Bedanken just holds on

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Bedanken narrowly held off an inside run from Mariensky to post a nose victory Saturday in the Grade 3, $115,700 at Keeneland.

Bedanken, owned by Pin Oak Stables and trained by Donnie K. Von Hemel, raced well back in a field of 10 3-year-old fillies before launching an outside run down the center of the turf course. Ridden by Don Pettinger, she returned $6.80 as second choice after finishing 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.24 over a yielding course.

Mariensky, the 2-1 favorite for trainer Christophe Clement, barely missed causing a second consecutive Valley View dead heat after splitting horses near the rail in midstretch. Last year, Cozzy Corner and Chausson Poire dead-heated for win in the Valley View.

On a dreary, drizzly afternoon, and before an ontrack crowd of 16,223, Gilded Nip, a 75-1 shot, drew off to a huge lead down the backstretch but was engulfed by the quarter pole. Bedanken, a gray Geri filly shipping in off a sharp victory in the DeBartolo Oaks at Louisiana Downs, showed the best run, and had just enough left to hold off Mariensky. High Maintenance was third, another 2 1/4 lengths back.