Damon's Mound, Ryvit meet again in Steel Valley Sprint on five-stakes card

The stars of Damon’s Mound and Ryvit have risen and fallen in opposition to one another. Damon’s Mound looked like one of the potential stars in his class winning his first two starts last year, but then struggled when experimenting with distance and surface. At that time, Ryvit was riding a win streak to emerge as one of the best 3-year-old sprinters in the country.

More recently, Damon’s Mound has found his groove again with a pair of sprint stakes wins – at the expense of Ryvit, who has lost three straight. One looks to continue a streak, while the other tries to break a losing streak when they meet again in the $300,000 Steel Valley Sprint on Monday at Mahoning Valley.

The Steel Valley, for 3-year-olds going six furlongs, is one of the richest stakes on the Ohio calendar, and headlines five stakes on Monday at the Austintown track. The others are the $200,000 Cheryl White Memorial for open 3-year-old fillies, the $100,000 Mahoning Valley Distaff Sprint for open fillies and mares, and a pair of Ohio-bred events, the $75,000 Cardinal and $75,000 First Lady.

Damon’s Mound, who never likes to be far off the lead, is ideally drawn in post 2 under Junior Alvarado, with whom he has won back-to-back stakes. Winner of the Grade 2 Saratoga Special last year, Damon’s Mound is coming off wins in the Robert Hilton Memorial at Charles Town and the Grade 2 Gallant Bob at Parx.

Ryvit and jockey Keith Asmussen are drawn two stalls outside Damon’s Mound in post 4 and should be with him early. Ryvit won five straight races earlier this year, including the Bachelor at Oaklawn Park, the Grade 3 Chick Lang at Pimlico, and the Maxfield at Ellis Park – in which Damon’s Mound was fourth.

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But Ryvit finished fifth after stumbling at the start of the Grade 2 Amsterdam at Saratoga, then was fifth in both the Hilton Memorial and Gallant Bob. Ryvit has been given a slightly longer break between races this time by Steve Asmussen, a pattern that worked well earlier in the year, and he has worked sharply for the Steel Valley.

Damon’s Mound and Ryvit will not be left alone on the lead, as the majority of the field has similar running styles. Uncashed matches the top two on speed figures and is drawn outside in the field of 10 under Jareth Loveberry.

The Larry Rivelli trainee has won four straight races in front-running fashion, culminating with the off-the-turf Quick Call at Saratoga. He earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 96 that day – which is higher than Ryvit’s top of 93, and the 92 of Damon’s Mound. After finishing eighth on turf in the Mahony at Saratoga, Uncashed is moving back to what seems his preferred surface.

If a pace meltdown occurs, Nautical Star, with Irad Ortiz Jr. in the irons for Saffie Joseph Jr., could benefit. Although he does have tactical speed, he prefers to sit off the leaders – as he did when finishing second to Damon’s Mound in the Gallant Bob in his second start off a layoff.

◗ The six-furlong Cheryl White Memorial, named for the pioneering Black female jockey, was moved from the spring portion of the Mahoning Valley meet and had its purse boosted in order to create a sister event to the Steel Valley. Jersey Pearl finds softer company here after a summer at Saratoga, where she finished fifth in the Grade 1 Test and second in the Grade 2 Prioress.

◗ The Mahoning Distaff looks wide open. My Destiny is the only entrant to win a stakes this year, and that came in a minor event at Remington Park, although she did roll convincingly with a 92 Beyer.

Olga Isabel, making her stakes debut, has won all three of her starts since being moved to the barn of Brad Cox.

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◗ The two six-furlong Ohio-bred stakes feature statebred champions. Millionaire Altissimo, a three-time Ohio horse of the year, looks to win another edition of the Cardinal after taking it in 2018 and 2021. He has won a pair of allowance races and is stakes-placed this year as a 10-year-old for Richard Zielinski, but is looking to bounce back after finishing 10th in the Best of Ohio Sprint last month at Mahoning Valley.

Back to Ohio, never worse than second in her career, looks to keep rolling in the First Lady for Rivelli and Loveberry. The filly was an unbeaten champion juvenile last year, with four stakes wins including the Best of Ohio John W. Galbreath Memorial. She comes into the First Lady off a win in the Scarlet and Gray over Candlelight Hours, another statebred champion.

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