Brown sends lightly raced contenders Saturday in Raven Run, Perryville

LEXINGTON, Ky. – He’s not finished yet. Chad Brown is represented in both stakes Saturday at Keeneland, where the New York-based trainer has flaunted the depth of his stable during the first two weekends of the 17-day fall meet.

Brown will send out Zainalarab in the Raven Run Stakes and Pipeline in the Perryville. Both stakes are at seven furlongs, with the Raven Run for 3-year-old fillies and the Perryville for 3-year-olds.

Thirteen are entered in the Grade 2, $250,000 Raven Run (race 9), with Zainalarab making her stakes debut and facing more seasoned rivals. Obligatory and Caramel Swirl, both trained by Bill Mott, figure among a core of favorites in the Raven Run, along with Souper Sensational and Miss Speedy, both trained by Mark Casse.

:: Shop for Keeneland: Get DRF Past Performances, Picks, and more

Zainalarab, a $1 million yearling purchase for Shadwell Stable, has won two of three starts, all on dirt. Although her sire, War Front, has become well established as a world-class progenitor of turf horses, Brown thus far has taken the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach.

“War Front himself only sprinted on dirt,” he said, referring to a 13-race career spanning 2004-06.

Pipeline, one of nine in the $150,000 Perryville (race 7), is similarly inexperienced. The Speightstown colt earned 97 Beyer Speed Figures in back-to-back maiden races at Saratoga, the latest a 3 1/4-length victory that could have him contending for favoritism in the Perryville with the Casse returnee Soup and Sandwich.

Brown, the four-time Eclipse champion trainer (2016-19) being represented at this meet by longtime assistant Baldo Hernandez, already has swept the top two spots in a pair of Grade 1 races at this meet, with Blowout and Regal Glory in the Oct. 9 First Lady and with Shantisara and Technical Analysis in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup last Saturday.

General admission for the 10-race Saturday card is sold out as Keeneland continues to limit ontrack attendance to about 20,000 amid the ongoing pandemic. It’s the only sellout listed on the track website. The meet runs through Oct. 30.

The fourth and last stakes this week is the Grade 3 Dowager on Sunday. Five stakes close the meet next week – the Myrtlewood and Grade 3 Valley View on Friday, followed by the Bowman Mill, Bryan Station, and Grade 2 Fayette on Saturday, closing day.

Turf sprint draws strong field

An outstanding second half of the 10-race Friday card at Keeneland begins with a highly competitive turf sprint (race 6).

It’s a $93,000 third-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up with a full field of 12 that includes stakes winners Maven and Carotari, who figure to vie for favoritism. Boldor, Holiday Stone, and Johnny Unleashed are among those adding depth to the field.

The allowance leads off both the 50-cent late pick five (races 6-10) and the $3-minimum Keeneland Turf Pick 3 (races 6-8-10), with the featured Sycamore Stakes (race 8) part of both wagers. A starter-allowance turf route that drew a full field of 12 fillies and mares concludes both bets as race 10.

Sizable fields also are entered in the two main-track events (races 7 and 9) that fill out the late pick five.

Benefit held for Cannon

An online auction and other fund-raising activities held at McCarthy’s in downtown Lexington, Ky., last Friday night netted about $60,000 to help offset the medical expenses of injured jockey Declan Cannon, according to Will Van Meter, who helped organize the event.

Cannon, 34, is expected to be sidelined at least several more months when recovering from fractured vertebrae suffered in a Sept. 13 spill at Indiana Grand.