Bar of Gold flees nemesis by going in Raven Run

LEXINGTON, Ky. – John Kimmel has seen enough of Cavorting for now.

One of Kimmel’s stable stars, Bar of Gold, spent the summer giving futile chase to Cavorting in major races in New York, and now that Cavorting is headed to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, Kimmel is glad to dodge her by sending out Bar of Gold in the Grade 2 Raven Run Stakes, the Saturday feature at Keeneland.

“I think Cavorting is the best 3-year-old filly sprinter around, if not the best of any age,” Kimmel said this week from New York.

Bar of Gold, with Jose Lezcano to ride, will start from post 2 as a top contender in a field of 11 3-year-old fillies in the 17th running of the $250,000 Raven Run, a seven-furlong race that highlights the weekend at Keeneland.

Bred and owned in New York by Chester and Mary Broman, Bar of Gold easily won a pair of statebred races early in the year at Aqueduct before entering the stakes ranks. Her last two starts, both at Saratoga, resulted in runner-up finishes behind Cavorting in the Grade 1 Test on Aug. 8 and the Grade 2 Prioress on Sept. 6.

“We got a better trip than her in the Test, and she still beat us,” said Kimmel. “In the Prioress, our filly took on a tremendous amount of dirt and still persevered to be second. She’s done really well since then, and we’re hoping we’re in a good spot Saturday.”

The Raven Run occasionally produces a starter for the BC Filly and Mare Sprint, but Kimmel said that even if Bar of Gold runs big Saturday, “the Bromans already have Artemis Agrotera for the Breeders’ Cup and wouldn’t want to run against her.”

The Raven Run lineup includes three winners of non-restricted stakes: Irish Jasper, Miss Ella, and Sarah Sis. From the rail and with jockeys, this is the field: Paid Up Subscriber, Corey Lanerie; Bar of Gold, Lezcano; Irish Jasper, Shaun Bridgmohan; Wind Chill Factor, Danny Velazquez; Miss Ella, Trevor McCarthy; Ahh Chocolate, Brian Hernandez Jr.; Forever Unbridled, Calvin Borel; Sarah Sis, Florent Geroux; Kathballu, Julien Leparoux; Chide, Miguel Mena; and I’m a Looker, Jon Court.

The Raven Run lost its likely favorite when Jerry Hollendorfer announced this week that Super Majesty will run instead in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint.

The Raven Run is carded as the ninth of 10 Saturday races, with first post at 1:05 p.m. Eastern and the Raven Run at 5:30.

The Sunday feature at Keeneland is the Grade 3, $125,000 Dowager, a filly-and-mare turf marathon.

Grandmother active jockey

It’s not often that a grandmother of 17 rides a race at Keeneland, but that was to be the case Wednesday.

Sue Martin, 61, was in from Ellis Park to ride longshot Blame Bryan in the sixth race for her owner-trainer husband, Wayne Martin.

“We’ve got two Thoroughbreds and some endurance horses,” she said. “I won three endurance races over the winter in Florida – two at 25 miles and one at 30.”

Daily Racing Form statistics show that Sue Martin has ridden 29 winners in Thoroughbred races since 1976. Her most recent winner came on Aug. 31, 2014, in a $5,000 maiden-claiming race at Ellis.

Martin said she began her riding career in the Pacific Northwest in 1974, the year after she and Wayne were married. They now have 12 natural grandchildren and five foster grandchildren, and “an 18th is on its way in January,” she said.

Murrill riding well

Mitchell Murrill used his breakout meet at Arlington Park to get away to a good start at Keeneland. From his first seven mounts, Murrill had three winners, all on Friday cards and all for Chicago connections: Fancy Man ($11) on Oct. 2 and Nancy Doll ($14.60) and Eileen Evelyn ($9.40) on Oct. 9.

Murrill, 21, grew up in Mobile, Ala., and started his career at the smaller tracks of Louisiana in 2013. He ultimately lost his apprentice allowance in mid-June at Arlington, where he won 72 races in finishing second in the jockey standings behind Jose Valdivia.

His agent, Tim Hanisch, said Murrill will ride here through Breeders’ Cup weekend before peeling off early to get a head start on the long winter meet at Fair Grounds, which starts Nov. 19.

◗ Jockey Victor Lebron did not sustain major injuries in a Saturday spill at ThistleDown but took off his Wednesday mounts at Keeneland because of travel issues while moving his family north from Tampa in the intervening days, said agent Joe Pauley.