Keeneland notes: Thank You Marylou gets final BC test in Raven Run

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Thank You Marylou will face a stern test when trying to advance to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint when facing the likes of Miss Behaviour and Cassatt in the Grade 2, $250,000 Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday.

Thank You Marylou, trained by Mike Maker for Ken and Sarah Ramsey, comes off a 6 1/2-length triumph in the Sept. 20 Dogwood Stakes at Churchill. The Birdstone filly has had two bullet workouts in the interim at the Trackside training center in Louisville.

Ten to 12 3-year-old fillies are expected when entries for the seven-furlong Raven Run are taken Wednesday.

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Unitarian draws outside

A field of nine older horses was entered for the Thursday feature, the $100,000 Sycamore Stakes. Unitarian, the winner of the Elkhorn here in the spring for Todd Pletcher, was assigned the far-outside post in the 1 1/2-mile turf race and will attempt to become the first horse to win both races in the same calendar year.

This is the Sycamore lineup: St. Albans Boy, Tricky Hat, Holiday Star, Red Rifle, Villandry, Mister Marti Gras, Cozy Kitten, Aldous Snow, and Unitarian.

The female counterpart to the Sycamore, the $125,000 Dowager, will be run here Sunday.

Race form holding strong

Form sure is holding at this first meet for the new dirt surface at Keeneland.

Not only have favorites been dominant so far at the eight-day-old meet by winning 31 of 77 races (40 percent), but second choices also have won 20 times, meaning a whopping 66 percent of races have been won by the first or second choice.

In addition, an exacta box of the top two choices has come through 21 times (27 percent). The only two big-priced winners were Peace and War ($48.20) in the Grade 1 Alcibiades on opening day and You Bought Her ($79.80) on Saturday.

Lanerie zips to meet lead

New York-based jockeys John Velazquez and Joel Rosario will ride only sparingly here through closing day (Oct. 25), meaning Corey Lanerie figures to have Paco Lopez, Julien Leparoux, Rosie Napravnik, and Shaun Bridgmohan as his main competition for his first Keeneland riding title.

Lanerie, who has won or tied for six of the last seven riding titles at Churchill, had been shut out at this meet until riding eight winners in the last three days, giving him a tenuous lead atop the jockeys’ standings over Velazquez and Rosario (seven each). Velazquez easily leads all riders in meet earnings with $1,542,803.

◗ It’s been a good meet for a handful of trainers who stick to Midwest circuits, most notably Chris Richard, the former Tom Amoss assistant who has won four of five starts here this fall.

Several others have done well with limited starts, including Michelle Lovell (2 for 2), Brendan Walsh (2 for 3), Chris Block (2 for 4), Phil Sims (2 for 6), and Ingrid Mason (2 for 7).

In addition, Chicago-based David Hinsley sent out You Bought Her to win Saturday at 38-1, easily the longest-priced winner so far.