s Edge Leads Strong Field In Raven Run

The Grade 2, $200,000 Lexus Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland is usually a showcase of some of the top filly sprinters in North America, and this year's edition is no exception. Four of the 10 entered are graded stakes winners, with another four having finished in-the-money in graded stakes so far in their careers.

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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Raven Run Could Be Springboard To Breeders’ Cup For Venetian Harbor

Ciaglia Racing, Highland Yard, River Oak Farm and Dominic Savides' Venetian Harbor headlines a deep field of 10 3-year-old fillies entered Wednesday for Saturday's 22nd running of the $200,000 Lexus Raven Run (G2) at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

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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